Forum Archive Index - July 2001

["John and Beth Schwartfeger" <timestwo@xtra.co.nz>]

Andrew,

You are doing exactly what RIL does. Make broad sweeping statements devoid of fact. Exactly what is wrong with our country? The report you referred to. Are you sure we are getting the right interpretation of it? Have we slipped and plummeted? Or, have we stayed still or moved ahead but the other countries that have passed us on the list improved at a greater speed than us?

Cast your mind back to the old days. Every budget that came out whiteware got taxed heavier, more subsidies were thrown at inefficient farmers with minimum price support for products etc etc etc. Remember what shoes for kids use to cost? So many prices have come down compared to the old days. Really..  has our standard slipped at all?? I don't understand your statement about standards slipping but not necessarily quality.

Is everything ok at home here in NZ? No. It never has been and never will be. It is impossible with human nature to do things that pleases every body. I for example am against the way progressive governments have sold everything off under the business roundtable disguise of efficiency. The government should have kept control of the phone lines railway lines etc and leased the usage of them out to competition. The electricity reforms have been a total cockup from day one. Why? Because lines companies pulled the wool over everyone's eyes when valuing their assets. When I had my farm I built a new house on it. I had to pay for the power lines to be put in with all the power poles paid for by me. Along came deregulation and along came the lines company and counted all my paid for power poles into their asset base. What a robbery but efficient way of falsely boosting your assets to justify a return on them.

There are examples galore of where things can change but it is impossible to have everything changed to everyone's satisfaction.

I don't know that our standards have slipped. I have heard parents and grandparents throughout time bemoaning how everything is getting worse than what it was. Would you like to go back to the old days? I wouldn't. Walking to school through the frosts in bare feet to have to drink that bottle of rotten milk at the gate. Nah. I reckon our kids have it better than when we were kids.

Cheers..  John