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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

On Food in Schools

"If so is a fairly fundamental split within National, between the hardline conservatives who would leave kids hungry in the name of parental responsibility, and pragmatists who will swallow a dead rat every now and again in an attempt to stay popular."

14 comments:

Bioneer said...

It is a bit unfair on the businesses to feed children who are too lazy to work. My solution: tighten the criteria for primary school entry and shower Sanitarium with good publicity and excuse it from paying taxes... oh wait we already do... maybe Fonterra is in the pipelines to go tax-free too...

robertguyton said...

Sooo cynical, Bio.
Must be genetic.
I note also, that you are quite correct.
Again, genetic.

Paranormal said...

Spare us the bleeding hearts.

Try this for a far more eloquent than I can put it view as to why taking responsibility for delinquent parents is a bad idea: http://www.macdoctor.co.nz/2013/05/27/food-for-thought/

Armchair Critic said...

Indeed paranormal, a slippery slope argument. Imagine if we fed, clothed and housed everyone, what an awful society that would be.

robertguyton said...

What? Give the galley-slaves their freedom?
Preposterous!

Paranormal said...

It depends on what sort of society you want AC. What do you think the unintended consequences would be? As an indicator take a look at the stats coming out of those households that have already abrogated their responsibilities to society.

I know how you guys love the US, but their founders were right when they talked about the dangers of a government that was prepared to give you everything.

robertguyton said...

And they've made such a good job of their democracy and governance. Must be their excellent Constitution that does it.

paulinem said...

Paranormal ..one of the main reasons the parents cannot afford to feed their children is a large part of the low EARNED income plus family support given goes on RENT and of course such things as power accounts etc ..you know the routine boring but HAVE to be PAID accounts ... such as cost of transport to work etc etc... The reason the rents are high is our welcome to our country ie foreign investors whom are buying and pushing up prices of our homes ..and them EXPECT good ( to costly for families) rent from those renting the homes ...are you aware in Christchurch the average family home to rent costs $600 per week ... this has forced families to live in one room and also in some cases three families to share a house.......

Paranormal said...

Pauline, I'm not sure where you live,but those dastardly foreigners are not doing it enough around our way. Have you and Winston got a thing going on? Suggest you review your fundamental economics.

The reasons why people aren't feeding their kids is many and various. Sorry I don't buy the 'rent too dear' line when the welfare state is already providing such subsidies as Welfare for Families, DPB and emergency benefits for a start.

The State imposing itself even further into peoples lives is not the solution. It will only lead to more dependency and unintended consequences.

paulinem said...

Paranormal .. I suspect you or your parents were the generation that enjoyed free food in school ..that assured they were healthy enough to go on to live productive lives ..but back then we were a kind benevolent society whom saw our children when looked after loved and cared for would return the favour to this country in adulthood to live a full and beneficial member of our society.

Unfortunately today we have a over dose of self centered selfish me me and only me people like you whom refuse to see a child as an individual that requires a village to raise a child.

Paranormal do your self a favour WALK in other shoes for a change as the saying goes ..the world does not owe you anything paranormal ..BUT YOU OWE plenty to our world especially to the pioneers of NZ (whom gave us the benefits we enjoyed today) like my grandparents whom came with nothing but a dream and a determination that this country would be different from the dark slave like society they come from, that we here in NZ we would look after our children etc.

Paranormal said...

Actually no Pauline. My mothers family did not enjoy free food in school. They were brought up on a farm and were so poor they had to be removed to health camps to fatten them up to 'normal' levels. All of them.

But from that start all of them have worked hard and would now be called 'rich pricks' by you and your ilk. That is the sort of future that welfare dependent poor that you like to overlook can never raise themselves to because you want to trap them there. (I don't blame you for creating it, but for perpetuating the ideological dogma that is based on entrenching political power. You do need to wake up and smell the coffee). But as you say back to the issue at hand.

Such a lovely heart felt bleat of platitudes you have completely missed the issues. I strongly suggest YOU take a walk in others shoes. I have. My mother has. in South Auckland particularly around Otara and Manurewa, but also around the country.

The problem is not the working poor. It is those that see welfare as a lifestyle and children as a revenue source (Refer to MSD report in 2002 that found the outcomes for the working poor were way betyter than welfare dependent, but was buried as it did not suit Liarbours ideology). Have a look at the likes of the Kahui household who are typical of where the issue lays. These are the ones society is breeding that are causing so much distress. Food in schools will only exacerbate the problem.

Before you call me heartless you need to take a good look at the unintended consequences of your bleeding heart. You are condemning future generations to the scrap heap.

My family is working within the community to combat these issues. on individual and family levels, that is where we can solve these problems. Not with one size fits all across the board welfare. More hand outs is not the answer. Hand ups and education is the answer.

Anonymous said...

Wouldn't it save time if we feed the dead rats to the hungry children?

paulinem said...

Paranormal how do you feel about Sanatarium whom made I think something like 170,000 million in profit are abusing and misusing the charity act ( ie they are owned by the 7th day Adventist) and are paying NO tax and habnt since ?? possibly never ...

re beneficiaries are not all the same ..we have rats in all sections of society and we will always have them.... Children today are our future

leaders our service people mothers and fathers ..if as individuals are looked after they will be encourage to get themselves a good education and be a good investment in Ingill ..

I don't call you rich pricks ..but I do condem your self centered arrogance ie I made it sowhy cant others etc ..life's not like that not everybody have the same opportunities and I also see nothing wrong with been happy as a Middle Class person ..and yes I think neo-liberalism is a curse that will end up destroying this country as it encourages greed ...and yes I see a Keynesian type economy as the only way forward

Paranormal said...

We'll have to have the same opinion of the other then. You are part of the problem when you have fixed ideas about what I am saying.

I'll leave you with, based on your definition, the worst Neo liberal of them all's paraphrased words - 'the strands of welfare should be taught like a trampoline to bounce people back up when they fall, not slack like a net to trap them in dependency'. Think on that for a while - that's what sums up why you and your bleeding heart blindness are part of the problem, incentivising people to make poor decisions so they become trapped in poverty.

To come back to the beginning stop blaming those 'scurrilous furriners' for making life in NZ unaffordable and take a good look in the mirror.