Lanterns hanging from the trees

…If we don’t manage to change tact and turn this nation around.

“Oh it’s not that bad, other countries have it worse than us”

It may not be that bad now. But the trajectory together with the longer term pattern isn’t looking favorable.

There is a slow but sure increase in Social division and loss of social cohesion driven in large part by an over inflated housing market and I say this as a landlord myself – having been compelled by this “system’s” relentless encouragement of to become one in order to protect myself financially.

The most recent house I bought back in 2020 has appreciated on paper faster (in spite of recent house price falls) than what I earn in my senior IT role and that is before accounting for the taxman taking his take off of my salary.

Shit is fucked.

And now with the Nats at the helm who seem to be hell bent on slashing and burning essential services (health, policing, transport) in order to afford tax cuts to landlords, I’ve pretty much lost almost all hope for the average working New Zealander in the longer run.

It was the National party candidates whom I spoke to in the lead up to the last elections who showed complete and utter disinterest in tackling the issue of housing affordability situation. In fact, they showed far less interest than even ACT party candidates I’ve spoken to.

Even though I’m not skint and doing OK personally, I feel sadden to see our society and nation very slowly but surely descend into a state resembling something ever closer to South Africa. Once it starts descending to that point, It will not be a society I would feel good nor proud of living in.

The realization is, there is little as an individual I can do to stop the momentum. I’ve been doing my civic duty as it were by trying to make submissions during public consultations that support policies that I believe will aid in fostering a more cohesive society, but feel this is vain.

I’m just going to have to hunker down, look after my own interests, and then Grin and bare the seeming inevitable shit show a few decades down the track.

Robinhood in reverse. Slashing and burning essential public services in order to give tax cuts to the landlords.

The optics surrounding this are not good and do not at all reflect positively on this National party led government – and I say this as (confessingly) a Landlord myself.

I’m far more concerned with seeing policy to support us living in a cohesive society and struggle to see how the carte Blanche slashing of important services (and capping wages of those working in those services) is in any way conducive to this.

And it was the National Candidates in the run up to the last election whom showed complete disinterest (compared to other parties, even ACT) when I raised the issue of housing affordability and the negative affects it was having on our nation and our society.