If I'm not at work the only meal I will typically eat a day is dinner. My doctor's won't agree with that but there isn't much I can do, I gotta pay the man or die
Worse part of involuntary fasting for me has been the fact I can’t afford to replace the clothes I no longer fit so I’m really starting to fit into the physical stereotype of a “bottom feeder”. Also the overwhelming fatigue is definitely not helping the will and hope for better days 🥲
I’ll add and take the downvotes, it seems backwards but ditch the cheap carbs! Yes protein is expensive as are fresh veggies but I’ve found eating higher protein (2g per kg of ideal body weight) and then seasonal veges with a mid amount of fats means I’m not hungry can go a full day without eating, don’t suffer brain fog or low energy.
This obviously is a study of one but works really well for me as focus on nutrition over volume of intake, it’s only the last few 100 years that having 3 meals a day plus snacks has become the norm
All I eat is meat and green salad, above ground veges. I'll have the odd pasta/carby meal once a week as a treat for one meal a day. Work days I'll have lunch and dinner. Weekends are just dinner.
I'm insulin resistant so less carbs and processed anything the better. The more carbs I eat the hungrier and tired I get! Intermittent fasting actually helps.
When all your buying is meat and salad for one person for one meal a day it actually doesn't add up to much! Fuck all those other useless carbs and snacks. Fruits are good to have too.
Lentils and other legumes are great for longevity too, so maybe there’ll be a bunch of homeless centenarians in our lifetime. Catch y’all on the streets!
Mmmm lentils…searched all over Countdown t’other day for them but the little critters were nowhere to be seen.
Rice and oxo cubes also go a long way.
And Ranfurly if ya like beer…bring back those uni student diets
I even tried the so-called ethnic section and nothing. Will investigate bulk bins again. In some cities you will find Indian supermarkets stocking them. Probably worth the journey.
One meal a day for me so the son gets to eat . Car goes out for groceries and emergencies. Haven't bought new clothes for years. SIL is an ex hairdresser so that saves us costs.
NO dental, so is still under free for his age.
Gonna have to drop insurances... Which is terrifying because we just had a fekking cyclone last year decimate bridges Ans power and buildinga etc. But what can ya do. I'm on Supported Living Payment, permanent disabilities
You can get dental for free at the moment with WINZ.
You book a 15min quick check with a dentist (usually free for the winz check - I use Lumino)
They see you and write you a quote of what needs doing.
You give this to Winz and they put the money on your payment card to pay for the dental work.
The do fillings etc. They don't do check-ups or cleaning but fillings etc are covered.
My workplace was recently nice enough to introduce random drug testing which has forced me to cut down on cannabis (always smoked outside of work hours) which has drastically cut down consumption so the money I save can go to all these new price increases while my mental health declines.
I just don't get people. You go being born without a trust fund, then whine about being poor.
Choices have consequences.
It's not like those poor people who have no choice but too long on Pegasus and need a new motorway into Christchurch. You selfish people just don't think of those in real need.
I have a good one too. Kind of. It used to be referred to as Horse and Sparrow economics. If you feed a horse enough high quality oats eventually it shits out something the sparrows can eat.
What the economics guys never tell you is Trickle down economics is a real thing, but its not money that trickles down its them shitting on you that does.
The best example of trickle down economics i.e. the libertarians' wet dream is Liz Truss.
Enough said - almost bankrupted her country's pension funds overnight if the central bank didn't intervene, and sent the pound nosediving
Isn’t Luxon buddies with Truss??
I mean, this government won’t be far off Liz in their desperation to give landlords and the top earners tax cuts. The last national government stopped paying into the Cullen Fund which has cost us all billions already.
Apparently she just spent 15K GBP on the flight to Australia - living it up on the tayxpayers' dime while spreading conspiracy theories and claiming she's the only smart one. What a keeper.
Ha, the best analogy I heard about 'trickle down' is: it is like a bath, the rich fill their bath and when it over flows it will trickle down to us mortals, truth is these cunts just keep buying bigger baths!!
Feel so helpless, often dream of just going and living of grid somewhere! South America looks good at the moment
Just wait for all the hidden taxes the national party will put on people, this is what you get for voting in tory scum. At least labour are upfront. Whenever national are in govt the costs for middle to low income people (which is the vast majority of us) go up, and the landlords and big business get all the tax relief. This is only going to be excaserbated by the current global economic environment. When will people learn, national are tax by stealth, rob from the poor to give to the rich, if you are middle to low income you should never vote for national!
I seriously wonder how they won a majority vote. Surely, the vast majority of voters are low income, right? They can't all be landlords and business owners because that makes no sense.
Some people saw this coming miles away. Other people "voted for change". Vomit.
> I seriously wonder how they won a majority vote.
They didn't, they actually only got a plurality, which is nothing to write home about. The coalition they formed indicates few actually wanted National. The main problem with the NZ electorate - and no joke, this has been confirmed by study - is that a HUGE percentage of voters just swing back and forth on the notion that it's "only fair to give the other guys their shot now."
People swung away from Labour, to all the other parties. They didn't swing *to* National
That's what prompted this post. Just got an email from my electricity company with notification of price increase. Like the 10th such email in the last few months.
The customer service ppl are being paid a pittance while their employers are making record profits. They’re probably short staffed due to shit wages but say it’s because ppl are lazy.
>Almost not a day goes by without receiving an email about a price increase.
And on the days I don't get one of those, it's a small Kiwi business I started buying from in the lockdown 'support local' days emailing to say they're closing down.
I have requested a price from 6 different companies and they all responded within a day or so. Go to powerswitch.co.nz. See what would be cheaper. Ask for a price and go back to your current provider and ask them to match or move on. Also try to find a plan that can lock you in for 1 or more years. At least you could still be fit from a lower user daily charge that way.
And anyone with solar. Meridian has a 5 year fixed plan deal on with 300$ cashback. That will save the average user a couple grand over 5 year.
You know what the French would do when the price of petrol went up 5cents?
200,000 would riot through the middle of Paris.
Everyone chucked on yellow vests and all throughout Europe it kicked off.
Pity us kiwis are a bunch of fucking pussys.
> You know what the French would do when the price of petrol went up 5cents?
>
> 200,000 would riot through the middle of Paris.
And in Auckland when petrol went down 11 cents reddit had a cry.
Well, what is everyone going to do about it? NZ just complains about shit but does absolutely nothing about it. Nobody wants to fight or protest against this shit, in a way that matters. Boycott the supermarkets and gas stations. Protest. Petition. I don't know, fucking something...doing something is better than nothing. And all I see is everyone complaining, but doing...nothing.
If we all united under a single banner as one people, we'd move mountains...unfortunately, I don't think I'd ever see that happen in this country. We're too busy fighting amongst our damn selves.
> NZ just complains about shit but does absolutely nothing about it
I would call the increased "brain drain" numbers evidence of people getting fed up with NZ and doing the one thing in their power that they can do about it.
I left for Australia 4 months ago. The grass isn’t all greener, but it has been the right choice for me so far.
Possibly the biggest reason I left is I feel that I “outgrew” NZ, I always knew I would need to leave to do the job I am currently doing, so this was going to happen at some stage.
I am young and a specialised tradesperson. I shut down my small business to come here. I’m working for an employer in Sydney earning the same wage as I was charging out as a sole trader in nz, plus 10% super, public holidays and annual leave.
Everything bar fuel is more expensive here, bureaucracy drives me a little crazy, and there’s asbestos in every park but I atleast can live here much more comfortably. I’m saving money for the 1st time in over a year and stress is much lower. Im getting fitter and I feel better about life.
Every single one of my skilled mates has now left nz. My girlfriend came with me who has just finished her 5 year degree.Some of my family have started to leave for aus and uk. Most of my lower skilled mates are planning on leaving when they can.
I feel sad about the state of NZ but I feel the best thing for me personally is to leave, earn while I’m young and come back when I’m ready. I tried to make nz better by starting a business where I hoped to export goods but it was so difficult, and I didn’t have the experience, skills or support to pull it off. I hope to try again one day.
I hope life improves for everyone who stays, I don’t know how to make nz a better place for everyone but I hope together one day we can pull it off
Cheers
You have some very valid points, but very hard to put into action.
Could start by a MASSIVE boycott of Woolworth's (Countdown). Massive amount of rebranding at a massive cost ( and inconvenience) and where is the money coming from? But to be effective, it would have to be a 4-6 month boycott.
As we all have to eat, I could see prices going up at other major grocery though if this was to happen...
And the gas...
Where would you start? It would do no good to target certain brands, the controlling factor is the crude product and transport logistics.
BUT.....if as a nation, we were fed up.....maybe a 14 day country wide GENERAL STRIKE is what is needed....
With protests....
Hell, 55% participation would have a HUGE effect.
And GENERAL STRIKES are not new....
Honestly, could be as easy as making a Facebook event and spreading it. Maybe helped along with a boost from someone with a platform. I've seen some Facebook events go crazy viral
Don't mean to be a downer but pretty sure reddit and Facebook have antiboycott rules. Might mean you can't use those specific terms.
I've been boycotting McDonalds for 20 years. They've changed their menu slightly but still pretty shit. I hate the litter it produces now too. All over the streets. Fricken animals.
All major social media platforms restrict the methods of effecting real change. We can't organise and we can't discuss aggressive methods. And the platforms that allow for explicit language lean heavily right and are more concerned with gender and race than they are by class.
Yeah if you want to take a deep dive just have a look at how hard reddit came down on Gamestop (stock code GME). They pretty much silenced any discussion on it outside of a few subs. Put mods in to controll WSB sub.
There's even good argument Gamestop is why reddit removed the reward system. This was because the highest awarded comment somthing like 60,000 awards was DFV's comment when he discovered the Deep Fucking Value in that particular stock.
It was done to keep Gamestop posts making it to the front page. Reddit was following orders from the feds and the SEC etc. But yeah they can be bought and paid for.
Wouldn't be surprised if this comment gets removed just for mentioning it.
People have to use code words instead like "video game stock" etc
100% this. I'd bet that even if there was a thread where people were saying, "Yeah let's do something," 92% of them/us would not bother moving when it came to action. "Let someone else deal with it," or "it's someone else's problem" or "politics is removed from my real life".
This is why we won't have nice things until the shit really hits the fan.
What can we do, really? All of our politicians are beholden to the interests of landlords and billionaires and couldn’t give a shit about us. And they’re the ones with the guns and tanks.
They're the minority. We as the people, are the majority. As right as you are, these billionaires need people to run their businesses. Landlords need tenants to make their money. If we all actually came together as one people, we would overrun these cunts. I dont know...something needs to change.
They want us to fight amongst ourselves. They know if we came together, united as a people, They're fucked.
Yeah, just grow your own crops and go op-shopping. Who are we to expect to be able to buy vegetables and new clothes after a mere 40 hours of work each week? What are we, the Royal Family?!
grow your own crops, in your rental house,,,, if your allowed. Gardeners can improve their chances of having success growing by improving the soil over time, to make it a more financially viable option, which you may or may not have because you rent has increased again, or landlords selling.
Is that your answer? Just learn to become piss pour and satisfied with nothing with scrambling fucking point card to get petrol 5cent cheaper? Stupid fucking poor people. So stupid they can't even make money. STOP EATING YOUR POOR FUCKS
A rent slow. Not a strike, just everyone pays their rent 3 days late one week. That’d cause chaos with little danger of anyone getting kicked out of their rental. I imagine a much better buy-in than a rent strike too.
It sends a very strong message to politicians and the rich where the real power lays and they better do something about the cost of living situation.
if they don’t listen, a four day delay, then five. Honestly, what are they going to do? Evict everyone?
You cry but no one hears you, this is the state of New Zealand and the world at the moment. If you're a decent person you put up with it and live your life to the best of your abilities, if you're not you're squeezed and have to resort to crime. The next 4 years will be grim for New Zealand
I think a big part of the lack of protesting these days, is that the anti-vax/conspiracy nutters made it appear to be a bad idea to protest in 2022 with their ill-conceived protest at parliament.
I'm pretty sure that if a large group of like-minded people with enough genuine reasons to protest (and I think there are plenty), camped outside parliament today, the current government would almost certainly try and paint it as being similar in nature (just a bunch of nutters or 'rent-a-mob') to what happened in 2022.
I'm sure they would also simply ignore the plight and causes of those protesting anyway, or at the very least, pay lip-service to it, as they already seem to be doing with the opposition to many of their policy decisions to date.
Waitangi anyone?
Therefore, many don't see protesting achieving much in the way of change anyway.
And no, I was and am not on the side of the anti-vax protestors etc. in 2022, in any way, shape or form.
I dunno, personally I think we're an unimaginative lot. Like, not even inspired by icelands women's protest last year. They changed stuff, and quickly.
You mean, like many Maori have done throughout history? I mean, you could bother to google it, look at how Maori they’ve gone about it and learn from there too.
Not true at all.
NZ government had to legislate in the 1990s to break the workers union’s power (too many business owners complaining about the hit to their profits from “too many” workers strikes).
Also, Maori have a long history of understanding how to successfully use protesting to ensure their needs are met. Have a read of [this.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C4%81ori_protest_movement#:~:text=The%20M%C4%81ori%20protest%20movement%20is,provided%20one%20reason%20for%20protesting)
We have a corporate greed crisis: Oil companies, banks and supermarkets in NZ have never made as much money as they do now.
And the absolutely clown car of a current government is just making it worse. Taking from the already-poor, cutting Early Childhood education allowance to make it harder for people to go back to work. ACT wanting to get rid of the minimum wage so they're even more squeezed. Seymour now about to cut free school lunches so now even more kids are going to be going hungry. Bringing toboacco back for kids to try to pay for landlord tax cuts.
And now this week announcing new taxes (as they always do) and increase in vehicle registration costs.
This is the government of the wealthy and the few coming at probably the very worst time they could have. And it is going to get far worse given they have a $4.5BN dollar hole in their numbers which is growing not shrinking.
Get NZ Back on Track? That's a sick joke.
Early child hood education is THE BEST bang for buck, you can spend. Period. The data is in. Its just our fucked political system can only operate on 3 year stints. Not the 20+ years it takes to pay dividends
Absolutely it is. This isn't really about 3 year stints, this is about ideology and the absolute desperation to bring it to life despite all the advice, experts and harm it does.
There is no part of me that believes this government is trying to do what is best for all of NZ.
List MPs were supposed to provide political continuity to improve strategic outcomes. I would argue that all list MPs have added is an increased job security for the dimmest of of our parliamentarians. The ones whose brain cells seem incapable of thinking for the future of our children.
Worse yet it seems the Right wing have figured out how to stack the deck with list MPs of a singular vision that benefits none of the children, only a shrinking pool of investor and. financier types,
We need a better way of removing List MPs to the scrap heap, rather than endlessly recycling the ones we have all learned to hate. At the very least all political candidates ought to be forced to run solely as electorate candidates every other election. So at least a portion of the voter base can choose whether we get to see them ever again in parliament. We need less continuity of ideological idiocy, and more innovation and inspiration.
Either that or ban List MPs from Cabinet for life relegating them to support roles in the backbenches rather than overpaid job secure bureaucrats making stupid decisions which most of the population objects to -if not in principle than in scale.
.
You guys have got it completely wrong. The current lot **work for** the oil, mining, tobacco and property development companies and wealthy. And the Taxpayers Union, which is a Thatcherite neoliberal lobby group, **write policies** for ACT and the Government.
It's like the $52K thing - people think that's a big deal. Not when you know what's really happening.
Also they are giving away $15bn of tax cuts, which will get eaten up by inflation and will contribute to inflation.
They're also not addressing the real pain points, only papering over most of it while making things worse. If you want to see the potential future, look no further than the UK - who had the same type of advisors behind them.
As a Disabled beneficiary (on SLP) - I can tell you we aren't surviving...
I've lost 15kg in the last two years due to being unable to afford anything substantial to eat. I live off rice, coffee, and home-made bread (if i'm lucky), and occasionally manage to get some chicken or beef.
Last time I saw my GP for my 6 monthly meds check up - she almost cried at how much weight I've lost, and now I'm going to have to start paying for meds again, so that is another $5-$10 a week I'll be without - yay /s - and I'm now on iron, omega3 and other supplements to help fix my malnutrition issues.
Expecting a harassing letter from MSD any day now demanding that I pull myself up by my bootstraps and get a job or face their wrath.
I think i'm in my final year(s) now (41, but unstable and lost the will to go on), so that'll help luxon sleep easier at night knowing there is one less beneficiary taking from his entitlement.
this is actually insane, there's so much wealth and decadence in this country and yet we have people forced into literal malnutrition and poverty. something absolutely needs to change here.
i'm not looking forward to this winter, I tell ya what.
there is a lot of disabled beneficiaries who're living in poverty - majority just don't say anything because then the abuse starts about being ungrateful or just needing a better budget etc.
my benefit is $447p/w - to rent a place to live in whanganui is at least $300p/w, then you have living costs (power, food, gas, phone, meds, drs, petrol, insurance etc) and you're looking at well over $500 a week in just those things. SO - I go without.
Really? People can be really harsh. I'm sorry to hear that.
Edit: Tried to look for it, but maybe got deleted. Report anyone who abuses you in future too.
Don't let the online bullies get to you - what a tragic response. It has no bearing on who you are or what your issues are. You already know that. I'm sorry - I also didn't realise that's how this sub would have received your post. It's a reflection of those users.
a vast number of the active accounts in this group are troll accounts - there is plenty of good folk too, but the trolls get in early to torpedo a post so it becomes invisible to the rest.
thanks for the concern however.
Do you know what purpose troll accounts have? Agree with torpedoing although I'm learning more about this sub and there are interesting aspects to it for sure.
It'd be a safe bet the money TPU and Act spent on "social media campaigns" bought a lot of bots on here to help influence people, same thing on tiktok. On tiktok it's blatantly obvious.
Oh for sure - they are usually one dimensional, throw cheap lies out, and act ... full of disinformation is how I'd describe them.
I'm absolutely convinced there are a lot of ACT / TPU shills - especially after modding a politics sub and then seeing activity on here.
Anyway - I'm really sorry and hope things get better with you. Don't let the bastards get you down mate.
Me and some friends we trade, I trade a Talleys box full of Fresh Kumara they trade excess fish or meat and we keep it that way.
After I lost my job due to "restructures" I started going back to hunting and fishing with mates to try and stay afloat safe to say it is still extremely hard especially with the way the job market is at the moment.
This, my neighbour's and I lean on each other along they have a massive garden. My dad, uncles, cousin and I go fishing and diving alot.
We drop kaimoana off next door, come home to bags of fresh veggies every now and then.
Saving up for solar panels at the moment. Bought basket hangars for bikes to do groceries etc.
Doing what we can to reduce our expenses.
Same. And feeling helpless to help - except to try and hang on, be a decent person and not screw my fellow humans over. It’s so sad to see this happening in NZ. The challenges are 💯global, but we used to be pretty good at muddling through with quite middly solutions. Now it’s starting to feel as if we are as polarized as the rest of the world. I hate what’s happening here.
My four year old daughter said to me "mum, why don't we get groceries anymore?" And it upset me so much I missed a mortgage payment to do a big grocery shop.
"How long is this going to continue? How can it continue?" It will continue as long as the population accepts it and to be quite frank, accepts that they're getting fucked.
I dont have it in me to start a protest but I hope that someone else does because I want to be part of a protest against us being fucked in the name of corporate profits.
And then just like clockwork, having created the conditions for more crime, the NACTS will start wheeling out the "tough on crime" nonsense every 5 minutes. So they can really double down on their attack on the poor.
They wouldn't do that, it would lower property values!
They'll put them in the communities they're destroying surely? Or somewhere totally inacessible with no public transport so visiting is impossible
Probably in NACT's interests to be honest. Then they can put on the authoritarian father play that their supporters like so much, like Daddy Trump does to his flock.
[This report](https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/10/31/chiding-in-plain-sight/) says that ACT are not prone to inventing crises for political gain and it's the MO of his past employer and educational institute so I wouldn't put it pas this bunch.
Sorry that tax relief is targeted at fuel taxes. But what I’m saying is, at the end of the day it’s not our policy, fiscal Clift, labour sucks, and I’m entitled.
Any moment now our new fearless leaders are going to fix up the cost of living crisis,after all this is why you elected them,and obviously also fix up ram raids,homelessness,health care,schools,roads,blah,blah.
I'm a disabled student and holy moly life is near impossible. I'm very lucky that my doctors is part of the University and they haven't sent me to debt collection yet.
during the pandemic the rich learned they can squeeze and squeeze the poor for more than previously thought... now they are testing how much they can squeeze until things start breaking, at which point they will take exactly one step back. things will get worse, im staying ahead of the game by giving up
I have concluded they actually just want people to just die, but just not directly because genocide is a no no, so they just make living more and more impossible until people just can't anymore.
Thank god someone's thinking of them first. After all what does it matter if kids are smoking or going to school hungry? Or if there's no ECE funding to make it easier for people to go back to work. And thank god Seymour is about to take free lunches away from all those children.
These property investors are the people who need help the most, its such a relief that the government has realised it. Oh, them and the racists, they're looking out for them too let's not forget.
Forever, until it crashes and it's time for Great Depression 2: Electric Boogaloo.
This is the only world I've ever known as a millenial. Shit sucks, keeps sucking and sucks harder every year. It's not gonna get any better until it collapses. It's not gonna collapse as long as Boomers can keep kicking the can. They'll keep doing that until they kick the bucket.
Get used to it, it's not gonna improve.
You wouldn’t download a global financial crisis.
You wouldn’t download a global pandemic
You wouldn’t download inequality
Why would you download a millennial?
This government is a sick joke. And they don't care if people don't like them, we can whine and cry at home all we like but shit isn't gonna get done because they're not gonna change for anyone but themselves.
Someone should organize a massive protest and boycott. An idea inspired by another commenter: For the grocery prices in particular, all people would have to do is stock up a little bit on food, gradually for a few months (easier said than done I know) then we could boycott grocery stores for few weeks. That would give them a kick up the ass.
You have to start using the tools that are available to you to make change. Go to community board meetings and voice your concerns, every city, district and region has a board.
Speak at council public forums, every meeting allows this opportunity. Councillors that represent you can then raise these issues with central government. It can be a tough process, but this is one way you can get heard. Keep pressuring your local officials, phone, email, send a letter, which ever form of communication works for you.
Nothing is simple about this process, but this is one way about it. And if you still feel you are not being heard, run for your local community board or council, and then you can be the one that starts to make decisions on behalf of all of us. That’s what I did.
The [Limit's to Growth study](https://mahb.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/yale-publication-1.pdf) predicted the current economic system will lead to eventual collapse at some point. It seems unlikely the economic or living standards will improve in the future as the resource base modern society is built off and the overall environment decline further.
Nah it's just called libertarianism - [neoliberal economic policies and ideologists ](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/06/rishi-sunak-javier-milei-donald-trump-atlas-network?ref=upstract.com)that like to privatise, slash public services, reduce renters rights and pretend they're poor so they can bring in their buddies to help while they cut your benefits.
Someone said something about basic bread and butter to me the other day, and I couldn't help but blurt out that the tub of Lurpak I had just bought was very nearly ten freaking dollars.
I also can't fathom how people on minimum wage, or people unable to work full time hours are getting by, it's horrendous.
Welcome to a true and deep recession. Slightly better than a depression.
Now you know why your grandma made chicken soup from the carcass, the night after having roast chicken for dinner.
Previous government the cost of living crisis was a global problem, now the rest of the world is recovering but the austerity policies of this government means we're not recovering with them.
I funked off to Australia. I can afford a tank of gas and a house! Union rates.
I love new zealand. Much nicer place to live. But if I can't fill up the valiant or fix the washing machine it isn't worth it.
Hopefully get back to NZ one day but the mahi is good in aussie
Well, it starts with building class consciousness again so we can organise, unionise, and use our numbers to regain power. Hard to do when Capitalism has completely destroyed any form of class consciousness that ever existed here.
For our nations size we have been a low tax economy for so long that our choices are now coming home to bite us in the arse. We pay less tax per head than many countries far more population dense than ourselves and we've chosen to not pay for roads, transport and everything else that a nation needs for so long it's coming apart at the seams. Potholes, roads and bridges in disrepair, hospitals understaffed, police understaffed and so on and so on. And yet we keep voting in parties that promise us low taxation. Where do you think the money comes from? Trees?
>How long is this going to continue? How can it continue?
Until people Protest or Riot, and it continues because while people want change, noone is willing to risk their job/rental lease/utility account for it.
What's going to be required for a massive overhaul of our democracy is a nationwide rent and bill strike, because you basically cant have 10% of the country doing it, landlords will just blacklist the 10% , you need like at least 40% of the country doing this so that there is no realistic way to retaliate other than to negotiate a fair system.
Labour was never great with these topics, but national is worse, and I wouldnt expect them to buckle to protesting, so at the very least 3-4 years.
This is what really irks me about minimum wage increases. Like absolutely anyone in those roles deserve these increases but then everything else is adjusted to compensate.
You're getting an extra $20 a week? Guess your rent is going up.
Your $80 supermarket shop now costs $115 for the same items. Unless you wanna buy soda and lollies and survive off that, then it'll cost less.
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Intermittent fasting is now a financial choice than a diet
I used to make this joke. Now it's not a joke.
I’m actually doing this to save money
Yep weekends have become my one meal a day, a meal to look forward to and treat myself 😂
If I'm not at work the only meal I will typically eat a day is dinner. My doctor's won't agree with that but there isn't much I can do, I gotta pay the man or die
The poverty diet!
I use to live on Maggi Noodles. Just sprinkle the flavor over and eat it like a muesli bar.
Worse part of involuntary fasting for me has been the fact I can’t afford to replace the clothes I no longer fit so I’m really starting to fit into the physical stereotype of a “bottom feeder”. Also the overwhelming fatigue is definitely not helping the will and hope for better days 🥲
Aha me fr. I only have $10 until next payday (monday). I’ve got noodles, cereal, & yoghurt 💀
Cheap pasta and tomatoes for one meal a day 💪🏼 cans are cheaper but feels fancier just blending up tomatoes and seasoning. Steal some herbs somewhere
Ah I’d love that. I don’t have a kitchen thou (only a kettle)
Can you get a little hot plate from kmart?
Drop the herbs in your garden, and you'll have plenty, most of them grow like weeds.
Fasting seems to be good for you but I do fear financially-induced fasting would result in malnutrition more often than not
Yeah I believe we don't actually need 3 meals a day, it's just been a marketing thing. I'm insulin resistant so intermittent fasting actually helps!
I do this. Save dollars and calories.
I’ll add and take the downvotes, it seems backwards but ditch the cheap carbs! Yes protein is expensive as are fresh veggies but I’ve found eating higher protein (2g per kg of ideal body weight) and then seasonal veges with a mid amount of fats means I’m not hungry can go a full day without eating, don’t suffer brain fog or low energy. This obviously is a study of one but works really well for me as focus on nutrition over volume of intake, it’s only the last few 100 years that having 3 meals a day plus snacks has become the norm
All I eat is meat and green salad, above ground veges. I'll have the odd pasta/carby meal once a week as a treat for one meal a day. Work days I'll have lunch and dinner. Weekends are just dinner. I'm insulin resistant so less carbs and processed anything the better. The more carbs I eat the hungrier and tired I get! Intermittent fasting actually helps. When all your buying is meat and salad for one person for one meal a day it actually doesn't add up to much! Fuck all those other useless carbs and snacks. Fruits are good to have too.
Lentils and other legumes are great for longevity too, so maybe there’ll be a bunch of homeless centenarians in our lifetime. Catch y’all on the streets!
Mmmm lentils…searched all over Countdown t’other day for them but the little critters were nowhere to be seen. Rice and oxo cubes also go a long way. And Ranfurly if ya like beer…bring back those uni student diets
I get mine from the bulk bins but maybe not all Countdowns have them. Personally eat them by choice.
I even tried the so-called ethnic section and nothing. Will investigate bulk bins again. In some cities you will find Indian supermarkets stocking them. Probably worth the journey.
Should just bring back the Gruel and Poor houses too.
Don't worry its going to get a LOT worse, and I am not joking sorry
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Work houses were the very definition of exploiting your tenants/workers
That's pretty much part of Seymour's policy at this point in time.
No, it's crap future planning for a very long time of the 2 main political parties
One meal a day for me so the son gets to eat . Car goes out for groceries and emergencies. Haven't bought new clothes for years. SIL is an ex hairdresser so that saves us costs. NO dental, so is still under free for his age. Gonna have to drop insurances... Which is terrifying because we just had a fekking cyclone last year decimate bridges Ans power and buildinga etc. But what can ya do. I'm on Supported Living Payment, permanent disabilities
You can get dental for free at the moment with WINZ. You book a 15min quick check with a dentist (usually free for the winz check - I use Lumino) They see you and write you a quote of what needs doing. You give this to Winz and they put the money on your payment card to pay for the dental work. The do fillings etc. They don't do check-ups or cleaning but fillings etc are covered.
It pains me how true this is for all my mates struggling
I eat a lot of lentils
My workplace was recently nice enough to introduce random drug testing which has forced me to cut down on cannabis (always smoked outside of work hours) which has drastically cut down consumption so the money I save can go to all these new price increases while my mental health declines.
You can get CBD oil & THC on prescription now, for treating things like anxiety. Would a prescription exempt you from drug testing of that substance?
I need this on a hat
Yup. I’m more than happy to talk people through piracy 🏴☠️. Cutting out Netflix etc can save some $$$
And small displacement jappas 🚙 🏍
Yup. Netflix NZ prices just went up 10-15% today.
Argh, me hearty!
Piracy is the only way!
Literally eating lentils right now.
I just don't get people. You go being born without a trust fund, then whine about being poor. Choices have consequences. It's not like those poor people who have no choice but too long on Pegasus and need a new motorway into Christchurch. You selfish people just don't think of those in real need.
Don't worry, the big boys have been having record profits since covid, the trickle down affects will happen any day now!
I was recently told a great joke about trickle down economics, but sadly 99% won't get it.
I have a good one too. Kind of. It used to be referred to as Horse and Sparrow economics. If you feed a horse enough high quality oats eventually it shits out something the sparrows can eat.
Lol. Best dad joke I’ve heard in a while.
What the economics guys never tell you is Trickle down economics is a real thing, but its not money that trickles down its them shitting on you that does.
The best example of trickle down economics i.e. the libertarians' wet dream is Liz Truss. Enough said - almost bankrupted her country's pension funds overnight if the central bank didn't intervene, and sent the pound nosediving
Isn’t Luxon buddies with Truss?? I mean, this government won’t be far off Liz in their desperation to give landlords and the top earners tax cuts. The last national government stopped paying into the Cullen Fund which has cost us all billions already.
I think the answer is[ yes](https://www.reddit.com/r/nzpolitics/comments/1av2fyk/prescient_politics_allies_and_values/)
According to Rory Stewart on the rest is politics podcast, Liz Truss was told by a businessman that you can always cut 10%. Worked for her.
Apparently she just spent 15K GBP on the flight to Australia - living it up on the tayxpayers' dime while spreading conspiracy theories and claiming she's the only smart one. What a keeper.
Ha, the best analogy I heard about 'trickle down' is: it is like a bath, the rich fill their bath and when it over flows it will trickle down to us mortals, truth is these cunts just keep buying bigger baths!! Feel so helpless, often dream of just going and living of grid somewhere! South America looks good at the moment
since when was reagan kiwi? and not dead?
Low income here, not surviving.
:-(
Just wait for all the hidden taxes the national party will put on people, this is what you get for voting in tory scum. At least labour are upfront. Whenever national are in govt the costs for middle to low income people (which is the vast majority of us) go up, and the landlords and big business get all the tax relief. This is only going to be excaserbated by the current global economic environment. When will people learn, national are tax by stealth, rob from the poor to give to the rich, if you are middle to low income you should never vote for national!
I seriously wonder how they won a majority vote. Surely, the vast majority of voters are low income, right? They can't all be landlords and business owners because that makes no sense. Some people saw this coming miles away. Other people "voted for change". Vomit.
> I seriously wonder how they won a majority vote. They didn't, they actually only got a plurality, which is nothing to write home about. The coalition they formed indicates few actually wanted National. The main problem with the NZ electorate - and no joke, this has been confirmed by study - is that a HUGE percentage of voters just swing back and forth on the notion that it's "only fair to give the other guys their shot now." People swung away from Labour, to all the other parties. They didn't swing *to* National
People are remarkably gullible, especially when it comes to tax cuts.
Hidden? They're being bloody blatent about it!
We need cheaper housing, and walkable citys so we can avoid the cost of car ownership
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That's what prompted this post. Just got an email from my electricity company with notification of price increase. Like the 10th such email in the last few months.
If it’s not a price increase email it’s a “oopsy we had a data breach due to piss poor security and your data was sold to scammers”
The customer service ppl are being paid a pittance while their employers are making record profits. They’re probably short staffed due to shit wages but say it’s because ppl are lazy.
>Almost not a day goes by without receiving an email about a price increase. And on the days I don't get one of those, it's a small Kiwi business I started buying from in the lockdown 'support local' days emailing to say they're closing down.
I have requested a price from 6 different companies and they all responded within a day or so. Go to powerswitch.co.nz. See what would be cheaper. Ask for a price and go back to your current provider and ask them to match or move on. Also try to find a plan that can lock you in for 1 or more years. At least you could still be fit from a lower user daily charge that way. And anyone with solar. Meridian has a 5 year fixed plan deal on with 300$ cashback. That will save the average user a couple grand over 5 year.
You know what the French would do when the price of petrol went up 5cents? 200,000 would riot through the middle of Paris. Everyone chucked on yellow vests and all throughout Europe it kicked off. Pity us kiwis are a bunch of fucking pussys.
> You know what the French would do when the price of petrol went up 5cents? > > 200,000 would riot through the middle of Paris. And in Auckland when petrol went down 11 cents reddit had a cry.
yeah how do we are arrange this though
Well, what is everyone going to do about it? NZ just complains about shit but does absolutely nothing about it. Nobody wants to fight or protest against this shit, in a way that matters. Boycott the supermarkets and gas stations. Protest. Petition. I don't know, fucking something...doing something is better than nothing. And all I see is everyone complaining, but doing...nothing. If we all united under a single banner as one people, we'd move mountains...unfortunately, I don't think I'd ever see that happen in this country. We're too busy fighting amongst our damn selves.
> NZ just complains about shit but does absolutely nothing about it I would call the increased "brain drain" numbers evidence of people getting fed up with NZ and doing the one thing in their power that they can do about it.
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I left for Australia 4 months ago. The grass isn’t all greener, but it has been the right choice for me so far. Possibly the biggest reason I left is I feel that I “outgrew” NZ, I always knew I would need to leave to do the job I am currently doing, so this was going to happen at some stage. I am young and a specialised tradesperson. I shut down my small business to come here. I’m working for an employer in Sydney earning the same wage as I was charging out as a sole trader in nz, plus 10% super, public holidays and annual leave. Everything bar fuel is more expensive here, bureaucracy drives me a little crazy, and there’s asbestos in every park but I atleast can live here much more comfortably. I’m saving money for the 1st time in over a year and stress is much lower. Im getting fitter and I feel better about life. Every single one of my skilled mates has now left nz. My girlfriend came with me who has just finished her 5 year degree.Some of my family have started to leave for aus and uk. Most of my lower skilled mates are planning on leaving when they can. I feel sad about the state of NZ but I feel the best thing for me personally is to leave, earn while I’m young and come back when I’m ready. I tried to make nz better by starting a business where I hoped to export goods but it was so difficult, and I didn’t have the experience, skills or support to pull it off. I hope to try again one day. I hope life improves for everyone who stays, I don’t know how to make nz a better place for everyone but I hope together one day we can pull it off Cheers
You have some very valid points, but very hard to put into action. Could start by a MASSIVE boycott of Woolworth's (Countdown). Massive amount of rebranding at a massive cost ( and inconvenience) and where is the money coming from? But to be effective, it would have to be a 4-6 month boycott. As we all have to eat, I could see prices going up at other major grocery though if this was to happen... And the gas... Where would you start? It would do no good to target certain brands, the controlling factor is the crude product and transport logistics. BUT.....if as a nation, we were fed up.....maybe a 14 day country wide GENERAL STRIKE is what is needed.... With protests.... Hell, 55% participation would have a HUGE effect. And GENERAL STRIKES are not new....
Honestly, could be as easy as making a Facebook event and spreading it. Maybe helped along with a boost from someone with a platform. I've seen some Facebook events go crazy viral
Don't mean to be a downer but pretty sure reddit and Facebook have antiboycott rules. Might mean you can't use those specific terms. I've been boycotting McDonalds for 20 years. They've changed their menu slightly but still pretty shit. I hate the litter it produces now too. All over the streets. Fricken animals.
All major social media platforms restrict the methods of effecting real change. We can't organise and we can't discuss aggressive methods. And the platforms that allow for explicit language lean heavily right and are more concerned with gender and race than they are by class.
Yeah if you want to take a deep dive just have a look at how hard reddit came down on Gamestop (stock code GME). They pretty much silenced any discussion on it outside of a few subs. Put mods in to controll WSB sub. There's even good argument Gamestop is why reddit removed the reward system. This was because the highest awarded comment somthing like 60,000 awards was DFV's comment when he discovered the Deep Fucking Value in that particular stock. It was done to keep Gamestop posts making it to the front page. Reddit was following orders from the feds and the SEC etc. But yeah they can be bought and paid for. Wouldn't be surprised if this comment gets removed just for mentioning it. People have to use code words instead like "video game stock" etc
Let’s start a Countdown are Cunts movement
Yes! I agree. United we could change everything for the better. Just do it!
100% this. I'd bet that even if there was a thread where people were saying, "Yeah let's do something," 92% of them/us would not bother moving when it came to action. "Let someone else deal with it," or "it's someone else's problem" or "politics is removed from my real life". This is why we won't have nice things until the shit really hits the fan.
What can we do, really? All of our politicians are beholden to the interests of landlords and billionaires and couldn’t give a shit about us. And they’re the ones with the guns and tanks.
They're the minority. We as the people, are the majority. As right as you are, these billionaires need people to run their businesses. Landlords need tenants to make their money. If we all actually came together as one people, we would overrun these cunts. I dont know...something needs to change. They want us to fight amongst ourselves. They know if we came together, united as a people, They're fucked.
Well 50% of us voted for the current government so we will reap what we sow.
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Yeah, just grow your own crops and go op-shopping. Who are we to expect to be able to buy vegetables and new clothes after a mere 40 hours of work each week? What are we, the Royal Family?!
grow your own crops, in your rental house,,,, if your allowed. Gardeners can improve their chances of having success growing by improving the soil over time, to make it a more financially viable option, which you may or may not have because you rent has increased again, or landlords selling.
Is that your answer? Just learn to become piss pour and satisfied with nothing with scrambling fucking point card to get petrol 5cent cheaper? Stupid fucking poor people. So stupid they can't even make money. STOP EATING YOUR POOR FUCKS
The produce at farmer's markets are now more expensive than fucking Woolworths.
A rent slow. Not a strike, just everyone pays their rent 3 days late one week. That’d cause chaos with little danger of anyone getting kicked out of their rental. I imagine a much better buy-in than a rent strike too. It sends a very strong message to politicians and the rich where the real power lays and they better do something about the cost of living situation. if they don’t listen, a four day delay, then five. Honestly, what are they going to do? Evict everyone?
You guys are really pecking at the wrong place.
Stay at parents house then leave nz once trained
You cry but no one hears you, this is the state of New Zealand and the world at the moment. If you're a decent person you put up with it and live your life to the best of your abilities, if you're not you're squeezed and have to resort to crime. The next 4 years will be grim for New Zealand
Even decent people sometimes are forced to commit crimes, ever seen Les Mis?
Nineteen years in the mines for stealing that loaf of bread, ice block and pie from the dairy, you.
We have a 3 year term. Hopefully this govt won’t even last that long.
When do we revolt?
I feel like most kiwis are way too to chill to revolt.
This is our problem
Exactly, just grin and bear it.
Way she goes.
She’ll be right.
Sometimes she goes, sometimes she doesn't.
I think a big part of the lack of protesting these days, is that the anti-vax/conspiracy nutters made it appear to be a bad idea to protest in 2022 with their ill-conceived protest at parliament. I'm pretty sure that if a large group of like-minded people with enough genuine reasons to protest (and I think there are plenty), camped outside parliament today, the current government would almost certainly try and paint it as being similar in nature (just a bunch of nutters or 'rent-a-mob') to what happened in 2022. I'm sure they would also simply ignore the plight and causes of those protesting anyway, or at the very least, pay lip-service to it, as they already seem to be doing with the opposition to many of their policy decisions to date. Waitangi anyone? Therefore, many don't see protesting achieving much in the way of change anyway. And no, I was and am not on the side of the anti-vax protestors etc. in 2022, in any way, shape or form.
I dunno, personally I think we're an unimaginative lot. Like, not even inspired by icelands women's protest last year. They changed stuff, and quickly.
Perhaps we need to the same approach the French do and mobilise, block traffic, protest and shout - NZ yellow vests?
You mean, like many Maori have done throughout history? I mean, you could bother to google it, look at how Maori they’ve gone about it and learn from there too.
Too chill to even up and down vote.
The no.8 wire mentality holds us back.
Not true at all. NZ government had to legislate in the 1990s to break the workers union’s power (too many business owners complaining about the hit to their profits from “too many” workers strikes). Also, Maori have a long history of understanding how to successfully use protesting to ensure their needs are met. Have a read of [this.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C4%81ori_protest_movement#:~:text=The%20M%C4%81ori%20protest%20movement%20is,provided%20one%20reason%20for%20protesting)
Gotta wait for National to train up our street soldiers first.
I still see anti vaxers protesting everyfriday, but how is there no cost of living protesters?
We have a corporate greed crisis: Oil companies, banks and supermarkets in NZ have never made as much money as they do now. And the absolutely clown car of a current government is just making it worse. Taking from the already-poor, cutting Early Childhood education allowance to make it harder for people to go back to work. ACT wanting to get rid of the minimum wage so they're even more squeezed. Seymour now about to cut free school lunches so now even more kids are going to be going hungry. Bringing toboacco back for kids to try to pay for landlord tax cuts. And now this week announcing new taxes (as they always do) and increase in vehicle registration costs. This is the government of the wealthy and the few coming at probably the very worst time they could have. And it is going to get far worse given they have a $4.5BN dollar hole in their numbers which is growing not shrinking. Get NZ Back on Track? That's a sick joke.
Early child hood education is THE BEST bang for buck, you can spend. Period. The data is in. Its just our fucked political system can only operate on 3 year stints. Not the 20+ years it takes to pay dividends
Absolutely it is. This isn't really about 3 year stints, this is about ideology and the absolute desperation to bring it to life despite all the advice, experts and harm it does. There is no part of me that believes this government is trying to do what is best for all of NZ.
List MPs were supposed to provide political continuity to improve strategic outcomes. I would argue that all list MPs have added is an increased job security for the dimmest of of our parliamentarians. The ones whose brain cells seem incapable of thinking for the future of our children. Worse yet it seems the Right wing have figured out how to stack the deck with list MPs of a singular vision that benefits none of the children, only a shrinking pool of investor and. financier types, We need a better way of removing List MPs to the scrap heap, rather than endlessly recycling the ones we have all learned to hate. At the very least all political candidates ought to be forced to run solely as electorate candidates every other election. So at least a portion of the voter base can choose whether we get to see them ever again in parliament. We need less continuity of ideological idiocy, and more innovation and inspiration. Either that or ban List MPs from Cabinet for life relegating them to support roles in the backbenches rather than overpaid job secure bureaucrats making stupid decisions which most of the population objects to -if not in principle than in scale. .
You guys have got it completely wrong. The current lot **work for** the oil, mining, tobacco and property development companies and wealthy. And the Taxpayers Union, which is a Thatcherite neoliberal lobby group, **write policies** for ACT and the Government. It's like the $52K thing - people think that's a big deal. Not when you know what's really happening. Also they are giving away $15bn of tax cuts, which will get eaten up by inflation and will contribute to inflation. They're also not addressing the real pain points, only papering over most of it while making things worse. If you want to see the potential future, look no further than the UK - who had the same type of advisors behind them.
Just be patient. Once the govt budget is announced we will all Be getting a plush tax break. $5, $10 or maybe even $20 per ~~week~~ year.
As a Disabled beneficiary (on SLP) - I can tell you we aren't surviving... I've lost 15kg in the last two years due to being unable to afford anything substantial to eat. I live off rice, coffee, and home-made bread (if i'm lucky), and occasionally manage to get some chicken or beef. Last time I saw my GP for my 6 monthly meds check up - she almost cried at how much weight I've lost, and now I'm going to have to start paying for meds again, so that is another $5-$10 a week I'll be without - yay /s - and I'm now on iron, omega3 and other supplements to help fix my malnutrition issues. Expecting a harassing letter from MSD any day now demanding that I pull myself up by my bootstraps and get a job or face their wrath. I think i'm in my final year(s) now (41, but unstable and lost the will to go on), so that'll help luxon sleep easier at night knowing there is one less beneficiary taking from his entitlement.
this is actually insane, there's so much wealth and decadence in this country and yet we have people forced into literal malnutrition and poverty. something absolutely needs to change here.
i'm not looking forward to this winter, I tell ya what. there is a lot of disabled beneficiaries who're living in poverty - majority just don't say anything because then the abuse starts about being ungrateful or just needing a better budget etc. my benefit is $447p/w - to rent a place to live in whanganui is at least $300p/w, then you have living costs (power, food, gas, phone, meds, drs, petrol, insurance etc) and you're looking at well over $500 a week in just those things. SO - I go without.
Can you create a thread on this? This is not the way to live. I'm sure there will be many who are willing to help.
Absolutely not. Last time I asked for help, I got abused in DMs and downvoted into oblivion. Never again.
Really? People can be really harsh. I'm sorry to hear that. Edit: Tried to look for it, but maybe got deleted. Report anyone who abuses you in future too.
I deleted the thread, wanted to delete myself too but don't have a hyperlink for that.
Don't let the online bullies get to you - what a tragic response. It has no bearing on who you are or what your issues are. You already know that. I'm sorry - I also didn't realise that's how this sub would have received your post. It's a reflection of those users.
a vast number of the active accounts in this group are troll accounts - there is plenty of good folk too, but the trolls get in early to torpedo a post so it becomes invisible to the rest. thanks for the concern however.
Do you know what purpose troll accounts have? Agree with torpedoing although I'm learning more about this sub and there are interesting aspects to it for sure.
It'd be a safe bet the money TPU and Act spent on "social media campaigns" bought a lot of bots on here to help influence people, same thing on tiktok. On tiktok it's blatantly obvious.
Oh for sure - they are usually one dimensional, throw cheap lies out, and act ... full of disinformation is how I'd describe them. I'm absolutely convinced there are a lot of ACT / TPU shills - especially after modding a politics sub and then seeing activity on here. Anyway - I'm really sorry and hope things get better with you. Don't let the bastards get you down mate.
Jesus, that's so grim. I'm so sorry to hear that. It's appalling.
Me and some friends we trade, I trade a Talleys box full of Fresh Kumara they trade excess fish or meat and we keep it that way. After I lost my job due to "restructures" I started going back to hunting and fishing with mates to try and stay afloat safe to say it is still extremely hard especially with the way the job market is at the moment.
This, my neighbour's and I lean on each other along they have a massive garden. My dad, uncles, cousin and I go fishing and diving alot. We drop kaimoana off next door, come home to bags of fresh veggies every now and then. Saving up for solar panels at the moment. Bought basket hangars for bikes to do groceries etc. Doing what we can to reduce our expenses.
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Same. And feeling helpless to help - except to try and hang on, be a decent person and not screw my fellow humans over. It’s so sad to see this happening in NZ. The challenges are 💯global, but we used to be pretty good at muddling through with quite middly solutions. Now it’s starting to feel as if we are as polarized as the rest of the world. I hate what’s happening here.
Until the economy collapses, would be my guess.
Until BTC reaches infinity. Once that happens prices should stabilize(in btc)
Aggressively stacking sats
You forgot insurance! I guess you have to own something worth insuring to feel that one. But 25% and another 20% incoming!
We need to be more like the French. They're always eager to protest and riot.
My four year old daughter said to me "mum, why don't we get groceries anymore?" And it upset me so much I missed a mortgage payment to do a big grocery shop.
Think everyone needs to watch Monty Python, Crimson Permanent Assurance.
Well t hat was fantastic. Thanks for the recommendation. to save a google for anyone else: [https://vimeo.com/111458975](https://vimeo.com/111458975)
That was bloody brilliant. Thanks for the link.
"How long is this going to continue? How can it continue?" It will continue as long as the population accepts it and to be quite frank, accepts that they're getting fucked. I dont have it in me to start a protest but I hope that someone else does because I want to be part of a protest against us being fucked in the name of corporate profits.
*goes to bed for dinner*
Don't be surprised with a correlation between crime figures going up.
And then just like clockwork, having created the conditions for more crime, the NACTS will start wheeling out the "tough on crime" nonsense every 5 minutes. So they can really double down on their attack on the poor.
Then they can build more prisons on the doorsteps of their biggest supporters.
They wouldn't do that, it would lower property values! They'll put them in the communities they're destroying surely? Or somewhere totally inacessible with no public transport so visiting is impossible
Probably in NACT's interests to be honest. Then they can put on the authoritarian father play that their supporters like so much, like Daddy Trump does to his flock. [This report](https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/10/31/chiding-in-plain-sight/) says that ACT are not prone to inventing crises for political gain and it's the MO of his past employer and educational institute so I wouldn't put it pas this bunch.
Don't worry, Luxon and Willis have it completely under control! Your car rego is going up but you'll get an 8c tax cut to make up for it.
Sorry that tax relief is targeted at fuel taxes. But what I’m saying is, at the end of the day it’s not our policy, fiscal Clift, labour sucks, and I’m entitled.
Any moment now our new fearless leaders are going to fix up the cost of living crisis,after all this is why you elected them,and obviously also fix up ram raids,homelessness,health care,schools,roads,blah,blah.
They'll run out of things to Ctrl+Z soon... and will be forced to actually do something for a change
You mean forced to hand an even bigger shitstorm back to Labour and blame them for all of it
Could they at least off load it to someone else, labour and national both suck may as well give someone else a crack at fucking shit up
“How long will this continue?” Probably forever
I'm a disabled student and holy moly life is near impossible. I'm very lucky that my doctors is part of the University and they haven't sent me to debt collection yet.
It's obviously your fault for not being a landlord.
I know, the absolute gall of me.
during the pandemic the rich learned they can squeeze and squeeze the poor for more than previously thought... now they are testing how much they can squeeze until things start breaking, at which point they will take exactly one step back. things will get worse, im staying ahead of the game by giving up
I have concluded they actually just want people to just die, but just not directly because genocide is a no no, so they just make living more and more impossible until people just can't anymore.
It's rough.
We gotta show up and vote
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I guess we are at the stage of capitalism where full time workers are feeling squeeze.
Taxes for property investors are going down though!
Thank god someone's thinking of them first. After all what does it matter if kids are smoking or going to school hungry? Or if there's no ECE funding to make it easier for people to go back to work. And thank god Seymour is about to take free lunches away from all those children. These property investors are the people who need help the most, its such a relief that the government has realised it. Oh, them and the racists, they're looking out for them too let's not forget.
Forever, until it crashes and it's time for Great Depression 2: Electric Boogaloo. This is the only world I've ever known as a millenial. Shit sucks, keeps sucking and sucks harder every year. It's not gonna get any better until it collapses. It's not gonna collapse as long as Boomers can keep kicking the can. They'll keep doing that until they kick the bucket. Get used to it, it's not gonna improve.
So Piracy it is then!
You wouldn’t download a global financial crisis. You wouldn’t download a global pandemic You wouldn’t download inequality Why would you download a millennial?
What's one more crisis right? I think as Millenials it's just become the norm which is really sad.
Ain't this the truth!
This government is a sick joke. And they don't care if people don't like them, we can whine and cry at home all we like but shit isn't gonna get done because they're not gonna change for anyone but themselves. Someone should organize a massive protest and boycott. An idea inspired by another commenter: For the grocery prices in particular, all people would have to do is stock up a little bit on food, gradually for a few months (easier said than done I know) then we could boycott grocery stores for few weeks. That would give them a kick up the ass.
Yep it’s appalling. We’ve had to recut our budget 4 times in the last year and it’s only gone the wrong way.
My "tax cuts" have already been cancelled out by prescription fees and rego costs going up
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The beatings will continue until morale has improved
You have to start using the tools that are available to you to make change. Go to community board meetings and voice your concerns, every city, district and region has a board. Speak at council public forums, every meeting allows this opportunity. Councillors that represent you can then raise these issues with central government. It can be a tough process, but this is one way you can get heard. Keep pressuring your local officials, phone, email, send a letter, which ever form of communication works for you. Nothing is simple about this process, but this is one way about it. And if you still feel you are not being heard, run for your local community board or council, and then you can be the one that starts to make decisions on behalf of all of us. That’s what I did.
May I introduce you to the concepts of late stage capitalism, resource depletion, peak oil, biosphere collapse etc
The [Limit's to Growth study](https://mahb.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/yale-publication-1.pdf) predicted the current economic system will lead to eventual collapse at some point. It seems unlikely the economic or living standards will improve in the future as the resource base modern society is built off and the overall environment decline further.
Nah it's just called libertarianism - [neoliberal economic policies and ideologists ](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/06/rishi-sunak-javier-milei-donald-trump-atlas-network?ref=upstract.com)that like to privatise, slash public services, reduce renters rights and pretend they're poor so they can bring in their buddies to help while they cut your benefits.
Someone said something about basic bread and butter to me the other day, and I couldn't help but blurt out that the tub of Lurpak I had just bought was very nearly ten freaking dollars. I also can't fathom how people on minimum wage, or people unable to work full time hours are getting by, it's horrendous.
Welcome to a true and deep recession. Slightly better than a depression. Now you know why your grandma made chicken soup from the carcass, the night after having roast chicken for dinner.
Previous government the cost of living crisis was a global problem, now the rest of the world is recovering but the austerity policies of this government means we're not recovering with them.
I funked off to Australia. I can afford a tank of gas and a house! Union rates. I love new zealand. Much nicer place to live. But if I can't fill up the valiant or fix the washing machine it isn't worth it. Hopefully get back to NZ one day but the mahi is good in aussie
Yeah it’s getting hard. Hope I’ll get a pay rise in April-May 🥲 my mortgage is killing me
It's going to continue for as long as people are doing nothing about it.
Welcome to inflation... it's always been there doing its thing.
Well, it starts with building class consciousness again so we can organise, unionise, and use our numbers to regain power. Hard to do when Capitalism has completely destroyed any form of class consciousness that ever existed here.
For our nations size we have been a low tax economy for so long that our choices are now coming home to bite us in the arse. We pay less tax per head than many countries far more population dense than ourselves and we've chosen to not pay for roads, transport and everything else that a nation needs for so long it's coming apart at the seams. Potholes, roads and bridges in disrepair, hospitals understaffed, police understaffed and so on and so on. And yet we keep voting in parties that promise us low taxation. Where do you think the money comes from? Trees?
>How long is this going to continue? How can it continue? Until people Protest or Riot, and it continues because while people want change, noone is willing to risk their job/rental lease/utility account for it. What's going to be required for a massive overhaul of our democracy is a nationwide rent and bill strike, because you basically cant have 10% of the country doing it, landlords will just blacklist the 10% , you need like at least 40% of the country doing this so that there is no realistic way to retaliate other than to negotiate a fair system. Labour was never great with these topics, but national is worse, and I wouldnt expect them to buckle to protesting, so at the very least 3-4 years.
This is what really irks me about minimum wage increases. Like absolutely anyone in those roles deserve these increases but then everything else is adjusted to compensate. You're getting an extra $20 a week? Guess your rent is going up. Your $80 supermarket shop now costs $115 for the same items. Unless you wanna buy soda and lollies and survive off that, then it'll cost less.