Posts by Steve Barnes
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Speaker: Talking past each other:…, in reply to mark taslov,
Thank you Mark.
Nice to see someone take what I say on board and offer another perspective, rather than just snidely attacking or, God forbid, editing my comments….Your comments on tobacco as a way of gouging taxation, from a hopelessly addicted population, is a pure example of the way I see the world operating these days, exploit the weak, oh, hang on, that’s been going on a while, we should have grown out of that by now.
But this is a gem…For those calling for taxation, I see this as an ideal opportunity to ask how much tax will be enough and and what point might that taxation cross the line from a reasonable measure for improving public health to cynical income generation off the back of addiction ~ with possible undesirable side effects such as losing control of supply, pricing; the market essentially.
Very close to…
For those calling for taxation, I see this as an ideal opportunity to ask how much tax will be enough and and what point might that taxation cross the line from a reasonable measure for improving society to cynical income generation off the back of addiction ~ with possible undesirable side effects such as losing control.
Which is how I would have liked to put it
;-) -
Speaker: Talking past each other:…, in reply to Bart Janssen,
It would be nice if there was a way of only affecting the producer
Well if you take my examples of alienation you could say that the producers are the only ones that pay, in terms of money, and the victim is forced to conform to society's norm, which is good, isn't it? well, it worked for Hi.... (I will avoid the obvious Godwin there)
There is, of course more subtle and positive ways of achieving the same result, less market for the bad guys and a better outcome for the victim*, Marketing Control as you put it.
Public education, Advertising campaigns, bumper stickers, whatever. These things cost money so taxation is the way to go but take it from the general tax, not a special tax. After all, it is Society as a whole that is demanding the change.* Victim isn't really the right word here but I think it serves to illustrate the point about labeling* in this instance.
* I am not talking about food labeling here...
;-) -
Access: The Meltdown, in reply to T. Rawhiti-Forbes,
I realised I just didn’t see the world the way others seemed to.
That may just be the key…
I don’t think anybody can see the world as others see it.
We may have consensus on many things but that doesn’t mean we “see” them the same.
ie. I see a red chair and we agree, it is “red”, we have been told that when our brain receives this response it means ” the colour of this object is red”How do we reconcile this?
Well…When the retina is hit with light with light of a particular frequency, in this case between say 650 and 750 nm, it reacts in a way that is as individual as a fingerprint, it sends that to our brain, which reacts in a way that is as individual as a fingerprint…..
This, of course, is fine but we have far more senses than colour recognition.
When you consider this, its a wonder we can live as a society at all.
So…
If you think that you are the only person that “sees” the world the way you do, then you are completely right, its the others you have to worry about…. -
Hard News: Media Take: The Panama Papers, in reply to Alfie,
I get the feeling there’s a lot more to come as diligent journalists work their way through these millions of documents.
Or
I get the feeling there would be a lot more to come if we had enough diligent journalists to work their way through these millions of documents.
[fify]
;-) -
Speaker: Talking past each other:…, in reply to Russell Brown,
Hi Steve. I edited a par out of the comment above. It was a bit tone-deaf.
Jeez….
How openly tone-deafist of you…
Unfair to the tone impaired...
:-( -
Speaker: Talking past each other:…, in reply to Danielle,
I’m fat. I’m in my 40s. I currently don’t have any health problems. I never really have (except the ones caused by pregnancy). THE FATTIES WALK AMONG US. We all need to think about how we talk about this. You know?
I’m sorry Danielle, I just assumed from your Avatar that you were quite svelte, I really didn’t have any idea that you considered yourself anything else.
I was brought up to believe that “fat” people were happy people and people came in all kinds of shapes, sizes and demeanors, people are people. I am also one of those people that think it stinks that there is an “Ideal” weight, shape and personality, there is not.Anyway, there is a subject we were discussing. Is a sugar tax needed?
Personally I consider the problem lies with those that profit from the consumption of vast amounts of unnecessary anything, be it sugar, tobacco, alcohol, prescription drugs…. I could go on.
Will a tax on these things help? We have seen a huge decrease in tobacco consumption with the increase in taxation but who pays? the offender or the victim?.
I can’t see a way to make the offender pay, they will just pass the cost on to the people addicted to their product.
Let’s see what has worked in the past. Smokers have become a pariah and so less people smoke. Drunk drivers have become social enemies and their actions treated as crimes with no allowance for alcoholics that could be seen as having a medical problem rather than a homicidal bent. Alienation is a tool of the worst kind so the ends have to justify the means.
If these things were seen as a social problem and that society beats the will of the individual then we must ask “Is being considered “overweight” a social problem that harms society as a whole and if it is how do we reduce the social harm?”
Personally I think being considered “over the perceived perfect mass” is a social problem, we shouldn’t all have to be like Kate Moss, the problem is that the message society is getting is that we should.
If you are happy with yourself then I am happy for you too, if your weight is making you sick then, maybe, you should do something about it.And hey, Russ, just because it didn’t help doesn’t mean I didn’t try.
-
Speaker: Talking past each other:…, in reply to Bart Janssen,
I have to admit I don’t feel comfortable (safe) knowing that discussions about the discussion are going on elsewhere.
Its a shame but there always has been and always will be people that will talk behind your back, I think it comes from an insecurity thing, if they are too frightened to say it to your face then its not worth taking on board. I kind of pity them and let it be.
-
Latest offence taking breaking "News"
Farmers apologises for 'hurt and offence' of Mother's Day email"Your mother sent us her wish list".
I clicked on it expecting to see something like "I wish I hadn't died" but it just turned out to be some kind of promo for that Mother exploiting sales day..
Do these copy writing people ever consider anything that is not about them or their tiny world?. -
Rachel Glucina @RachelGlucinaNZ
The most visionary & inspiring leader I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with has resigned. #markweldon #mediaworkshttpHerald
9:15 AM – 4 May 2016Well, her last boss was Shayne Currie.
eta
I did hear someone say about Weldon…
“It is a privilege to know and work for him…
Well, he seems to think so…” -
I thought I saw Weldon on TV3 last night but apparently, it was some other c**t
When will it end?