The term “social housing “ annoys me. It makes the divisions in our society clear. You need “social housing” if you haven’t got the necessary abilities to make it in a free market economy. We own real estate because we grew up in ex state houses, had free education to university level and could afford our first steps into real estate. We…
The term “social housing “ annoys me. It makes the divisions in our society clear. You need “social housing” if you haven’t got the necessary abilities to make it in a free market economy. We own real estate because we grew up in ex state houses, had free education to university level and could afford our first steps into real estate. We are well off now not because of what we earned as teachers, but because of the growth in value of real estate and inheritance. The economy we have run for the last forty years is crap. It’s made housing so unaffordable for many that we need to promote “social housing” provided not by the government, but by those individuals that care enough to make an effort to right a wrong that should not be there.
I hear you Bruce, perhaps the term ‘public housing’ might be less derogatory? Important also to acknowledge that the education I got in the 60’s was not free, it was socially provided through taxation. Likewise our health system was overwhelmingly funded out of taxes. State housing,as it was called then, grew out of the policies of the First Labour Government in the 30s and 40s as a part of broad state funded response to the Great Depression. We were proud of our collective efforts to build public infrastructure such as hydro power stations, forest resources, etc. Only the arrival of neoliberalism with Thatcher, Reagan and to our shame, the Fourth Labour Government in 1984, did public education, tax funded housing, community banks ( here in Ōtautahi it was the Canterbury Savings Bank) and much more, were loudly pronounced as for the bludgers who were too lazy to get off our bums. Community assets like our post offices, banks, railway… and our stock of public housing were sold off. Yes, if you had a job still, you might pick up a state house at a reasonable market price. As a country, as a community we suffered a huge blow. The sale, the fire sale, of our socially owned resources has left millions of us in poverty. We need to get back to a spot where “social” ownership is something to be proud of. That step will help stop the drain of our youngsters across the ditch and make us feel proud again.
Totally in agreement with you Maurice. Just one part of the picture to pick on. Energy. Fundamentally important to our society. Hydro schemes built relatively quickly via taxation. Sold off for way less than it was worth. Now we have a system that is supposed work like a market, but can’t because we only have one connection per dwelling. The energy sector continues to make poor decisions because of importance of “profits”. Building for the future or factoring in climate change not happening. It’s one of the key sectors of our society that needs to be owned by society ie the government.
I worked as a bus driver for the Christchurch Transport Board until it was ‘deregulated’ at the end of the 80’s. The assets were valued at $50m when they were sold to the CCC-owned Red Bus Company for $5m. The sale included 6 as-yet to be delivered brand new vehicles valued at over $5m, plus the CTB building assets, land, etc. Within a few years the competitive tendering system put the city council company out of business and those public assets were lost. For the bus workers the deregulated system, including the soon to follow Employment Contracts Act demolished our wages and conditions, not to mention our community. The current public transport in Ōtautahi is in better shape than the national energy system you mention. But that’s a low bar.
The term “social housing “ annoys me. It makes the divisions in our society clear. You need “social housing” if you haven’t got the necessary abilities to make it in a free market economy. We own real estate because we grew up in ex state houses, had free education to university level and could afford our first steps into real estate. We are well off now not because of what we earned as teachers, but because of the growth in value of real estate and inheritance. The economy we have run for the last forty years is crap. It’s made housing so unaffordable for many that we need to promote “social housing” provided not by the government, but by those individuals that care enough to make an effort to right a wrong that should not be there.
I hear you Bruce, perhaps the term ‘public housing’ might be less derogatory? Important also to acknowledge that the education I got in the 60’s was not free, it was socially provided through taxation. Likewise our health system was overwhelmingly funded out of taxes. State housing,as it was called then, grew out of the policies of the First Labour Government in the 30s and 40s as a part of broad state funded response to the Great Depression. We were proud of our collective efforts to build public infrastructure such as hydro power stations, forest resources, etc. Only the arrival of neoliberalism with Thatcher, Reagan and to our shame, the Fourth Labour Government in 1984, did public education, tax funded housing, community banks ( here in Ōtautahi it was the Canterbury Savings Bank) and much more, were loudly pronounced as for the bludgers who were too lazy to get off our bums. Community assets like our post offices, banks, railway… and our stock of public housing were sold off. Yes, if you had a job still, you might pick up a state house at a reasonable market price. As a country, as a community we suffered a huge blow. The sale, the fire sale, of our socially owned resources has left millions of us in poverty. We need to get back to a spot where “social” ownership is something to be proud of. That step will help stop the drain of our youngsters across the ditch and make us feel proud again.
Totally in agreement with you Maurice. Just one part of the picture to pick on. Energy. Fundamentally important to our society. Hydro schemes built relatively quickly via taxation. Sold off for way less than it was worth. Now we have a system that is supposed work like a market, but can’t because we only have one connection per dwelling. The energy sector continues to make poor decisions because of importance of “profits”. Building for the future or factoring in climate change not happening. It’s one of the key sectors of our society that needs to be owned by society ie the government.
I worked as a bus driver for the Christchurch Transport Board until it was ‘deregulated’ at the end of the 80’s. The assets were valued at $50m when they were sold to the CCC-owned Red Bus Company for $5m. The sale included 6 as-yet to be delivered brand new vehicles valued at over $5m, plus the CTB building assets, land, etc. Within a few years the competitive tendering system put the city council company out of business and those public assets were lost. For the bus workers the deregulated system, including the soon to follow Employment Contracts Act demolished our wages and conditions, not to mention our community. The current public transport in Ōtautahi is in better shape than the national energy system you mention. But that’s a low bar.
We’ve work to do. Together. ✊🏼