Tag Archives: urbanisation

Ten years of stress in New Zealand

Posted on 20th Feb, 2016 by Puddleglum

The 5th anniversary of Canterbury’s devastating earthquake on 22nd February, 2011 is looming. A recent after-shock of 5.7 magnitude quake has provided added stress to an already stressed population. There have been recent reports of increased suicides and suicide-related calls, depression and anxiety in … Continue reading →

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‘How Green was my East Frame?’

Posted on 9th Nov, 2013 by Puddleglum

It looks like the green highlighter that was used to ‘Wow’ the population of Christchurch in the original Central City Blueprint has faded already. The images above can be found in the online article from The Press ‘Green space shrunk … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Earthquakes, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Coming up for air in the New Jerusalem

Posted on 26th Aug, 2012 by Puddleglum

The grand plan for New Zealand’s own ‘New Jerusalem’ has been revealed. The excited assurances that, indeed, the Promised Land has been glimpsed have been echoing around the media ( e.g., here, here, here, here, here and here) – fired in perfect sequence, like a 21 gun salute. … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Earthquakes, Economics, Freedom, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Underneath the ‘underclass’

Posted on 29th Jul, 2012 by Puddleglum

Joe Bageant died on the 26th of March last year. Apparently, he was sometimes referred to as an American ‘leftneck’ – which is not a bad label for him. Bageant’s book (and, more generally, his literary life) has been devoted to laying … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Economics, Education, Free Market, Human Wellbeing, New Zealand Politics, Welfare | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Disdaining democracy

Posted on 25th Apr, 2012 by Puddleglum

All those years ago – you know, way back when John Key wasn’t the Prime Minister – the populace, so we found out, was getting restless. Its main complaint about the government of the day was that it was ‘off … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Economics, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Right’s Dependence on Welfare

Posted on 15th May, 2011 by Puddleglum

A recent comment by Don Brash [about 7mins45secs into the video] gave me the clue as to why the right are so dependent on the ‘welfare’ argument. They are, to put it bluntly, dependent on ‘welfare’ as the explanation for all … Continue reading →

Posted in Free Market, Human Nature, Human Wellbeing, Labour, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Christchurch, 2020 – Would we want to live there?

Posted on 15th Mar, 2011 by Puddleglum

The one question so many people in Christchurch are asking is “Should I stay or should I go?” The motivation to stay – for those with the ability to leave – will depend on whether or not there is a … Continue reading →

Posted in New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

‘Mother of harlots and earth’s abominations’

Posted on 17th Oct, 2010 by Puddleglum

Saturday Morning on Radio New Zealand National featured Doug Saunders – journalist and author – talking about his book ‘Arrival Cities: How the largest Migration in History is Reshaping Our World‘. You can go here for the link to the … Continue reading →

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