My Kiwi friend shows us how we could be living
I have a friend who lives in New Zealand.
Not long ago I asked him what he thought about America. He sent a lengthy reply. He prefaced it with a description of how people in New Zealand live.
As I said, this is long, but I think it’s worth every minute of your time because it will show you once and for all how the people of enlightened democracies live, and how WE could be living were it not for our selfishness and stupidity.
—
My impression of the American government and its system. This is from someone looking from the outside in and may not be correct but before I start with that this is what it is like in New Zealand. Here in New Zealand, we base our lives on caring and helping others that may need a helping hand. Our health system is geared up where most of the cost is covered by the government. There are waiting times for surgery, but you can go private and it will be done straight away. There is social housing for those who need it both at the government level and at the local council level. It is not all rosie, as you do find people on the streets and there are beggars. You just need to be careful as it is a living for some and at the end of the day they go home to their own houses. Our lives are not ruled and controlled by the need to work as we put a lot into a well-balanced work and social life.
We have 4 weeks paid holiday where you are encouraged to take two weeks off in one go to spend with the family. The other two weeks are used how and when you like. There is two weeks sick leave, and you are encouraged to take time off if you have a cold as going to work will spread it and more people will be off. You can have 3 days off without a doctor’s certificate but after that you need to get one to cover more time off. You can take up to one week’s bereavement leave for each death in the family. Companies are very supportive and will often send flowers as a show of respect. Sick leave is accumulated and so when (my wife) went through her breast cancer a couple of years back, I was off work for six weeks supporting her during that time as I had accumulated so much leave over the years.
Pensions are paid by the government every two weeks to everyone over 65yrs no matter how much money they have and it is not means tested. When I work, the job is considered my first income and is subjected to a tax scale while my pension is considered secondary income and taxed at a higher rate. During the three winter months I receive extra payment to cover heating costs. We get a “Gold Card” that allows me to travel on the public transport system at reduced cost and in some cases no cost. The card allows me to get cheaper petrol at one set of stations and is a guaranteed 15 cents off per litre. The card can also be used on a Tuesday to gain 5% off your grocery bill at one company stores.
There is maternity leave for the woman as well as the father that is government paid for up to six months. There is no cost associated with having a child and there is subsidized childcare for the young and free schooling. The first year at university is free then you apply for an interest free loan from the government. Once you finish university, the loan must be paid back over a period of time at an amount you can afford, however if you leave the country then you start to pay interest on the loan. There is free dental care and doctor’s visits for children up to the age of 18 and reduced doctor fees for the over 65’s.
People work a 40hr week normally consisting of 5x8hr days. If you are required to work outside of these hours, then your pay rate becomes 1.5 normal rate for the first 3hrs and then 2.0 normal rate after that. You can also add in meal allowances and other extras. I once had a job where I was paid dirt money, height money and wet money for working outside in the rain. We have a minimum pay rate of about $24/hr so there is no need to pay tips. You can if you want but it is not necessary. We do our best to look after people in need.
Our government is elected every 4yrs. One leading party is into social justice and green issues. The other side supports farming, business and infrastructure. Under that government I have always done well and was always a high-income earner never needing government support in any way. When it is time to vote the parties tell you what they want to do and you vote on those principles. There is no bribery of officials to try and get things done and no underhanded things happening. Everything is above board.
Getting back to your question. (In America) I see two parties with people wanting to feather their own nests even taking money to help get things passed into legislation. The GOP seem to be the worse and are only there for get the most for themselves and their friends. I see the government running out of money to pay their employees at times because it is being held to ransom by the other party.
The court system seems to be a mess where judges are appointed for life by a president who will protect him with outlandish rulings in his favour, I refer to Judge Cannon. How can a convicted felon be able to gain office is beyond belief.
You have an incoming President threatening to take over Greenland and the Panama Cannel. He has indicated that he will add 25% tariffs to Canada and Mexico. He does not seem to realize that it is the American people that will be paying the 25%, not the exporting country, all they will do is find another market for their goods when Americans stop buying them because of the high price.
Nepotism seems to be rife with the incoming President giving key positions to family. It reminds me of a third world democracy and is very dangerous to producing a dictator.
I have a Kiwi friend living in America for the last 25yrs, he does not like Trump but voted for him anyway. He could not give me an answer as to why he did it. The lies told during the campaign such as immigrants eating the cats and dogs of their neighbors is outrageous and yet people believed it.
You have a great country that would be one of the richest in the world but there does not seem to be any social and moral obligation to the poor and needy. Our police are not armed here in New Zealand where yours are, I get why they need to be, but when a child can take a gun to school and kill teachers and fellow students then there is something wrong with society.
Our ambassadors to other countries are career people and retired politicians. They are selected by the government to represent the people of New Zealand; they are not given the position due to how much money was donated to elect a president or because he is a friend.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
This is just a random photo of me I took today while out in the freezing cold getting my 3 miles of walking in.
During the run-up to the Nov. 5 election I heard of Trump supporters who said they wouldn’t mind seeing Obamacare repealed but they didn’t want the Affordable Care Act touched. The ACA was their health insurance provider and they liked it just fine.
Ever since then I’ve been trying to think of a tactful way of giving them bad the news, because that’s what I am now. Tactful. Nice. I’m trying to reinvent myself. In the past I would have lashed out, calling them stupid, or MAGAts, or orcs. But now I’m trying to be a kinder, gentler Del … (even though I’m surrounded with seething stupidity – OK, not gonna go there).
I think I’ve come up with something and I wanted to run it past you guys to see how it sounds, OK? So here goes. This is what I came up with:
Hi there.
You know who Snoop Dogg is, don’t you? Everyone knows who Snoop Dogg is – hell, even I know who Snoop Dogg is, and I’m so out of touch with pop culture I thought rage farming was some kind of organic chicken.
Anyway, you do know that Snoop Dogg is not his actual name. It’s not as if his mother, Mrs. Dogg, went to the hospital, gave birth to a bouncing baby boy and named him Snoop.
No. His real name is Calvin Broadus Jr. “Snoop Dogg” is his nom de plume, his stage name, his street name if you will. But at the end of the day Calvin Broadus Jr. and Snoop Dog are the same person.
Obamacare has the same relationship with the Affordable Care Act. Obamacare is the “street name,” if you will, for the Affordable Care Act. But at the end of the day, Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act are the same thing.
Some of you are beginning to realize you have made a terrible mistake, that by voting for candidates who said they would repeal Obamacare, you voted to have your own health insurance gutted.
I know this is happening because some of you are going to Google and typing in, “Can I change my vote?”
Well, no, you can’t change your vote. Voting is not like going to Walmart and buying a pair of nose-hair trimmers and realizing they’re the wrong size so you take them back and try to get a refund. Voting is non-refundable.
But don’t freak out. All is not lost. There is one thing you can do.
If these politicians – who YOU helped elect – end up gutting your health insurance, you have one option. And I say this entirely without rancor. I’m not being sarcastic. I’m not trying to be a wise guy.
If these politicians – who YOU helped elect – end up gutting your health insurance, do this:
Don’t get sick.
It’s as simple as that.
Just don’t get sick.
For the next four years, don’t get sick.
Think of it this way: Remember when you were a kid, and you were stuck in the car with Mom and Dad on some long road trip, and Dad was driving and you had to pee real bad but Dad didn’t want to stop so you had to hold it in until Dad got tired and pulled over? Remember that?
Well, that’s what you have to do now. Hold it in.
For the next four years, if you get sick, just hold it in until we can get somebody back in the White House who might reinstate your health insurance.
I know. That’s not the news you were hoping to hear. I’m sorry.
But that’s all I got. And now it’s time to go.
So good luck, and goodbye.
About the author:
Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”
Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.
As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.
Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .
Image courtesy of Netflix.
“Don’t Look Up” Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothee Chalamet, Ron Pearlman, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi and others. Directed by Adam McKay. Two hours, 18 minutes. Rated R. Netflix.
Del’s take
An existential threat is hurtling our way and what does the president of the United States want to do?
“Sit tight and assess,” decides President Orlean (Meryl Streep), who fears an approaching apocalypse might cost her party the midterm elections.
That’s the message of “Don’t Look Up,” a hilarious yet stinging denunciation of many things – our leadership’s response to the climate change crisis, the empty-headedness of American culture, the corrosive influence of social media and metrics, and the dehumanizing fist of runaway capitalism. It is the new “Idiocracy” and it arrives just in time to skewer all the people who deserve a sharp stick in the eye.
The story is about a milquetoast, Walter Mitty-style astronomer (Leonardo DiCaprio as Professor Randall Mindy) and his edgy PhD candidate assistant (Jennifer Lawrence as Kate Dibiasky) who discover a planet-killing comet that will smack Earth in six months. They discreetly sound the alarm only to discover the authorities, who don’t understand the science and don’t care, will not respond to the crisis unless it serves their interests. So Mindy and Dibiasky whistleblow the story to the media, where it lands with an apathetic thud. Most people are more invested in the breakup of two popular singers, Riley Bina (Ariana Grande) and DJ Chello (Kid Cudi). As doom becomes an undeniable reality the government staggers into action by entrusting the fate of the planet to a whackjob Elon Musk-style billionaire (Mark Rylance as Peter Isherwell), who wants to break up the comet into smaller pieces and let them collide with the Earth so the fragments can be mined – by his telecommunications company, Bash – for precious metals crucial to the manufacture of smart phones. All that’s left is negotiating with the countries to be annihilated over how much money they want for their dead.
“Don’t Look Up” offers more Oscar-fueled star power than a map of the Milky Way, and many of the performances are better than strong. DiCaprio as hapless Dr. Mindy channels a furious Howard Beale (Peter Finch in “Network”) when he finally revolts against the frustrating ennui of 21st century America, while Jennifer Lawrence effectively portrays the optimism of youth as it dashed against the rocks of the corrupt, self-serving inertia that serves as leadership these days. Meryl Streep evokes a dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks, Donald Trump-style president whose only strong suit is a kind of animal cunning, while Cate Blanchett, as the glib yet shallow peroxide blonde who leads Dr. Mindy astray and then abandons him when he becomes a liability, perfectly portrays the fickleness of American media.
A few other performances worth mentioning: Ariana Grande is a hilarious Riley Bina, as is Mark Rylance as Isherwell, which I suspect is a composite of Musk and Steve Jobs. And Jonah Hill as the juvenile White House chief of staff (and Orlean’s son) makes you want to reach through the screen and slap him. The one performance that left me cold was Timothee Chalamet’s Yule, though at one point he offers a prayer for the ages.
“Don’t Look Up” has gotten mixed reviews. Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com calls it “McKay’s worst film yet” while Charles Bramesco of The Guardian dismisses it as a “disaster.” The New York Times and CNN were more merciful. The complaint centers around the jokes and caricatures, which they say are lowbrow. I would argue that in an age where attention spans near a half-life of a nanosecond, the lack of “razor-sharp wit” is as much commentary as the jokes and characters themselves.
I enjoyed the hell out of “Don’t Look Up” and I thought it communicated exactly what the “Let’s Go Brandon” crowd needs to hear – that they’re a bunch of fucking idiots who are screwing up the country and the planet with their selfish ignorance. The fact that this message was delivered with a hammer, not a scalpel, is a strike in the movie’s favor. Do you seriously think people who believe vaccines are evil and Donald Trump is still the president would notice or respond to “razor sharp wit”? Give me a break.
Isherwell brags that his algorithms are so good they can predict when and how President Orlean will die. She will be eaten by a “bronteroc.”
I won’t tell you what that means. To find out you must watch past the credits. But it’s pretty damned funny.
Meanwhile, check out “Don’t Look Up.” Pay no heed to the critics – it’s funny as hell and I think you’ll enjoy it, unless you’re one of the people being skewered. And who knows? If you have a sense of humor, you too might get a laugh.
I rate it a solid A.
Del Stone Jr. is a former journalist and writer.