Taking responsibility for one's own life

[sels1]

Keep in the back of your mind when reading or watching any article that the media is there to produce money, responsible and "fully" informative journalism does not exist

Agree. Sadly the quality and accuracy of the news media has certainly declined over the last 20 years, as the market forces have become more dominant. However, this is ofset a bit by the new technologies that allow us to see the pictures faster/from further/ etc.
(Hopefully soon I will be able to watch the News with the mute on, like I do with some sports!)

[MisterD]

Whatever happened to the great Kiwi notion of "hardening up"? We're breeding successive generations of people who's first response to anything is to stick their hand out...

[idb]

Whatever happened to the great Kiwi notion of "hardening up"? We're breeding successive generations of people who's first response to anything is to stick their hand out...

HARDEN UP
What a brilliant motto for our times!!
I like it a lot!

[buellbabe]

What interested me with these cases is the situations that these people were in where their kids had to witness these crimes...
????
Hey Colapop, the same thought went thru my head...

"Hi, my name is [insert dumbass name here]. bla bla bla [puff]."

This is what NZ is breeding.

And madboy, well I live in Sth Auck and although you were making a generalisation... sadly yr right, there is an awful lot of that mentality.

I reckon yr life is what you make it, I'm single,own a house , bike and car and I work my butt off for everything I have. I don't expect handouts from the Govt. I was brought up to work for a living.

[idb]

I'm single,own a house , bike and car ......

Will you marry me?

[ManDownUnder]

HARDEN UP
What a brilliant motto for our times!!
I like it a lot!

Agreed - but every time I do, I get slapped...

What IS it with women these days?

[Badcat]

I have been observing the perennial discussion in a couple of other threads about idiots who don't wear appropriate gear whilst riding motorcycles. They're ferkin idiots. Should I ignore them and pretend they don't exist? So there are no laws that prescribe what bikers should or shouldn't wear, apart from a securely-fitting helmet. Does the lack of relevant and appropriate regulation forgive the mental capacity of people who should know better? Telling me it's their life and their decision as to how they choose to live it is, in our society, crap. Who is going to pay for the months of plastic surgery for these dickheads after they spread their skin over hard, abrasive and resilient materials? Not them, that's for sure. If I were their mothers I'd probably expect ACC to pay for counselling as well. Mine.

Man - arguing with a moron is a waste of breath.
i tried, it just pissed me off.

k

[Lou Girardin]

The danger of the argument that "people shouldn't do xyz because the taxpayer ends up paying for them" is that it can be used to proscribe all sorts of activities
Boating will have to be banned because rescues are so costly, ditto most outdoor pursuits. Motorcycling will be banned outright.
Even unmarried shagging could be banned due to the load it puts on health services.
As long as there's taxpayers funds for traditional Waka navigation courses, there must be money for other stupidities.

[Hitcher]

I agree with you to a point, Lou. There are dangers associated with all elements and aspects of human endeavour. Life is, after all, a sexually-transmitted terminal disease.

But failure to take suitable and appropriate precautions is the ball in play. Going boating with no flares, radio, cellphone, oars, etc is similar to motorcycling with no protective gear or playing rugby without a mouthguard. Currently ACC doesn't discriminate on the basis of whether or not people failed to take sensible precautions to mitigate the effects of shit happening. Maybe they should?

[myvice]

If I get a hunk of steel in my eye at work, and I wasn’t wearing goggles, my boss is in the shit.
But if goggles are supplied and I wasn’t wearing them then I'm in the shit.
ACC love to fine big amounts of $$$
Why is any other activity any different? If you have to be rescued off your boat and have no flares or radio then shouldn’t you have to pay for the wasted time and extra people it took to find you?
I like the percentage idea, leathers (or whatever), boots, gloves, helmet and a back protector? you get 100%
Helmet covers about 10% so that’s what you don’t have to pay.
Sounds fair.

[Winston001]

The state has been looking after so many for so long, people don't know to look after themselves.

Them - "I need councelling... ACC HELP!"
ACC - "No."
Them - "hmmm - it seems I don't need councelling"

Should be
Them - "I need councelling - can I get it from the State?"
ACC - "No."
Them - "OK - now I need to fund it another way"

Note - I didn't say they don't know HOW to look after themselves. They do. They just don't think to do it.

Sad really.

Edit - I offer (as further evidence) the recent discussion on Schools finding an hour a day to get kids exercising - make 'em less fat! Why is the school responsible for my kid's physical health? I thought it was a place of learning.

Bang on you got it. We live in a society where personal responsibility has shrivelled away. It is a natural result of Nanny State which has its genesis in the Michael Joseph Savage government of the 1930s. Where once people had pride and were self-reliant, today every responsibility rests on someone else. Usually the government and its departments.

All very well but we aren't likely to see social democracy rolled back any time soon. Roger Douglas tried but mention his name today and people foam at the mouth without actually reflecting on the purpose of the reforms.

And indeed I wouldn't want to see ACC, labour laws, basic benefits etc done away with. So quite how we ever instill a concept of looking after ourselves instead of turning to the state, I don't know. I suppose student loans is one lesson that life can be hard.

[MisterD]

Edit - I offer (as further evidence) the recent discussion on Schools finding an hour a day to get kids exercising - make 'em less fat! Why is the school responsible for my kid's physical health? I thought it was a place of learning.

Didn't this used to be called PE lessons?

[MisterD]

But failure to take suitable and appropriate precautions is the ball in play. Going boating with no flares, radio, cellphone, oars, etc is similar to motorcycling with no protective gear

Isn't riding so fast that you lose control or are unable to take avoiding action when another road user does something stupid also failures to take suitable and appropriate precautions?

Pushing the limits of yourself and your bike on the public roads is celebrated on here, yet anyone who dares to go out in shorts is a lunatic that shouldn't be allowed out without their Mum...if you're going to go out and try to get your knee down on every corner then full leathers is sensible, if you're going to cruise gently around on a sunny day then if you wanna wear shorts and T-shirt go for it.

As someone else said in another thread (sorry can't remember who and where), don't worry about it they probably don't fall off.

[outlawtorn]

And what's wrong with telling people that they're ferkin idiots?

Political correctness, people in this day and age are far too scared they might offend someone so everyone has to tip-toe around everyone else and their "feelings" so that no one gets hurt.

I fucking hate political correctness, I've said it before on this website and I'll say it again: "Political Correctness is the language of cowards"

[tracyprier]

Well said Hitch... sound thinking (you're obviously not in government then)

I particularly agree with the bit about protective gear because you're right, in this country it is MY (our) taxes that pays for their rebuilding and THAT's why I also get pissed off seeing these 'tards roaring around half nekked.

If this was the 'states and it was the "you pay for it or miss out" system then fine... ride buck naked for all I care, they are the one who will be paying the bills but over here it just means more and more of what I earn goes towards patching up dickheads.

rant mode end.