NZ Climber

So, off the top of my head, and in no particular order, I was thinking that New Zealand has the following issues:

1. No insulation in the homes as standard
2. Piss poor wages
3. More tradespeople than professionals
4. Crap quality of petrol
5. No central heating
6. Low number of holiday days
7. Mistreatment of immigrants
8. Terrible public transport system
9. Spineless politicians that basically just call each other names
10. No mains water or sewage to much of the populace
11. A system where staples are cheap and "luxuries" are expensive
12. No local loop unbundled
13. Monopolistic companies with a stranglehold on the country

I think that'll do it. What I was trying to work out was how far behind the civilised world, NZ actually is? I reckon that the UK (which is my other frame of reference, I can't speak for any other countries) was like NZ is now, maybe 20-25 years ago.

So, what do people think? Is NZ a bit backwards or is it just a young country that's still growing up?

turkeytickler

Im not sure its so much "behind" as "gone off on a very strange tangent", but someone in NZ seems to have thought at some point in time that it would be a good idea to take the tradional pork sausage recipe, and improve it by removing all the pork and replacing it with the rejected meat from the local dog food factory, then putting a condom on the outside, precooking it, and selling it bulk in supermarkets.

someone then augmented it by putting cheese in them too!

the only explanation I can think of is that not wishing to offend the creator who was very proud of this innovation, everyone is being polite..... surely no one would eat those voluntarily? :scared:

NZ Climber

I've never eaten one but i'll take your word for it... Sounds scary.

sky

Now you come to mention it NZ is a bit like a parallel universe isn't it :scared:

NZ Climber

It's like a parallel universe with no history to speak of really though, it's like the country just rose up out of the ocean last week or something...

livewire

Wasn't that a recent story line in the 4400? we're all just living in your imagination NZC.

NZ Climber

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Now get out of my head, i'm trying to think...

lapsed kiwi

As you asked for opinions, here are mine:

1. Yes, I think 20-25 years is about right on this one.
2. Each to his own, I'm quite happy with my salary/pension/health care package; I suppose if you have decent education, skills, qualifications and experience, you'll get the commensurate remuneration.
3. I think there should be more tradespeople than professionals, although if you start calling electricians "engineers", nurses "healthcare professionals" and salesmen "sales executives", then the proportion of "professionals" appears high. I'm not sure this is a situation to strive towards though.
4. Hmmm. My cars seem to run on it OK. They're meant to be reducing the benzene from Jan 06, same as diesel in petrol - so about 20 yrs behind UK again.
5. Hmmm again. My brother in ChCh has CH, so have our friends in Wellington, so possibly a teensie generalisation there. Not sure if it'll ever be as common here as in the UK, and probably no bad thing as far as global warming etc goes.
6. Again, not sure if this is something that necessary gets better as a country advances. US has far fewer than UK, I understand. 21 plus statutory days is what I've started on an doesn't seem too bad. You can never have too much though!
7. Maybe they just didn't like you!?! My family have been treated fine, thanks very much.
8. I think public transport, by definition, is pretty terrible, although scheduled flights are probably an exception to this at least with NZ's more civilised airports. The biggest difference between UK and NZ is population density, and I think this mitigates against ever having such a well-developed PTS. And, if NZ ever has pop density anywhere near the UK's, I will be looking for somewhere else to live. 4M is about right, IMO.
9. They do seem pretty amateur here, don't they?
10. I commented on this before; I don't think it's lack of progress, just a reflection on the low population density. Given the choice between clean artesian well-water and recycled, chlorinated sewage, I know which I'd choose. Each to his own though.
11. Erm, this seems like the right way round to me???
12. LLU is only now beginning to roll out in the UK, and there are a lot of parties who argue it is uneconomic except (here it comes again) really densely populated areas. The new technology minister seems determined to try to improve things, but I wouldn't hold your breath
13. Again, ofcom is only just now makng real progress with BT. Telecom seem pretty bad here, can't think of any other monopolies off the top of my head.

I guess it really depends on how you define civilised. IMO, NZ is a much more civilised place to live than the UK and most other countries I've visited, which is why I'm here. I really struggle to understand why some of the other posters on this forum are here though? Masochism? I really hope NZ never has the population density that the UK "enjoys", even if it does mean I'll have to wear a fleece in my house in the evenings and drive to work in my air-conditioned car instead of standing on the tube. As for the other issues, IMO they're minor weighed against the advantages of living here.