A former Labour MP is calling for an “inequality emergency” to be declared, after the Government announced a climate emergency last week. Sue Moroney said the Government, with its “strong mandate”, had the ability to start tackling growing inequality in New Zealand. “Naming it [climate change] as an emergency is important,” she said. “I’d like Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Inequality’
Pope and Warren Buffett see eye to eye on free markets
Thursday, October 8th, 2020
Pope Francis and Warren Buffett both blame free market policies for rising inequality. In his latest encyclical (Fratelli Tutti), Francis points out “The marketplace, by itself, cannot resolve every problem, however much we are asked to believe this dogma of neo-liberal faith. “Neo-liberalism simply reproduces itself by resorting to the magic theories of ‘spillover’ or Read more
Pandemic highlights social problems and inequality
Sunday, August 30th, 2020
The pandemic is highlighting and exacerbating social problems, especially inequality, Pope Francis said at his General Audience last Wednesday. Focusing his talk on the fourth of his “Healing the World” series, Francis is urging everyone to check statistics to see how many children are dying of hunger because of a poor distribution of wealth and Read more
Seven women seek leadership roles French Catholic Church hierarchy
Monday, July 27th, 2020
Seven women are seeking leadership roles in the French Catholic Church heirarchy. These roles include positions as priests and bishops, which are officially reserved for men. This is the latest push to give women a significant place in the Catholic hierarchy. After submitting their candidacies for various leadership roles, including deacon, priest and bishop, the Read more
NZ’s ugly inequities laid bare
Thursday, June 11th, 2020
Did you rejoice when you heard we were moving down to Level 1? I wonder if the homeless, temporarily housed during lockdown, felt as positive as they faced losing their brief safe havens? One homeless man, interviewed in his temporary motel accommodation, gratefully acknowledged the help, but worried it would be even harder to resume Read more
Bending the COVID-19 inequality curve
Thursday, April 16th, 2020
Three months ago, if you had asked who are the most important people in the U.S. economy, the response would have been investors, CEOs, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, bankers and others who are well rewarded by the marketplace. They all make scads of money. The response is much different today. Essential workers are now nurses, doctors, Read more
Interfaith dialogue and women’s struggle for equality
Thursday, December 14th, 2017Interfaith dialogue shows many similarities between the three major Abrahamic faiths. Jews, Christians and Muslims share a common belief in one God, share common characters, like prophets, angels and Satan and similar codes of morality, social responsibility and accountability. They also exclude women from religious and spiritual leadership. Read more
Living in a tent is a step up for some
Monday, May 15th, 2017
Last week, in Sydney, a tent for rent was posted in a Facebook group Inner West Housemates a forum for anyone searching for a place to live in Sydney’s inner western suburbs. The tent, available for $130 a week, “Includes all bills and $100/week of communal food that you can add to at your leisure.” Read more
Methodist Mission housing the homeless
Tuesday, May 24th, 2016
The Christchurch City Council provided $130,000 to the Methodist Mission to underwrite the leases on private rentals for homeless people, who weren’t able to secure the rentals themselves. The Methodist mission has taken the lease on six houses. The tenants pay rent, but the mission has committed to the landlord to pay any missed rent, Read more
10% of NZers own 53% of the wealth
Tuesday, November 10th, 2015Blessed are the rich millennials for they shall inherit the earth – that’s if researcher Max Rashbrooke’s new book is anything to go by. In a project with Statistics New Zealand, the data, which looked at people’s wealth between 2004 and 2010, has yielded grim results, says Rashbrooke. The wealthiest 1 per cent of the Read more