Posts Tagged ‘Inequality’

Former Labour MP calls for “inequality emergency”

Monday, December 7th, 2020

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

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
inequalities

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, 2017

Interfaith 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
tent

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, 2015

Blessed 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