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Random Rants 10

Entry 1032, on 2009-06-12 at 21:57:54 (Rating 4, News)

This "random rants" entry will discuss a few interesting little items I spotted in the news media today. Most of these subjects present interesting potential issues which I need to rant about briefly, so here goes...

Rant the first.

Retirement experts have warned that the New Zealand government doesn't have the ability to fund a superannuation scheme based on the current retirement age of 65. They say that our GST rate would need to be increased to at least 15% to cover the increased government contributions to a scheme based on that age. Both major parties have given a strong assurance that GST will not be increased and that's an easy thing to do because they wouldn't last long if they did it.

Like most of the changes made in the 1980s, GST is a great idea in theory but not so good in practice. And typically we seem to have implemented the purest form of it anywhere - again an example of ideology being placed before practicality.

People are living longer and are healthier at an older age than in the past so increasing the retirement age seems like a good option. Many people don't want to retire until they are a lot older anyway and many older people have just as much a contribution to make as younger ones. Of course, there is the side effect that this makes less new jobs available but there will always be some negative side effects to any policy.

The second rant.

The Mt Albert byelection is really of only passing interest because Labour will win it without even trying. Everyone knows this and maybe that's why the National candidate, Melissa Lee, hasn't made a serious effort to win. Or at least I hope she wasn't trying because if this series of bungles was a serious attempt you have to wonder whether she should be in politics at all!

A National spokesman was on the radio this morning trying to put a positive spin on it and divert the pressure back on to Labour by saying that unless Labour win by a huge margin they should consider it a failure.

So it really seems that the honeymoon for National is well and truly over. The debacle over the sleazy behaviour of Worth. The debate regarding lack of consultation over the Auckland "super city". And the resentment over the ill considered statements made by Lee make this fairly clear.

Rant number 3.

I always thought this government (and most others) were against the ideas of subsidies and artificially assisting one business at the expense of another. It seems to me that the government's promise to subsidise tourism advertising, possibly by up to $60 million, is an example of this which they wouldn't support in many other cases.

In fact I think that its a good idea but I am also in favour of trade barriers, subsidies, and other forms of intervention so I suppose we shouldn't be surprised by that. Obviously a pure competitive environment where NZ tourism companies have to compete with those in other destinations isn't necessarily an aim of this government either.

The fourth and final rant.

Occasionally a court case captures the imagination of people to such at extent that everyone seems to think they suddenly became an expert on the law, the details of the case, or the finer points of justice in general.

If you live in New Zealand you will no doubt recognise this reference to the David Bain re-trial. Most people have a strong opinion on this case and most people know very little about it. I said in a blog entry titled "Trust Justice?" from 2009-06-07 that I only knew the basics but I also said I hadn't formed a clear conclusion.

The latest news on this involves an alleged voice at the start of the emergency call Bain made to police when he reported the murders. Many people think they can hear the words "I shot the prick" in what seems to be just some random noise.

There's a well known phenomenon known as "pareidolia" which all skeptics are aware of. Its the tendency of the human brain to find patterns in a situation where there is none. Its most famous for visual illusions such as the face on Mars, the figure of Mary on the taco, etc.

The same applies to sound. I heard an interesting podcast once where a researcher created randomly generated sounds and then asked subjects to say what they heard in them. If the subjects were told what they should hear, either directly or through more subtle means, they would hear it in the sound even when it wasn't there. I have no doubt that's what happened in this case because I can hear several different messages if I listen for them. Another point might be, why would Bain confess then go on to hide his alleged crime?

So there's my rants for the day. In hindsight they weren't actually that controversial. Maybe I should go back to bashing managers or abusing creationists. That's far more entertaining!

Comment 29 (2163) by SBFL on 2009-07-03 at 10:30:25: (view earlier comments)

"Well I guess what's "down and dirty" is very much a matter of opinion."
- Fair enough

"I didn't think anything Goff did was beyond what I would expect from the average politician."
- you should raise your expectations otherwise they will all have low acceptance levels!

Comment 30 (2168) by OJB on 2009-07-03 at 11:14:38:

OK, so we agree that what's dirty politics and what's fair criticism is a matter of opinion, at least to a large extent. I actually quite enjoy the sort of thing which might be verging on dirty. It makes politics more interesting. If everyone just kept to the facts and what was relevant we might have a more efficient political system but it wouldn't be as much fun!

Comment 31 (2171) by SBFL on 2009-07-03 at 12:19:34:

I don't know if I referred to "fair criticism" but re "dirty politics" haha, indeed. A bit of gutter is always interesting stuff. How else would women's magazines exist!?

Comment 32 (2174) by OJB on 2009-07-03 at 13:24:35: Excellent! So we agree again!

Comment 33 (2177) by SBFL on 2009-07-06 at 09:48:03:

Only took 31 comments to converge...probably a record (where we started off on opposite sides)!

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