Otago Daily Times

After the election comes time to rethink economy

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I WOULD quickly congratula­te Jacinda Ardern and her Labour colleagues and humbly contribute an observatio­n and a challenge.

There is a branch of science with no R&D and which has obfuscated its duty to improve the condition of human life, yet it is at the heart of government.

Economics is rife with dogma and needs to seriously elevate the wellbeing of people in the study of wealth.

The rich hoard, the middle and the poor drive the economy. Work, solely in the pursuit of profit, is not a sustainabl­e way ahead. There are people working tirelessly to improve the world who do not seek obscene personal wealth.

My challenge to the economists, who will surely have the ear of our new government is: rethink your accepted norms and inspire a country hungry for a prosperous future. And, most importantl­y, measure wealth by lives lived, not accounts kept.

Gary Grimes

Dunedin

Lee Vandervis

WAS I right or was I right? He is the victim again. Everyone else is to blame.

They make him ‘‘speak out’’ because they are wrong. Why are they wrong? Because they disagree with Lee Vandervis.

Whether they are the highest of the high or the lowest of his perceived low, they all deserve a jolly good browbeatin­g and intimidato­ry confrontat­ion because they don’t see the holy pathway of his righteous indignatio­n.

Even more, if people high and low (?) don’t jump when he tells them to, well, they deserve a jolly good yelling at, too.

To his supporters, I can only ask: would you like to go to work and have a physically intimidati­ng confrontat­ion at the aggressor’s whim?

Any time he wanted to fly off the handle, you wore it, old or young, male or female. All totally unwarrante­d in a work environmen­t and completely wrong on all levels. Well, would you? Pete Jenkins

Galloway

Noisy birds

REGARDING your article concerning crowing roosters in Dunedin (ODT,

28.10.20), our Dunedin Poultry, Pigeon & Cage Bird Club has submitted, in many bylaw revisions, that we are willing to offer advice to the bird owners on how to hopefully, solve the problem. There are solutions to try.

We have also submitted that a threestrik­es policy be used. This means that when three chances are given to the bird’s owner to rectify the crowing and the problem still persists, DCC environmen­tal officers can confiscate the bird(s).

This is a fair way of dealing with the problem as the owner has been given three chances to rectify the noise before confiscati­on. Court cases, then, are not necessary.

We understood that this threestrik­es policy was still in use, but unfortunat­ely it is not noted under DCC Bylaw 22.6.2 (c) iii. Our club will be submitting that it should be.

Charlie Wilson

Dunedin Poultry, Pigeon & Cage

Bird Club secretary ...................................

BIBLE READING: His love for us is wonderful. — Psalms 117‘:2.

IN recognitio­n of the importance of readers’ contributi­ons to the letters page, the newspaper each week selects a Letter of the Week with a book prize courtesy of Penguin Random House. This week’s winner is Dr Peter Strang, of Dunedin, for a letter about the multifaith centre proposed for the new Dunedin Hospital. The prize is a copy of Zen Heart, by Mark Vette. The winning letter was printed on Wednesday and can be read on the ODT website.

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 ?? PHOTO: ODT FILES ?? Something to crow about.
PHOTO: ODT FILES Something to crow about.
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