Trump would weep, if he had any humanity

A powerful cartoon, yet again, by Sharon Murdoch (October 20). The world should see this and US President Donald Trump should weep, if only he had the cognisance to understand it. Juliet Crew, Christchurch

I’m puzzled by Murdoch’s cartoon, featuring Trump spitting out Kurds.

The US has just about 1000 troops in Northern Syria. I suggest therefore that Murdoch turn her skills towards explaining why Turkey, which is a Nato and wannabe EU member, can act with such lack of restraint. Reports suggest Turkey has about 17,000 troops on the border.

If we add religion to the mix, it is worth noting that both Kurds and Turks are overwhelmingly adherents of Sunni Islam, which normally indicates some kind of brotherhood.

The fact of the matter is, that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a vicious bullyboy and should be sanctioned immediately. But then, they have got away with occupying Cyprus and US President Barack Obama’s ‘‘Red Line’’ in Syria was as vacuous and empty as the man himself.

All said, there isn’t much that Turkey wouldn’t stoop to.

Rob Harris, Dannevirke

A new economy

The economic problems of our age indicate a need for a new paradigm to address climate change, pollution of our planet, planned obsolescence (waste creation), reduction of resources, low-wage economies, unequal distribution of wealth and the tyranny of corporations more interested in profit than wellbeing.

We might consider a steadystate economy, which is an economy structured to balance growth with environmental integrity and seeks an equilibrium between production growth and population growth. A steady-state economy seeks a fair and equal distribution of wealth.

Caroline Mabry, Auckland

Seymour a star

Every time I hear ACT leader David Seymour speak, his rhetoric is clear, concise and to the point; he’ll never make a politician.

Robert Bicker, Auckland

Death and insurance

In recent weeks there have been many tiresome TV ads for funeral insurance. But if the pending euthanasia referendum is successful, the funeral insurance industry has a problem – will insurers pay ‘‘assisted death’’ claims? I guess, only if no-one tells them how we died.

Jim Young, Lower Hutt

Smelter ‘subsidy’

Energy Minister Megan Woods needs to understand a few things about the aluminium smelter at Tiwai. It was created courtesy of the foresight and intelligence of our politicians in the 1960s.

We, the people, built the power station and the dedicated power lines to the smelter and third parties built the aluminium smelter.

The power station, the dedicated power lines and the smelter are fundamentally linked. The smelter agreed to maintain the dedicated power lines delivering the electricity from Manapouri to Tiwai Point.

That sounds reasonable. The current value of this power line system is $70 million.

The aluminium smelter is paying between $50m and $60m each year to maintain these power lines. I ask Woods, does that sound like a ‘‘subsidy’’? It sounds like something different to me.

Now let’s talk about coffee. A chai latte with soy milk is likely to cost you $6.50. If you were to ask for 100 of such concoctions you would likely pay quite a bit less. Does that sound like a ‘‘subsidy’’? Trick question – that is actually a ‘‘discount’’.

Tiwai buys a large proportion of the Manapouri power station output all day, all night, all summer and all winter. That is why they pay a lot less for their power. It’s called a ‘‘discount’’.

Woods’ careless use of the word ‘‘subsidy’’ has her in my ‘‘naughty corner’’ and I have instructed Inland Revenue to withhold my taxes from her salary this month.

Matt Furness, Invercargill

No more roads

Luke Malpass (‘‘Speedy rise to top proves problematic’’, Sunday Politics, October 20) is demanding new roads, tunnels and highways. If we build them, people will stay in their cars and shun public transport options, which are what we really need to build. Replacing the millions too many cars we have now with millions of e-vehicles will help a little, but not much. We are in a climate emergency, which demands that we get people out of their cars, not build more infrastructure for them to use. If we fail to do this and the rest of the world fails likewise, then human life on this planet is doomed.

Laurence Harger, Wellington