When 0.02% > 1%
The Occupy Wellington protest had been asked to move from its prime spot in the Civic Square (where most people would not be allowed to put up a tent and camp – tourists were forced to pay an excessive $5o to camp overnight way down the road from the Fanzone) because there’s to be a parade for the All Blacks tomorrow.
As of late this afternoon - they can apparently stay - which of course gives them a prime spot for the parade. And means less people will able to get prime spots because the space is filled with tents.
However, before the council kowtowed to the protesters – I have to admit I found their attitude a bit odd. The occupy protest is supposed to be about the fact that 1% of the people control 99% of the wealth. Now I have already blogged about how, on a global scale, this attitude lacks perspective, and that even the poorest people in the Western World are actually well off. There’s as big a divide between the protesters and the worlds poor as there is between between the “fats cats” and the protesters.
So it seems odd to me that the Occupy Wellington protesters would say
The protesters sent out a statement this evening saying they looked forward to welcoming the parade and would be providing face-painting, refreshments, food, and a hospitable atmosphere for All Blacks fans.
“After the overwhelmingly positive response we got from RWC fans passing through Civic Square on Sunday night, I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s celebration.” says Richard, a supporter of the Wellington Occupy movement.
“Lots of the Occupy supporters are avid rugby fans, so I was really glad to be able to paint faces and offer a relaxing place for people to hang out as they went to and from the game. I’m looking forward to more of the same tomorrow.” Richard says.
What I don’t get (and maybe I’m just being a bit thick) is that the All Blacks account for 30 players out of 141,726 Rugby Union players listed in New Zealand. Which makes the All Blacks the 0.02% of those players. They are also funded by Adidas – a global corporation - which has been blasted for hideously overcharging the new Zealand people – who already earn lower wages than in other countries where Adidas were charging much less for the Jerseys. Adidas quickly moved to prevent resellers overseas from selling to Kiwis – forcing people here to pay the higher price.
So why can you protest about corporate greed and people earning too much money – and then support corporate greed and people who earn too much money if rugby is involved? Because the “trickle down” effect that corporate greed is supposed to create doesn’t happen any more here with Rugby than it does with any other commodity or business.
I also don’t get why Hubby is bad cos he earns more than most Kiwi’s but the All Blacks are heroes – when they earn more than most Kiwis.
So for a bottom of the ladder Super 12 player $105,000 would be the minimum annual income. And that’s not including the sponsor’s car.
Make the All Blacks and the game changes. For a start once you’ve worn the Black jersey you can slap another $50,000 on top of your salary. In relation to the national average wage we’re now starting to talk some serious money. Already we’re up to the mid $150,000.
Become a test regular and the figure $250,000 appears to be the going rate.
But become a test star and the numbers four, five and six come into play. That’s hundreds of thousands. Telephone numbers, the sort of money that most can only dream of. The players likely to be in that range of the current crop would have to be the likes of Doug Howlett and Richie McCaw. Andrew Mehrtens was known to be one of the big earners.
Good for them – but then I am all for people earning high wages. The average wage is about $47,ooo here.
“The last thing we want to do is to piss off rugby fans,” Mr Gunn said.
Well yeah – cos they would beat the crap out of you! You can complain when the police take you on – but I doubt they would get any sympathy if rabid all black fans get pissed with them.
The route has now been changed and it will avoid the protesters. Apparently there is no connection.
On the other hand I think some of the comments are a bit unfair. I don’t think you can assume that people protesting don’t have jobs – or indeed need a haircut or are unwashed and smelly. I just wish that I understood what the outcome is supposed to be and how it’s supposed to help.
Are you the 99%, 53%, 1% or who cares what %?
Filed under: Banks, Cost of living, Economics, General Budgeting, Interest Rates, Credit Cards & Mortgages in NZ
The “Occupy Wall St” protest has hit New Zealand this weekend – “occupying” Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. I have tried to get my head around this – and I have to say I am failing miserably. When I started seeing “We are the 99%” posts coming up on my Facebook feed – I took a look at that and understood what they were saying.
We are the 99 percent. We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced to choose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution. We are working long hours for little pay and no rights, if we’re working at all. We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything. We are the 99 percent.
I get anger that banks and financial institutions had screwed up, lost an awful lot of money, got bail outs, and yet still managed to find many millions of dollars to pay huge bonuses to the people who screwed it all up, while people lost homes and jobs.
Well who wouldn’t be pissed at that? I find it astonishing that governments are bailing private companies out, but there’s not a penny for us if we hit the skids. No one bailed us out when IBM got rid of hubby. We had to manage that ourselves – as does everyone. We have friends who have lost everything – no one bailed them out.
But I am also somewhat confused about why the blame is only being shoved on the corporates – and not those of us (ie just about all of us) who have spent the past decade or 2 spending vast sums of money we don’t have (ie debt) on cars, various iGadgets,clothes, shoes, posh food, holidays and houses. We have to take some responsibility here. Blaming the big bad corporation doesn’t change the fact that as a whole the western world gorged itself on debt and consumerism. No one forced us to buy iPhones. (I wonder how many people occupying Wall St still have smartphones, and are updating Facebook with their adventures via the very items the corporations sold us, and we willingly bought with money that the banks invented for us to spend, increasing the debt balloon that they now say is the source of all ill in the world).
But what has got me really confused was this has morphed into a strange anti-government, anti-money,anti-whatever-we-can-think-of-to-be-peeved-about-as-long-as-we-can-blame-the-anyone-who-is-richer-than-us sort of movement. Everyone is supposed to have a voice – no one is considered to be worth more than anyone else. This to me is an alien concept – in $ terms of course people are worth different amount – please never let a brain surgeon work on me if you only pay them the same as the cleaner. In human terms – I will always value kindness and decency in someone more than I will value someone being an arse.
I saw this video of the “assembly” in Atlanta – I gotta say – if that’s the alternative to the current political system we have – no thanks.
I am way too independent to sit there and parrot back what I am told to say – what are we? 5? Repeat after me “You are all individuals”…
So – are you the 99%? Probably not.
Global Rich List puts your income into world wide terms. And you may be surprised at how little income it actually takes to get you into the top 1% of earners in the world. Global Rich List doesn’t work for NZ$, but just £25,000 a year or $49,000 USD gets you there. At current exchange rates that works out at $49,500 or $61,500 NZD.
The New Zealand minimum wage is $27,040 a year which (using the UK£ to work it out – £13,600) puts you in the top 10.5% richest people in the world. And yet on that how many people still have mobile phones and internet access?
The median wage in New Zealand is $49,000. That means that 50% of wage earners in New Zealand are actually among the top 1% of earners in the world.
Those of us who pay for those of you who whine about all of that… or that… or whatever.
Ok – so this made me laugh. Can’t see this lot repeating back what they are told 3 words at a time and looking gormless.
So I won’t be occupying Wellington. To be honest I am too damn busy dealing with our current financial situation, budgeting our money, saving where and I can and spending what I have spare on stuff produced by people who also earn money. Some of them earn less than me, some of them earn more than me. Some of them are worth that much, some of them aren’t. I make that decision myself, and decide for myself where I will spend money, how much to spend, and whether to take on debt. If I take on debt – I take full responsibility for that decision, and for any mistakes I may make.
And I have absolutely no idea which % I am.
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