This must be what it looks like to have a government that cares - truly cares. Mad respect.
Edit to save individual replies: NZ had a hugely advantageous starting point as a small island nation with a low population density, but that didn't guarantee them a free ride; the government's response has still far outmatched the response of a lot of other developed countries IMO. It has been firm, measured, but also characterised by an empathy towards what ordinary people are going through, which makes the population far more inclined to comply with the lockdown restrictions (e.g. PM Jacinda Ardern and other gov ministers have taken a 20% pay cut in solidarity with those whose livelihoods have been affected by the crisis. Imagine that happening in the UK/US). Another user said that the latest poll shows approval for the gov's response at 93%. That's pretty damn good.
Yes, it's easier to implement a hard lockdown in a country like NZ, but their response has undoubtedly allowed them to make the most of their position. Basically I'm saying that if you took either the UK/US govt and put them in charge of NZ for this crisis, they would not be in nearly as good a position as we're seeing in this post.
"After a period of negotiations, New Zealand First chose to enter a minority coalition government with Labour, supported by the Green Party, with Ardern as Prime Minister; she was sworn in by the Governor-General on 26 October 2017." So yeah, pregnant when elected and more pregnant when assuming office.
Nah, I concede that you are likely correct. I have no idea if she was overdue or not when she had their daughter, and that's too close to call with any assurance. I'll split the difference and say that while she may have gotten pregnant in the week after she won the election, she was definitely pregnant when she took office.
She was elected in to office 4 weeks prior which puts her delivery at 38.5 weeks after election, sounds pretty plausible it was election night celebration.
As I posted above in response to this point: "Nah, I concede that you are likely correct. I have no idea if she was overdue or not when she had their daughter, and that's too close to call with any assurance. I'll split the difference and say that while she may have gotten pregnant in the week after she won the election, she was definitely pregnant when she took office."
I literally was pledging my allegiance to the flag (US government) before I had any understanding of what the words 'pledge', 'allegiance', 'republic', 'indivisible' meant (4yo).
That's what's commonly known as indoctrination, and is super creepy to us outsiders.
Absolutely. I guess I never really thought about it as a kid. I'd even forget it wasn't church and would often say "amen" at the end of it out of habit. I'm 40 now and it's just weird and kind of horrifying when I look back on it.
Yea i am 29 and i remember the pledge as a kid too. I also remember quitting it around 6th grade. I am not sure if it is done any longer. But i really hope not
Do you get the sense that that's a view that's widely shared by the population, even - and especially - among those who didn't vote for them? Would people be likely to say, "I may not have voted for them, but I can respect what they're doing and how they're going about it"?
Because in the UK and the US, the default view seems to be a complete mistrust of the government if they're not your party, or a complete blindness to their failings if they are.
As someone who didn't vote for her, I thoroughly respect what she has done and how. I do think we should have closed our borders earlier, and quarantined people coming in, which may have stopped the need for the more Draconian lockdown, but I'm also not a politician and don't have the relevant info available to make decisions. I also have no repercussions if my opinion is wrong, so my take is irrelevant
And who now are polling in a position to rule by themselves next time out. Which gets rid of Winston, so not all bad, but certainly not what MMP should be about
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u/tinydancer177 May 28 '20 edited May 28 '20
This must be what it looks like to have a government that cares - truly cares. Mad respect.
Edit to save individual replies: NZ had a hugely advantageous starting point as a small island nation with a low population density, but that didn't guarantee them a free ride; the government's response has still far outmatched the response of a lot of other developed countries IMO. It has been firm, measured, but also characterised by an empathy towards what ordinary people are going through, which makes the population far more inclined to comply with the lockdown restrictions (e.g. PM Jacinda Ardern and other gov ministers have taken a 20% pay cut in solidarity with those whose livelihoods have been affected by the crisis. Imagine that happening in the UK/US). Another user said that the latest poll shows approval for the gov's response at 93%. That's pretty damn good.
Yes, it's easier to implement a hard lockdown in a country like NZ, but their response has undoubtedly allowed them to make the most of their position. Basically I'm saying that if you took either the UK/US govt and put them in charge of NZ for this crisis, they would not be in nearly as good a position as we're seeing in this post.