In a less confrontational tone; Dear Sirs and Madams, what you are doing is not logical (PART II, PART I is much angrier)

Well obviously to YOU it is, your pockets are getting lined.

But if you think collectively, consider the community, what you are doing is not only illogical it's disgraceful. I talked about remembering a better time in New Zealand. I do, a much better time - I don't understand how so many people seem to have forgotten. We used to be a functional and successful welfare state. Please don't instantly switch off at those words, they are not the dreadful mantra you seem to think they are. 

There seems to be an assumption many people make that a welfare state is solely about giving people who somehow don't deserve it something for nothing. This is not the primary function of a welfare state, it's just one fairly minor aspect. And trust me, no matter what system you choose to run things under there will ALWAYS be a group of people willing to take advantage of it.

Do you remember how things used to be in this country? I think the point at which I was certain things had taken a dangerous turn for the worse was when education started to get expensive. And getting a good education became far more expensive than getting a merely acceptable education. The more we have to pay to gain a reasonable level of education, the further the poor fall behind. I know a lot of people would say, so what? But here is what: The larger the education gap ( the gap between what the rich can afford and what the poor can afford ) the smaller the pool of well educated citizens becomes. The more under-educated people there are the harder it is to fill jobs at a certain level of technical ability and above, and the more people there are needing lower grade jobs. Unemployment rises. The need to bring overseas talent in to fill the top jobs raises wages and the top end of the spectrum, which increases the gap between rich and poor, which increases the cost of education. Do you see where this is going? Is this sounding familiar at all? I realise that in your cushy offices and luxury homes it's hard to imagine that this affects you in any way, but can you at least see that you have a responsibility to ALL the people of New Zealand not just those on the gravy train? Does not your moral compass quiver at the thought of all those people abandoned?

You keep pretending that things will get better for everyone, but things will not. In the long run they will eventually become worse for YOU too. Do we want a country where people are forced to live on the streets, slowly starving for want of a hand up? Are we ok with being a people who ignore the suffering of others? Because this is the decision we are being led to. 

I will borrow for a moment from something a good man wrote as a piece of black humour.

The idea of a civilisation that had gotten rid of the middle class. They did it rather differently, but the net result was that they were all wiped out by a disease contracted from a dirty telephone.

Funny or not the point is that every section of a community is important. I'm not into labeling or a class system as such I'd rather think of it all as sides of a regular shape. Each side is important in holding the structure together. if you remove a side you weaken the structure and open it to outside stresses.

I realise that I tend to harp on about education. But really it is SO important. It's the root of civilisation. Without it we might as well climb back up into the trees. Education allows us to live up to our potential, educated to a level appropriate to our abilities makes us a happier people. Variation in potential allows us to fill all the levels of society. But NOT if we do not allow those with the greatest potential to reach it. One should not assume that the smart are always rich, or that the poor are always stupid. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with not being smart, or anything inherently great about being smart. As in all things, it's what you do with what you have that matters. There's nothing wrong with cleaning telephones for a living, every niche must be filled or it lessens us all. 

The primary function of a welfare state is to allow all people the ability to reach their potential. Yes, I am aware that an (actually insignificant) area of society take advantage of that but as I mentioned earlier it doesn't matter what system you use there are always a few who will work the loopholes. I'd rather go with a system that benefits society as a whole than just watch the fortunate few get more fortunate.

Peace. Out.