Think Pieces

Every three years the boards start going up, signs go up on the fences, pamphlets in the mailboxes, door knocking to handing out more pamphlets and, sometimes, if you’re in the right place at the right time, you just might catch a politician walking around with an entourage handing out...

I love all aspects of lolly scrambles—the risk and reward involved, the anticipation, the hope, the urgency, the lolly snobbery as you hunt for your favourite lollies, the joy of the one throwing out the lollies, the mad dash in all directions, and so on. But in a former life...

A kind of silence has descended on our communities over the past weeks. Many people comment that the lack of traffic noise means they can now hear the birds sing. Birds and other wildlife have become more present in our quietened streets and neighbourhoods. Perhaps it has not been so...

This year’s State of the Nation Report launched in February, had the theme—Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Huia Tangata Kotahi—People of the Land, People of the Treaty, Bring Everyone Together.

In Psalm 133, the writer beautifully states that it is a beautiful thing when brethren or God’s people dwell together in unity. The word used for unity is the Hebrew word yachad which translates as union, togetherness or alikeness. Unity is notoriously difficult to achieve, particularly for a large group...

The way resources are shared out amongst the people of this country says a lot about the quality of our relationships. When there is too much unfairness, it affects how we relate to one another and how we feel about ourselves. Societies where the inequality is too high tend to...

Human beings are biologically and (perhaps, therefore) culturally oriented to community: we flourish best in the group. Crime is often an outcome of alienation[i]. The offender, someone disconnected from their community, experiences a ‘problematic separation of a subject and object that properly belong together’[ii]. We see powerlessness, meaninglessness, isolation, and...

As I come to the end of my internship at the Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit, I find I have discovered three things. The left wing-right wing divide means little in creating robust and effective social policies. There is always an internal struggle when it comes to seeing people struggle...

Neoliberalism. A word much mentioned and perhaps less understood than it needs to be.

Why is The Salvation Army interested in problem-debt related issues? There are numerous pragmatic answers to this question. For example, we are an organisation that provides services based on supporting and advising people about financial matters. Additionally, problem-debt issues are often inter-connected with other social issues that affect many of...

We in New Zealand have often viewed ourselves as an egalitarian nation with exemplary race relations comparing ourselves favourably with other nations around the world. So much has happened in this last year to disturb or even destroy such a cosy view of ourselves.

Right now, our country has an important opportunity for change. An opportunity where everyone gains something and no one loses.