Mall life
The Dom Post lead today - Clean up the drunks - revives one of those perennial newspaper and local politician hobby horses - a call to tidy up the unsightly bipedal litter.
So perennial in fact, that only last Saturday the Waikato Times, also a Fairfax paper, led with a very similar piece on Hamilton’s “beggars”. That story is now archived, but their editorial on Tuesday revisited the issue.
What I like best about the DomPost piece is that it has been triggered by complaints from Cuba Mall resident, new National MP and former Mayor Mark Blumsky:
“Last week I wasn’t able to get out of my door – two characters absolutely comatose had been sleeping tucked up in the entrance to my apartment. It is not on, it is scary and intimidating. It has to be cleaned up, we look like a second-rate city.”
Hmm, me thinks we’ve heard of Mark having a bit of trouble getting through that door before. 
November 5th, 2005 at 11:54 pm
I wonder, is homelessness an inevitability or something which we can honestly do something about?
Specifically, what I mean to say is that one of the comments that I’ve often heard old NZ lefties talk about is that “there was a time when there were no homeless” and I’m wondering if they’re romancing the past or if homelessness is a pheonomenon that was created, and if so, can be uncreated.
As much as I hate to say it, my gut is pointing towards the former, rather than the latter - still…
Well, what do you guys think?
November 6th, 2005 at 6:45 am
Does any official body bother to count? Are there statistics? The Salvation Army might know.
November 6th, 2005 at 11:34 am
providing more/any basic sleeping/feeding/showering facilities/options..and guaranteeing the receipt of welfare benefits…would go some way to easing the situation for the homeless..
and in the past many of these people would have lived in institutions….(questionable if they .in many ways..were better..)
but free-market reforms took care of that solution….
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 6th, 2005 at 11:54 am
You don’t see many homeless people in Scandinavian cities. Not sure whether this is due to an enlightened welfare system or because they all froze to death.
November 6th, 2005 at 2:16 pm
There are heaps of homeless in Tokyo, and these have increased since the Japanese system of life time employment (actually sinecures in many cases) went out of fashion in favour of the more “Agureshi-bu”* American model of management. . They live in tent cities in the public parks, which is technically illegal, but the police turn a blind eye as long as they behave themselves, which they generally do. Most of them are men, and I have been told it is because it is the men who are too proud to go to the shelters which are available. I have also seen men with cats, and I have also been told this is because animals are not allowed in shelters. They are often seen passed out on the street, and everyone ignores them. The two I spoke to had problems with drink. One of them actually had a place to go, he was staying with his brother, but he told me he did not like to stay there because his brother doesn’t like his drinking. Does not seem to differ much across cultures, except that Tokyoites are not always demanding that the streets be cleaned of them.
*If you haven’t worked it out, this is the Japanese pronounciation of the English word “aggressive”.
November 6th, 2005 at 3:02 pm
OMG… I know this is totally out of place, but I’ve just heard about Rod. Please convey my sincere condolences to everyone on the team at Parliament.
November 6th, 2005 at 3:13 pm
What Craig said - I was so shocked to hear about this - my sympathies to his family and everyone involved with the Greens.
November 6th, 2005 at 3:14 pm
Yes - extremely sorry to hear about Rod. I disagreed with him on just about everything, but always liked him as somebody who stood up for what he believed in and didn’t waver from it, unlike members of Labour or indeed, my own National Party.
November 6th, 2005 at 3:33 pm
i too have just heard the news. I am saddened and shocked that something like this has happened. I never had the benifit of knowing or meeting him personally, but as the co-leader of the greens i feel he is a magnificent person. 48 is far to young.
November 6th, 2005 at 3:44 pm
Condolences… :-(((((
November 6th, 2005 at 3:47 pm
There really needs to be an announcement of some kind on the front page of the Green site. I’m sure there are a lot of people looking for more information on the Green site (this is the first place I came to after reading about it in the NZ Herald).
Very sad news.
Andy Straw
Dunedin
November 6th, 2005 at 9:04 pm
Going back to Kiore1 comment above re Tokyo. The “tent cities” in public parks are amazing setups. The residents there arguably have it better than your average Joe Watanabe does “living” in an apartment with barely room to swing the proverbial cat. At least the parks have space, an abundance of greenery, comparably fresher air and often within walking distance to the neighbourhood bathhouse where the majority of residents proudly kept themselves cleaner than many a NZ’er. Some of the “homes” created from a few cardboard boxes and a piece of tarpaulin had to be seen to be believed. Regardless of their circumstances and no doubt “loss of face” within such a highly structured society, I found the majority of residents to be law abiding (drunk or sober), and with their dignity intact. It would be a sad day if ever these tent cities and their residents were moved on. Being homeless doesn’t have to equate to being a drunk with no respect for the law.
November 7th, 2005 at 9:54 am
Condolences. I was shocked to learn about Rod.
November 7th, 2005 at 10:17 am
So far as Wellington goes, there’s been a marked increase in the street dwellers over the last 20-odd years. There’s always been a few rough sleepers, but it used to be just the same three or four guys you saw all the time.
However, the problem doesn’t seem to be a lack of housing per se, more the drug and alcohol problems and psychiatric conditions that prevent people taking up housing opportunities.
London has much greater numbers of people living on the streets, I used to meet lots of them when I was working as a park keeper there. They were mostly tolerably pleasant, with one or two exceptions - but whenever I suggested they take up squatting instead of sleeping on the streets, which was easy enough in London, they looked at me as if I was totally dodgy and muttered that they wouldn’t want to do something like that.
They considered squatting criminal and unethical, but I think a lack of initiative was also a factor. It seems to me that the root causes of homelessness - people losing the ability or desire to improve their lives - aren’t being seriously tackled.
Having said that, I’ve no idea how to go about fixing this problem within the present society. My guess is tha problem has been exacerbated in recent years by the movement towards a more individualistic and less communitarian society, so maybe homelessness is inevitable within capitalism.
November 7th, 2005 at 10:26 am
Oh, and as for that idiot Blumsky, could he name a ‘first rate’ city that doesn’t have homeless people?
The only examples I can think of are in countries which don’t suffer the social alienation of capitalist countries, and also lack the same fanatical adherence for private property and regulations, so are relaxed about people knocking up a hut on unused land.
November 7th, 2005 at 2:11 pm
Would anyone else regard a passed-out drunk as ’scary and intimidating’?
November 7th, 2005 at 10:19 pm
Yes. They could be faking.
You think I’m joking but I’m not. We’re all paranoid here.
November 28th, 2006 at 6:53 am
The article entitled “Mall life� triggered some thoughts I have about alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Even though the following commentary is about the United States, I’m sure that most of what follows applies to New Zealand as well.
The issues of homelessness and alcoholism are very complex. While homelessness is a worthwhile topic of discussion, this commentary will focus on the alcoholism part of the equation.
I believe that a large contributor to the alcoholism in our country is the mixed messages we have about alcohol. Simply put, how can something as prevalent, accepted, and accessible in our society be so harmful AND illegal when consumed even in moderation?
Stated differently, consider the thousands upon thousands of bars and taverns in the United States. Now add to this list the restaurants, night clubs, sporting events, festivals, state fairs, hotels, casinos, carnivals, etc. where alcoholic beverages are regularly served. Finally, add the grocery stores, liquor stores, beverage stores, the Convenient Food Marts, the 7/11 stores, and the state stores where a person can purchase as many bottles, cans, and cases of alcoholic beverages as he or she desires.
The point: drinking alcohol is pervasively and intimately engrained in our society. Yet in all 50 states, driving with a blood alcohol level of .08% will result in a DUI or DWI if the driver is caught by the police. Something obviously is not right in our society and the way in which it views alcohol. If drinking two or three alcoholic drinks per day is considered dangerous to one’s health AND can result in a DUI or DWI-related fatality, perhaps it’s time that the number of bars and taverns is significantly reduced or eliminated. If drinking can lead to alcoholism by so many people in our society and result in severe health problems and alcohol-related injuries and fatalities, maybe alcohol should not be sold in the above list of stores and business establishments.
Denny
http://www.alcohol-test-info.com