Wednesday 12 August 2015

What's With That?

I'm an easily confused person, not all the time, but every so often there are things I simply don't get. Not that I'm a small-minded person who hasn't seen enough of the world to know what's going on, gosh no. But I think we can all agree that there is just some things in this world currently that are just a little be odd and confusing.

I'm not going to bore you with a discussion based entirely on the alterations of our National Flag and Anthem and the way the Government works as we can pretty much all agree on that. However, I have been thinking about a few things that I've seen around and heard about where it just made me stop and think - what's with that?

Take Work Safe, for instance, we've all got to wear helmets which sure, seems to be a legitimate reason - if they didn't make such a big deal about it so that people buy the helmets to wear on the occasion when Work Safe arrive on their farm, but the rest of the time it will be tied to the front of the four-wheeler.
Yet, it's shocking to know that our country is needing to employ people to clean up our roads because of all the people who throw rubbish out of their car windows. This might be the only job these people can get, it's sad that it needs to be done. What is worse, is driving past a stretch of about ten men over a few hundred metres, wearing helmets to pick up rubbish on SH1. Sure, I guess it's just a preventative measure, cars can flick stones, I understand it. Yet, how often do you see a person standing on the back of a moving rubbish collection truck wearing a helmet? Or perhaps the roadworkers who stand on the moving truck picking up cones from the road - those drivers aren't slow either. Have you ever seen them wearing a helmet? No, me neither.
Why should it be good enough for the goose, but not for the gander? Fate is fate and if something is going to happen, it will, but surely this is a dangerous job, just as dangerous as picking up rubbish on the side of a road, and riding an ATV? Thoughts?







On Sunday could you say we were lucky enough to see yet another snippet into the lives of the Gloriavale community? Possibly, but the entire concept is a bit here and there for me. In some aspects it looks as if it could be a good lifestlye to live in, in others, it seems really not that great. They say that their life is better than what we live in, they compare their lives to ours - although I do wonder how they make a comparison if they've never lived the the same way as us?
We try to look into the eyes of the people (as much as you can through the TV screen) and in many you don't see souls filled with joy like you'd expect. I guess they don't have the fear of having no work and having bills to pay - but then they also don't get freedom to do what they like and when they like.
Especially the women who are required to marry whoever asks them, and have as many children as he wants while having absolutely no say in anything at all. What struck me as awful was when one of the husband stated that if he decided that his wife was having issues during the pregnancy/birth, then he would decide if or when she needed outside help.
Moreover the thing that really baffled me was when an elderly member passed away, during the funeral session another leader stated something along the lines of, "A new body will rise from this grave!" I think that comment overwrites all of what I understand of them, forgive me if I've misunderstood, but to me this seems like some form of reincarnation statement, which they do not believe in - so where did it come from?


Finally I quickly want to touch on the dentist V. lion story. It's horrible to think that such a beautiful creature could be killed by somebody so small in retrospect. It's highly controversial, but you have to think about it in two ways. Way back when, these animals were killed without a thought, but they were killed for a purpose just like a cow, pig or deer is now. But I also like to think of the other side of the coin, where why is it good enough for us to kill a possum or a rabbit for fun, but bigger things like this shouldn't really be any different. I agree that in a situation like this, where there aren't many of some species left, it isn't right at all and killing pests is OK. But why should one animals' life be put higher up than another? Just another thought.


I'd like to hear your remarks!

5 comments:

  1. Hmm, interesting.
    helmets, well, yes. Actually, even just driving a convertible should require helmets. Just as dangerous. Not trying to create a complex here, but notice how some people are becoming targets of the rules and regulations, but not others? ie, city folk, can pretty much just do damn well what they please, no questions asked. But as soon as you step outside the city, to the poor common folk, you immediately get red tape up to the rafters... If you have an ATV crash on the news, the lack of a helmet will always be mentioned, and it is a call to farmers (note, farmers, not anyone else) that helmets should be worn at all times, regardless of the fact that the person would probably have been in an identical condition even with a helmet. But if in a town or city something happens on a similar scale or worse, even if a helmet could have saved them, it's not mentioned. I think that helmets are the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, ATV safety and awareness courses would do infinitely more than a little piece of plastic strapped to part of your anatomy. WS has the wrong end of the stick. Also, why ATVs and helmets? Of all the dangers on a farm, I can think of hundreds of things which pose more of a threat, but which aren't ever mentioned once. To be honest, I often wonder how WS can really justify itself...

    Gloriavale. We don't know for sure their life, only what we've been told, and they don't know our life, only what they've been told. Read Sins of the Fathers, written by Hopeful Christian's son, it is a very thought-provoking book, and gives some good insight into what goes on. Some of what's there is good, but then other things, mostly sexual perversion, is wrong, and can never be justified. And on the testimonies of that alone, remembering that many of the victims are under aged, and Hopeful himself has been jailed for related charges, is enough to let you know it is a serious issue there.

    As for the animals. Interesting. I myself do hunt possums, for several reasons. Firstly, they are a pest, spreading TB, and killing native trees and such. For the sake of ecology, thinning them is not a bad thing. Now, other animals worth more? I would say, it depends. I definitely don't agree with killing animals for sport, or "trophy hunting". Either for food, or because they pose a serious threat to something important, should they be killed. And on that level, I think it would be okay to deal with them in order of threat level posed. Other than that, though, I don't really separate animals into different values, one being worth something more than the others...

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    1. I'll quickly reply, thanks for reminding me...

      ATV safety training, it's just as pointless as the helmets. You get the likes of you and I, who would take it seriously. Then you have the idiots who think the world owes them something, who'll look at it as if it's a great time. Then you have the old farmers, who can compare to the saying - you can't teach an old dog new tricks...

      Even if you have the training, at the time you'll know what to do, just to pass the course to keep everyone happy. But as soon as these people walk away and go back to work, *forgotten*, thrown to the back of their mind with the certificate hidden deep in their back pocket to give to WS should anything happen. Working on lots of different farms, I see a heck of a lot. These people reckon they know what they're doing, but growing up around Dad - who is crazy safe and was a tutor, I can see the differences like it's black and white. So yeah, don't think installing and enforcing training will do much, other than look after the people involved with a "certificate".... although it's a good thought, just like the helmets are.
      But if the officials want to enforce something, they should be enforcing us to wear padded clothing - made of cotton wool or bubble wrap, from the day we're born so none of us suddenly dies.... Then they might save some lives, but then the world would be seriously overpopulated, so that would be another issue!!

      *sighs*

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    2. Hehe, I was just thinking, you ask for opinions, then it's just blank for everyone... Don't worry... :P

      Yeah, I guess you'd be right, the training would only help those who would already know.
      I think the trouble is, helmets are the "ambulance at the bottom of the cliff". They need something at the top of the cliff, but what is the question. I mean, everyone by now knows the cliff is there, some just don't think it'd ever happen to them, and they're the ones who go over it, if you know what I mean.

      Lol, the bubblewrap is a good idea!

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  2. *Yawns* Wake me if something happens.

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