Comments on: Building Roads – poor business decision

By: nzbcfanboi

nzbcfanboi — Fri, 15 May 2009 03:04:26 +0000

A good metahor might work and reline Steve Joyce’s brain because that’s what’s needed more than anything

By: Cam

Cam — Thu, 14 May 2009 09:11:05 +0000

A similar metaphor might be if 84% of the population is obese, would you still keep buying them chips? [or insert other fatty food]

By: uroskin

uroskin — Thu, 14 May 2009 03:42:18 +0000

But what if your political career depended on red sock buyers and wearers, and red sock wearers object to paying subsidies to people to wear blue socks? (But, of course, never mentioning that blue sock wearers pay disproportionate taxes to enable red sock wearers to get around town in their cars)

By: jarbury

jarbury — Thu, 14 May 2009 01:25:08 +0000

That’s why I think a good metaphor is so necessary. People get side-tracked when cars are mentioned, as they have this irrational love for their vehicle. I don’t know whether red socks or blue socks is the best metaphor, but something like that would be the best way to get this point across.

By: Lindis

Lindis — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:34:16 +0000

Those are exactly the arguments Melissa Lee was using at the Mt Albert transport debate this evening. “84% of people use private cars for transport, therefore we need to build more roads for private cars!”

Even when Russel Norman from the Greens pointed out her faulty logic, she kept coming back to the same old argument. She simply doesn’t get it! How can we ever get through to these people who can’t grasp simple cause & effect reasoning?

By: Truth Seeker

Truth Seeker — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:19:08 +0000

Joyce clearly wants to jusitfy the status quo and fund the people who will build and maintain it. Unless this stance is made politically unacceptable, it will almost certainly be maintained. Building for yesterday is one of New Zealand’s perpetual areas of consistent dysfunction. Most Kiwis seem quite happy to waste vast amounts of money or it wouldn’t be this way.