Reddit New Zealand Started a Kool-Aid Thread. It Didn’t End Well – Updated

Kool-Aid is part of New Zealand’s DNA. Drink it at your peril…

New Zealanders have been brought up on a diet of Kool-Aid since … well, ages ago. it has become part of their DNA to accept every positive thing they’re told about their country.

That’s why its reassuring to see that not everyone in New Zealand is coded for the Kool-Aid gene, that there is some genetic diversity in this island population – brought in by migrants and their exotic ways.

Occasionally, a self-congratulation thread arises in New Zealand social media. Self affirmation is important when you’re living on a windswept volcanic island off the coast of Antarctica trying to tell yourself you’re in some kind of paradise & there’s no need to leave.

As with most attempts at self-congratulation in New Zealand, after a while it degenerates into self loathing and deprecation. The Kool-Aid must be getting too dilute.

Here’s some of the replies the above thread eventually received in reddit new zealand:

MediumRareMoa: You can also bask in how lucky you are to live somewhere that is slowly turning to shit

Rootkit9208: I’m glad you brought it up. I have a feeling I know the answers to these questions, but I want you to discuss them with me anyway, if that’s okay. What is wrong with New Zealand? What will New Zealand look like in a decade?

Dudewitharedditname: I believe that unless we pay more attention to our impact on our environment we’re going to be in for a big shock in a decade or two. I think we’ve been fairly lucky so far with our relatively low population density having a lesser impact than those with higher. Clean, green, 100% pure my arse.

Tinypirate: Tourists must look at some of the dirty old smoking cars on the road and wonder where they’ve turned up. I would like to see the government push very hard on making our roads and other industries cleaner and greener, with subsidies, if need be. Imagine how much better off the country would be if we weren’t spending billions on car fuel every year?

Bookofthoth_za: New Zealand is hardly the eco-friendly country it’s made out to be:

1) Public transport is seen as an after-thought instead of a priority. In the development of most countries, rail developed first, then roads. More cars = more pollution.

2) Where are all the fuel efficient turbo diesel cars that the rest of Europe are using? More inefficient cars on the road = more pollution.

3) The amount of plastic bags being wasted is ridiculous. Even in South Africa, they have to pay for their own plastic bags at check-out. It’s cheap, but at least you have an incentive to bring your own bags. Also, the bags are much bigger and sturdier, so no double bagging necessary. 8 plastic bags are currently used when just 3 bigger ones would suffice.

4) The amount of heating required just to feel comfortable in your own home (above 10 degrees) in winter is a complete joke by international standards. We are polluting the environment by needing heating at all, where insulation and thicker walls would be 10x more efficient.

5) Bicycle lanes. How can you expect a country to be green if you can’t even provide the minimum requirements to allow the most efficient vehicle known to man to operate safely in the city (Auckland at least)?

Mediumraremoa: Sure. The following are in a worse state now that previous decades:

House prices. Fisheries. Forestation. Income to debt ratio. Income to cost of living ratio. River and water quality. Educational standing (internationally). Suicide rate. Poverty. Government debt.

Those are off the dome. I’m sure some others can add to the list.

As for what the country will look like in 10 years time, I don’t know, but I believe the choice of government will play a big part.

FurryCrew: The overt homelessness that has creapt in over the last 10 years is the most concerning to me. I used to believe that being homeless was largely a choice in NZ as you can generally walk into WINZ and someone can help you get a roof over your head. What changed?

Yohangoodbye: That’s not to say we don’t have more than our fair share of problems. Binge drinking culture, huge mental health concerns, high suicide rate, horrible domestic violence statistics, a failing health system, growing wealth gap, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I love living in NZ, but it’s a long way from perfect.

Ifras: We definitely have a long way to go. We have huge sociatal issues. Most of them stemming back from economic and social issues post British eu join. But we can improve help each other BEFORE we blame government (even though they have a big role to play).

optmspotts: when im overseas i realise how good we have it back home but when im home its pretty shit

Sootyangel: Aussie shits on NZ in most departments.id rather live there.

Aussies are very similar to us,i got on just fine when i lived there. As for your irrational fear of their wildlife,perhaps you should of lived where there was human population. Their politicians arent as annoying.Probably because over there we arent taxed as hard. Most of em dont care about rugby sorry

sylenthikillyou: I mean, my city currently doesn’t have clean drinking water, so that’s a slight downer on the whole “first world” thing. But apart from that I’d tend to mostly agree.

conma293: Except for a housing crisis, looming medical crisis, and infrastructure buckling under 100k immigrants this year. NZ would be ok if I could afford a house. Low wage high expense economy. Also if you want news or politics to be about anything but rugby your gonna have a bad time.

sdguero: I’m in America. It’s still pretty sweet here if you avoid the bullshit news. The only place I hear about nazis and racists here is on reddit. In my experience, racism was more prevalent in NZ than where I live

Ieatmyzebra: Moved here a few years ago, honestly not a fan. Too boring compared to other countries, but to be fair, it feels a lot safer

Alienwallbuilder: Your in dreamland Not NZ. we are not all loving each other and we are always conversing and anylising about the U.S. situation, but we are pretty good people usually.

wubalubalublubb: Pretty shit actually. My career is stunted and everything costs heaps so my partner and I must work work work to have a decent life. One of my favourite places, “pupu springs” is now full of snot like algae.

DadLoco: Great place to live unless you want to work. SOURCE: Was out of work for the first three months of 2017, resorted to taking a contract in Canberra.

PBRBeer: Dual Citizen here living in the States. What you see on the news is way overblown. I was down there a few months ago and found it rather interesting how your news portrays America vs how it actually is as a citizen here. Which pretty much is the same as how the American media portrays any other country’s headlines.

Hello_world_NZ: Classic Circlejerk.

The day after this article was published this headline graced the pages of the New Zealand Herald. it would seem some New Zealanders missed out on the good citizenship gene…

No one helped during violent, sexual assault on train

Two Auckland teenagers were violently and sexually assaulted while taking a train home on the weekend.

The mother of one of the victims has voiced her concerns on social media to try to track down the attackers.

Jen de Montalk said her 15-year-old daughter and male friend were travelling home on the train on Saturday about 5.30pm, when they were confronted by five drunk men wearing Four Square costumes and masks.

“The kids were on the train near them and one of the men started walking around and telling my daughter to put her hand in his pouch, because he was wearing an apron. He then got his dick out and exposed himself to her,” she said.

“Then one of the other guys suddenly took a disliking to the boy she was with. He called him a faggot, rolled up his sleeves and started chocking him.”

De Montalk said her daughter began yelling for help while her friend fought off the attacker, but nobody came to the teenagers’ aid.

“People were filming it but nobody stepped up to help, and the Auckland Transport staff didn’t intervene.”

She said the man headbutted the teenage boy, and a stray punch clipped her daughter in the side of the face.

“The man then stole the boy’s phone so my daughter went to a train security guy and basically had to convince him and beg him to come and help.

“They somehow got the phone back and the men were kicked off the train, but quite a lot of time had passed before anything was done about it.”…source