‘No one would choose to live in poverty’
The National government reckons they’re getting more and more people off the benefit – but is that true? And if it is, what is happening to those people? Guest writer Alicia Continue Reading →
Category Archives: Politics
Please don’t cut our lifeline
New Zealand is in a mental health crisis. And the services at the front lines of that crisis are under threat. What will happen if they don’t exist anymore?
I’m a slacktivist and I’m alright
Yeah, I’m a slacktivist. I don’t go to protests. I don’t look at news sites. I rarely give money. And I haven’t even been writing. So where does that leave Continue Reading →
False idols and self care
I’ve been a fan of Laurie Penney for a while, but she just continually outdoes herself. Her recent column, ‘Life-Hacks of the Poor and Aimless: On negotiating the false idols of Continue Reading →
Please call me disabled
For some of you, this might not be what you want to hear. For whatever reason, you don’t want to think of me this way. But this is what I Continue Reading →
Lifeline: It literally is.
Several weeks ago, I experienced a crisis. It was following the suicide of a friend, and I was struggling to cope. I called Lifeline at about 2 o’clock in the Continue Reading →
It’s much worse than you thought
I finally got around to doing Stuff’s “Rich or Poor?” indicator. I mean, I had a pretty good idea that I’m poor. But my result “Your standard of living is Continue Reading →
Self care vs Selfishness: how do we know?
As someone who finds self care really tough to do, but who obviously needs a lot of it, I’m a loud advocate. But it’s tough to fight the voice that Continue Reading →
The “deserving poor”
Two years ago today, my column launched in the Nelson Mail. I was struggling with my as-yet undiagnosed illness, and was in the midst of a public battle for better treatment from Continue Reading →
Angel or demon? The medical cannabis question
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my prognosis lately. Like most disabilities and illnesses, how things progress is individual and uncertain. But if it all goes downhill, I want to Continue Reading →