Letters: Young people do wonderful things

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I am known at RBHS, being employed at the tech department for several years. A grandson is a senior master at RBHS currently.

The funeral for my wife was, for sure, a very memorable occasion.

But so memorable in my heart is that four students approached their tutor saying "sir, we want to donate to your grandmother's funeral charity".

Be the offer large or small, what is worth millions is the thought behind those young men's gesture.

Their thought through and action taken, so special, so immeasurable.

So many times we read of bad deeds of young people.

Many young folk do wonderful things, this should be recorded for the whole world to see.

JOHN H MAYHEW
Ngongotaha

Quality of life
Last Saturday's Daily Post headline was, "We're surging ahead!" This was based on Rotorua's GDP being up by 3.9 per cent and population, house sales and tourist spending increasing.

My opinion of this follows:

Rotorua's GDP is growing mostly because of increased immigration nationally. The last 30 years of neoliberalism have also demonstrated that economic benefits (eg, increased tourist spending) disproportionately trickle up to the rich.

As a result of immigration and neoliberalism, New Zealand's housing unaffordability ratio has surged to the highest in the world. Now our children can't afford houses and families live in cars.

Soon New Zealanders will live in slums as we continue to be a destination for the wealthy. These rich will spend their leisure time enjoying our great walks and other attractions that our lower classes can no longer afford.

GDP is essentially a measure of quantity of human activity in dollar terms. It is best understood as a measure for banks to determine how much fiat money is flowing through the system so they can calculate how much they will make from clipping the ticket with fees and interest.

Arguably, GDP is also a measure of the rate of consumption and exploitation of regions and nations that make up our planet.

GDP does not measure the negative outcomes of human activity (eg, loss of habitat and increased crime due to urbanisation) nor other values that are not commonly measured in dollars. It certainly does not measure quality of life!

BOB BOARDMAN
Ngongotaha