The cause of the recent strikes is the malign effect of nine years of obdurate neglect by the then National government.
A National government that grossly underfunded education, health, housing, conservation and infrastructure, while encouraging rampant dairying and pronouncing climate change to be unscientific nonsense.
The neglect by National of basic social essentials has had a destructive impact upon what should/could be a cohesive and healthy community.
Cause and effect - it's sort of like two plus two equals four. Just like MMP means whoever gets the most seats gets to rule. Simple really.
Mr Bennett, you cannot have it both ways - you cannot mock Winston Peters for being useless, while at the same time wishing he'd aligned his useless self with National.
The present Government has much to set right.
J A Lamont
Durie Hill
'Benefits' of pollution
It was interesting to see G R Scown once again claiming that pollution is good for the environment with his suggestion that silt from ironsand mining will improve the fisheries.
As far as I'm aware, constant silt from the sort of seabed disturbance proposed will not have a chance to be cleared away by normal ocean movements and will be more like the delightful London smogs of the 1950s.
Scown's letter espousing the delights of pollution of the ocean momentarily had me believing that he had finally come to his senses and had stopped praising the great improvements that CO2 would have on plant growth with global warming.
Has he not watched the news and noted that many homeless Americans are finding that the extremes of temperature have led to heated homes - but not in a pleasant way? (abridged)
John Milnes
Whanganui
Constitution failings
John Archer (letters, July 31) challenges Trump apologists to defend his actions vis-a-vis the American Constitution.
Here's the preamble John cites - this time including a key term he omitted, for obvious reasons.
"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America."
Our posterity - not immigrants, descendants of immigrants, invaders, victims of US imperialism, tourists, students or anyone else who subsequently resides in the same geographic location, or happens to vaguely share the same ideals as "We the people". Our posterity.
By cracking down on mass immigration, Trump is acting where the Constitution has failed in its singular purpose to defend the posterity of the forefathers.
The fact he is doing so with great resistance, mostly from paperwork citizens ... makes his efforts all the more heroic.
(Abridged)
Nick Ander
Marton
