A debate regarding a news item where a government project to build a new hospital in my city (Dunedin, New Zealand) is over budget and possibly behind schedule after they apparently sat around for years doing very little.
Me What? No! A project being run by this government not going according to plan? Inconceivable!
Opponent Pretty standard for any govt?
Me Well, to be fair, you have a point, but I think this one might be worse than most.
Opponent Christchurch still being rebuilt?
Opponent Or do you mean this govt?
Me I mean this government. The Christchurch rebuild does seem like it is being done slowly and inefficiently however.
Opponent Pretty on point there.
Opponent Yes and pretty standard for any building project just now with material shortages and rises in price. People would be complaining if it wasn't being monitored.
Opponent People always complain lol. They live their life perfectly it would seem.
Opponent Yes :)
Opponent Fair point.
Opponent Give us an example of a National project that did according to plan and was within budget?
Me I would have to look back to see, but I wouldn't be surprised if they had a pretty abysmal record as well.
Opponent Blame Gerry Brownlie entirely for the slowness of Christchurch's recovery. Period. The buck stops with him. All subsequent failures can be sheeted back to him.
Opponent Comparing the Christchurch rebuild which was a full town to building a hospital is a little bit pathetic but good try :)
Opponent Japan rebuilt and repopulated a flattened then flooded city within a year. Grow up, pathetic child?
Opponent Not that I would hold China up for any example other that it's extremely poor human rights record and it's dictatorship but here is what they can do. A 60,000-square-metre structure with space for 1,000 beds and 30 intensive care wards, all built in just 10 days. According to Chinese state media, the construction of a new hospital in virus-hit Wuhan has been completed - just a little over a week after it began.
Opponent They built 2 within 2 weeks. Not sure what safety standards are like though.
Me Yeah, it's just too easy to blame previous governments for the failures of the current one. They've had 5 years to sort out National's mistakes. They seem to have made most of them worse.
Opponent some of nationals mistakes can't be fixed.
Me And a lot of Labour's will be difficult to fix too, but whoever is the current government has to take responsibility at some point.
Opponent There lies the problem
Me Agreed. But however bad our political system is, the problem is how to fix it or what to replace it with. I'm sure you're familiar with Churchill's famous quote on this subject.
Note that "Opponent" above refers to multiple people, so it wasn't an individual arguing with himself. Also, some "opponents" wer eon my side!
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