Why is it anyone wants to live in Auckland? Three news items in a row in my feed this morning: a home shot at, a stabbing, and a woman dies after an assault — all in Auckland.

@Miraz And dinosaurs with no arms! No seriously, it’s mostly the same situation here in Oslo. Not every day though. It’s not so much that I want to live here, as I need to. 😔

@odd It feels like something’s happened this year. Even at the start of the year it seems like there was an occasional item about violence like shooting or stabbing, but it’s passed through weekly to daily to several times per day.

@Miraz I regretted my first line right after I sent the post. Heartless of me. I apologize.
Can the ever increasing cost of living in ANZ push people to these extremes, or is it many factors? Have the political climate changed?

@odd No need to apologize; it wasn’t heartless. I imagine it’s many factors, but of course poverty and hardship drive most such things directly or indirectly. Auckland is Aotearoa New Zealand’s biggest city and is very multicultural. There are some very rich people there and some very poor and a whole lot in between.

@Miraz Jacinda Ardern seem to me to be doing a good job as PM, but I imagine it’s a tough job. The very wealthy is probably not exactly great fans of hers, and change can take a long time to achieve, so many can become impatient. I hope there will be a turnaround for the impoverished, and that the middle class will express solidarity to make it happen.

@odd She is doing a great job, though there are still some very large gaps in policy. I hope she gets another 3 years before the National Party come in and start undoing as much as they can.

@Miraz Yes. National Party has a bad ring to it. Let’s hope it takes a while for them to come in position.

@Miraz it’s mainly us peeps from America … even that feels safe to us!

@odd The National Party has been around for a very long time and is the dominant player with the Labour Party. It doesn’t have the far-right overtones you might think — they are just conservatives focused on protecting business and wealth at the expense of human beings.

@JohnPhilpin 😳

@Lynessence That’s the thing here — we too have strict gun laws and law-abiding people don’t generally own guns except specifically for hunting or authorised sport shooting. Criminals though are another matter.

@Miraz Heh heh. Spot on.

@Miraz yeah - we have ACT for that 🤷‍♂️

@Miraz Ok, I see. The “nice” right.