This will be interesting

"WELFARE CONDEMNS MORE KIDS THAN IT SAVES"

Come and listen to Sue Bradford and Theodore Dalrymple publicly debate this proposition on Wednesday 11 October.

Venue:  Ground Floor Theatrette (previously known as the "BP Theatrette") - Ground Floor, BP House, 20 Customhouse Quay, Wellington (entry from either Waring Taylor Street or Johnston Street)

Date and time: Wednesday 11 October 2006, 12pm to 2pm

Admission: free

RSVP: welfaredebate@gmail.com or (027) 248 7919 by 5 October 2006.  Space is limited, and interest is high.  First in first served.

About the speakers:

"Theodore Dalrymple" is the nom de plume of Anthony Daniels, English writer and retired prison doctor and psychiatrist. He has written extensively on culture, art, politics, education and medicine, both in Britain and overseas, and is probably best-known for his opposition to progressive and liberal policies in these fields. He argues that the progressive views prevalent within Western intellectual circles tend to minimise the responsibility of individuals for their own actions and to undermine traditional values, thus contributing to the formation within rich countries of a vast underclass afflicted by endemic violence, criminality and drug abuse. Occasionally accused of being a misanthrope, he denies the charge and his defenders point to a persistently conservative philosophy in his work that is anti-ideological, sceptical, rational and empiricist.  He is in New Zealand courtesy of the Sensible Sentencing Trust, Family First Lobby and the For the Sake of our Children Trust - see http://www.cradletojail.org.nz.

Sue Bradford has been "an activist for social justice, peace and women's issues" since 1967, protesting against the Vietnam War, nuclear weapons and apartheid, and for the rights of women and the unemployed.  She has set up people's organisations such as the Auckland Unemployed Workers Rights Centre and Auckland People's Centre, a 'union' for unemployed workers and beneficiaries and other low income people.  She is now a third term MP, third on the Green Party list.  Amongst the many issues with which she is involved, she has been at the forefront of the "anti smacking bill" - the proposal to repeal section 59 of the Crimes Act which currently entitles parents to use reasonable force by way of correction of their children. 

Sue Bradford - There are three ways to make radical social and environmental change. 1) Working within the system; 2) throwing rocks at the system from outside; 3) building new organisations within the shell of the old system. People who take these three paths should all be valued for their contribution.

Theodore Dalrymple - An unholy alliance between politicians and bureaucrats who want to keep prison costs to a minimum, and liberal intellectuals who pretend to see in crime a natural and understandable response to social injustice, which it would be a further injustice to punish, has engendered a prolonged and so far unfinished experiment in leniency that has debased the quality of life of millions of people, especially the poor.

Sue Bradford - Time in police cells and prison can be lonely and degrading, but also sacred. Great places for learning about self and life. I was first arrested at 16 in 1969 for an occupation of the American Consulate in Queen St. We were protesting against the Vietnam War. I was locked up and strip-searched. That made me decide whose side I was on - the side of people who haven't had the chances I had. - Sue Bradford

Theodore Dalrymple - Intellectuals propounded the idea that man should be freed from the shackles of social convention and self-control, and the government, without any demand from below, enacted laws that promoted unrestrained behavior and created a welfare system that protected people from some of its economic consequences. When the barriers to evil are brought down, it flourishes.