tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22031270.post3674295033632137432..comments2023-11-03T19:05:08.512+11:00Comments on Harry Clarke: Paying aboriginals not to smokeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22031270.post-71539680691659727312008-04-03T18:36:00.000+11:002008-04-03T18:36:00.000+11:00Derrida Derider:Agree .... but Aborigines are as g...Derrida Derider:<BR/><BR/>Agree .... but Aborigines are as good a place to start as any.<BR/><BR/>Besides, if such a program started among, for instance, wealthy white metropolitan males, you could bet your little pippy that Aborigines out in remote communities would be way, way down the priority list.<BR/><BR/>No, put the Blackfellas up at the head of the queue for a change. <BR/> <BR/> Graham BellAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22031270.post-89639187874811903752008-04-03T14:49:00.000+11:002008-04-03T14:49:00.000+11:00Surely what's good for the aboriginal goose is goo...Surely what's good for the aboriginal goose is good for the white gander. Smoking may be more prevalent amongst aboriginals but the harm done to an individual white smoker and those around him or her is the same as that for an individual black smoker.<BR/><BR/>Since the problems of targeting and verification will be exactly the same in both cases, why base it on a characteristic such as aboriginality? The Akerlof criteria for the relative efficiency of "tagging" a disadvantaged group for help (as against individual assessment of disadvantage) simply aren't met here. Either pay all smokers not to smoke or none.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22031270.post-32309631049184387782008-04-03T05:47:00.000+11:002008-04-03T05:47:00.000+11:00Anonymous at 1:32pm and Yobbo too:Yep. You've go...Anonymous at 1:32pm and Yobbo too:<BR/><BR/>Yep. You've got the idea.<BR/><BR/>No. it's not the thin edge of the wedge.<BR/><BR/>The benefit, in terms of hard cold cash to the taxpayers, far outweighs the costs. It certainly would be a hell of a lot cheaper than, say, paying the Saddam Hussein regime to buy our wheat - or rewarding and licensing scoundrels to plunder people's superannuation funds - or buying slow, horribly expensive, vulnerable fighter aircraft which might be delivered before 2027 if we are lucky.<BR/><BR/>Oh yes, I almost forgot .... there's a likely benefit - in terms of longer, happier and potentially more productive life - for Aborigines too.<BR/><BR/>I don't give a damn if it was April Fools' Day on Tuesday. Give it a go.<BR/><BR/> Graham BellAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22031270.post-69665061708077552902008-04-02T13:32:00.000+11:002008-04-02T13:32:00.000+11:00Harry, I hate the idea of the government meddling ...Harry, I hate the idea of the government meddling in peoples affairs. Giving aboriginals cash for not smoking??....amazing. Is this the thin end of the wedge? What's next? However, since we the taxpayer (mostly non-aboriginals) are paying for their (very expensive) treatment once they get cancer or numerous other smoking related ailments then maybe on a cost/benefit basis we shld give it a go?? Who knows? Geoff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22031270.post-26425969268759327002008-04-02T12:44:00.001+11:002008-04-02T12:44:00.001+11:00Various parliamentary committees have found that s...Various parliamentary committees have found that smoking, diet and grog is at the heart of the health problems of Aboriginals.<BR/>I remember even Comrade Albanese even coming to this conclusion.<BR/><BR/>When does personal responsibility come to the fore?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22031270.post-43968767654778865842008-04-02T12:44:00.000+11:002008-04-02T12:44:00.000+11:00Great harry. How do i get on this money train?Great harry. How do i get on this money train?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22031270.post-47161188516798863072008-04-02T10:54:00.000+11:002008-04-02T10:54:00.000+11:00Yobbo, I guess you could alternatively tax dirty a...Yobbo, I guess you could alternatively tax dirty arses!<BR/><BR/>More seriously health costs among aboriginals are high and their health status is appalling. Even from the viewpoint of narrow non-aboriginal self-interest it is a good idea to address these issues. <BR/><BR/>Its a relatively inexpensive policy with good social payoffs.hchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13799594181016858701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22031270.post-87700978113010717582008-04-02T05:15:00.000+11:002008-04-02T05:15:00.000+11:00Should we also pay aboriginals to wipe their arse?...Should we also pay aboriginals to wipe their arse?<BR/><BR/>We already pay for them to go to school, now people want to pay them to stop drinking, stop smoking, whatever else can we pay them to stop doing? Pay them to stop gambling? Stop masturbating?<BR/><BR/>This is just getting ridiculous Harry. Not all problems can be solved by throwing money at them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22031270.post-27021030447392161962008-04-01T23:39:00.000+11:002008-04-01T23:39:00.000+11:00Yeah, give it a go.Apply the good old engineering ...Yeah, give it a go.<BR/><BR/>Apply the good old engineering criterion to it: If it works, it's good engineering; if it doesn't, it's nothing but assembled scrap-metal. <BR/><BR/>It is certainly no sillier and is likely to do far less damage that some of the ratbag ideas that have been chucked at Aboriginal health problems over the past half century.<BR/><BR/>Who knows? It might work .... but anything is worth a try.<BR/><BR/>JC:<BR/>Policing it would be dead easy - this is 2008 and pathology tests [and anti-doping tests too] have come a long way in recent years.<BR/><BR/> Graham BellAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22031270.post-81852318343045848292008-04-01T22:49:00.000+11:002008-04-01T22:49:00.000+11:00Andrew Leigh comments on Simon Chapman’s interesti...<I>Andrew Leigh comments on Simon Chapman’s interesting proposal to pay aboriginals to stop smoking. Why not give such schemes a trial? </I><BR/><BR/>Harry, smokers lie and cheat. Smokers are even bigger liars than junkies when it comes to a hit.<BR/><BR/>How would you police it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com