Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - Why do we pay to live?

Episode Date: April 29, 2024

Welcome to the untamed realm of the world's Wild Wild Web!  On this edition we discuss why you have to pay to live on a planet you were born on... And who are we actually paying?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on the Wild Wild Web, why are we all paying to live? Welcome to the untamed realm of the world's wide web. A swirling vortex of weirdness, bullying, and self-obsessed social media posts. In this digital jungle, Jono and Ben are your fearless guides. Leading you through the wildest parts of the wild, wild web. This is the wild, wild web. Turn my microphone on. Here we go.

We look at some of the real stories from the internet that have captured our attention and imagination. And hearts. And hearts as well. And then we talk about it, and who knows where we end up. You know what I've really wondered about this program is who listens to it? Wild, Wild Web? Yeah. Who listens to it?

Has anyone come up to you and gone, hey? No. Love that stuff you're doing on the Wild, Wild Web. I've been sitting passing to our bosses. I was like, have you heard our podcast? They're like, no, what's it called? The wild, wild web, it's actually a lot of fun. I feel like, ouch.

No, we do have a lot of fun making it. I'm just like, as far as, because often we make a secondary podcast from time to time. Out of all the ones we've done, this is great. This is the best one by far. We really enjoyed it, yeah. We end up in some interesting spaces. I'm just like, it's a fun 10 to 20 minutes for us every day,

but I'm like, who else is this? Is anyone else? Is anyone else? Well, hopefully you are, because the idea behind it was to bring stories that you could go, hey, did you hear about this thing that happened? And the actual real stories. And then who knows? We share a lot of stuff that we probably wouldn't share normally.

Yeah. We open our hearts, speaking of hearts, before. So yeah, well, listen, maybe we could get some feedback. Have we got anyone tuned into this? International, domestic, we'll take anything. How do you want the feedback? What's that? How do you want the feedback? In the mail. Do you want

actual, do you want a text, do you want an email? What do you want? A letter. A handwritten letter. No, we don't want a hand. No one's going to write a handwritten letter. I'd say an email would be preferential. Let's go jono.prior at nzme.co.nz. Okay. I check that email

once every six months. I was about to say that's not what we email you on. It'll come back with a bounce back. No, but it's his actual email, the work email.

Yeah, but we all know not to email that though. No, because it bounced back. So I don't really check my emails that much. But you can email me on this one

so then you'll get my actual email and then we'll get the feedback. Okay, there we go. So a long-winded way of getting to that. So this is a clip that popped up on my algorithm. I want to front foot it and say, there's a man with a ponytail with an unusual clothing choice,

which will all make a lot of sense when you hear what he's questioning. But take a listen to his theory on the planet i don't understand why you have to pay to live on a planet you were born on and i mean it's such a simple question and it's haunted me ever since and you know what ladies and gentlemen ask yourself that question why do we have to pay to live on a planet we were born on? And who are we actually paying for the privilege of being alive here? Who made them the boss? Who put them in charge?

He starts to get a bit ranty towards the end there. But it's a very good question. Why do we pay? I know there's a system set up, and it's just the way it's been and it's the system that's always been and we've all abided by it and it's you know a lot of western capitalism runs this world and you know do this and do that earn money climb the corporate ladder and stuff me and bettan like oh god my son raised a good point yesterday about school he's like him i think he watched an Instagram video too,

but he's like, you take a picture from a phone from 1980 and take a picture from a phone now. Technologies advance, things have changed, same with cars, buildings, computers. He's like, the schooling system. You have a photo from a classroom in 1980 and a photo from a classroom now, still kids strapped behind a desk

listening to someone just talk at them. And it still doesn't work for every child. Well, yeah, but there are some slightly different schools these days, but you're right. For the most part. Yeah, there are classes, you know. Rudolph. Rudolph. There's Montessori and the other ones where people like

the kids shape the lessons and things like that. And there's classes that are all together. There's like 90 kids in classes and sort of hubs and stuff. So there is some difference. But you're right, it's going to school. It's all kind of the same thing. And, you know, could you have them out in a forest learning in a better environment, you know?

Just because we've done things, does it make it the right way to do stuff? That's right. It's a good question. I mean, I can't be bothered changing anything. But it's a great question to just chuck out there on a podcast that people may or may not listen to. But to answer the guy with the ponytail,

I mean, you can. You can go live for free. You don't have to buy a house. You can go live somewhere, but you're not going to live in a house. So if you want to live in a house, you've got to pay for it. If you want to live in New Zealand,

you've got to abide by these rules. If you don't want to live in New Zealand, you've got to find a little place somewhere else and don't and you probably can move there yeah there's a reason why you're paying for everything yeah so you're paying for your rates for your house because then you pay the council and then that goes towards everything don't have to buy us yeah i mean and if you're going to buy food you have to pay the person that produced it or you can go otherwise you can grow up yourself forage for food you can do that yeah you don't have to drive a car but then you if you do you have to pay the person that produced it. Otherwise, you can grow it yourself. Forage for food. You can do that.

You don't have to drive a car. But then if you do, you have to buy the car. You have to buy the person from the person who made it. It's just a new age barter system. I'll give you money for this. I know. That's what me and Ben are like. Well, there's a very simple explanation.

Go off and do whatever you want to do. That guy, he can. That's fine. Guy with ponytails. It is free to live on this earth unless you want to do. That guy, he can. And that's fine. Guy with ponytails? It is free to live on this earth unless you want things. Yeah. Oh, well, I thought he had a bit of a point there.

But then now you shut that down. You're right, he's got options available. It's not great options. And really, it's really pointing you towards paying for stuff. It's hard not to pay for stuff. I guess his thing is, over the broad spectrum, why do we all have to do that well you don't all have to do it but why i guess

you go why is it okay so let's say cave cave people they go back then i guess they're not paying for well maybe they are maybe the system they want the best caves and the yeah they would have given so many northern facing caves. Maybe it was like furs. I'll trade you three furs for this cave. It obviously started somewhere, the bartering. Yeah. Back in the day. Oh, we'll fight you for the thing. You know, there would have been that option too.

Because I'm not just going to hand over my cave because you want it. I'm not going to give you this car because you want it. You have to give me something in return. Money. Yeah. It's interesting, the school stuff. I mean, we've talked a lot in the show about school systems as well at the moment and the cell phones you know like the cell phones big deal in new zealand because cell phones are out of schools

for the first time ever but but to your point there's i kind of feel a little bit like to when my daughter was really she was passionate about it and i was like it doesn't affect me at all that's fine kids learn to deal with it but then i kind of went she kind of went well are they just coming at it from the same way they always have where they're like no no phones in school and then society now phones are a huge part of you know technology is like should they find a way of making it part of it you know and finding ways to teach kids about good phone habits rather than just go nah this is what we've always done it's like maybe maybe there is a point there that is a good point yeah yeah you think about any time your parent ever said no you're not having it you just made you want it more and you just go and find other ways

to yeah like is there a system maybe it wouldn't work for everything but i was just like oh maybe there is there is something to that still you know doesn't affect me she had a crack at the prime minister had to change his mind so that's gonna happen yeah she raised some valid points she did so you could tell he was thinking damn i thought this was just gonna be like a shut up dumb kid move on sort of i do think like you know when kids are young you know like primary schools and stuff like that you probably don't need there's no need for cell phones in the but you know like because kids are playing on jungle gyms and they're doing all that stuff but when they get to colleges they're not always doing that you. Sometimes they'll run around with the ball and stuff, but you haven't got a playground or anything like that to play off.

You didn't run around with the ball when I was in there. Yeah. We're going to take a quick break from this and we'll be back very shortly. Welcome back to the Wild Wild Web. You didn't run around with the ball? No, you're doing it on your own. What did you do?

Yeah, what did Megan Puffin do? We would sit down and gossip and talk about boys. Yeah? And just try and infiltrate the boys group. What was the most... Smooching up the stormwears? I tried to, but it wasn't much. It was always the smoking sections.

People would smoke in little sections on the field as well. Yeah, I feel like there was little sections. You know, like there's the smokers, there's the sporties, there's the people that just want to talk to the boys. What was the most... I was actually thinking about this this weekend. The most random thing that your school had when you were there was there anything in particular because my school it was it stopped but after a while and rightly so there was a seventh form last year at school year 13 now common room and you got to have and then there

was a like a chalkboard in there and someone would write someone's name up and then by the end of the week if your name was still up there was the friday fight you had to in there and someone would write someone's name up. And then by the end of the week, if your name was still up there, it was the Friday fight. You had to turn up and people would fight. Yeah. It was meant to be like a jokey sort of like, Oh, the Friday fight.

But if you know, and people would write your name, you're all gone, but it's up on the Friday fight thing as well. And who would come and fight? Oh, people would have to like, and it was never like,

it was never like nasty. Well, I saw it was never nasty. It was all like tussle. Play fighting. Play know and then it got a bit heated yeah yeah but then they'd write the name of someone up you love my name's up and if you needed to turn up after school on friday for that and the school caught wind of it and stopped it eventually after they wrote a whole touch team's name up there and then it was like a royal rumble sort of thing of everyone just right i was looking back i was like why did our school have that like

where did this tradition come and the teachers stopped it there was no more friday fights that was a wise decision and you know fair enough your name's on there as a kid you're like i'm not showing up at like 3 15 on a friday to you know our common room no i'm really hung out in it too much because it's like a reasonably small space and it's kind of forcing everyone to be in a small space together when everyone didn't really want to go out. Yeah, it's just like, hey, you're almost reaching adulthood, we'll give you a room, a tiny room with a microwave. Yeah.

You can heat up some stuff. Yeah, there was a little kitchen, there was a few chairs and stuff. There wasn't much to it. I actually don't want to be in the close proximity to all of these people. Yeah, very desolate room. I never made it to seventh form, or year 13. So I never got to experience the common room. When did you leave school? Halfway

through fifth form, so just before, quite early. And only, but mum would never have even entertained the idea, but I just was so determined on what I wanted to do, you know, so she was like, well, you're just probably wasting our money here at St. Kennegan's College. Presbyterian School for Privileged White People and so moved on but yeah always a lot of my friends at that school were plumbers builders we always joke and say

well you couldn't have got that in a public public education system but uh what was the common room like was it uh I was talking about the furniture was a little... Torn up. Our one was like a student flat. Being top of the pile at school, what was that like? You're the oldest. Did you wield any power? Were you like, hey, dumb kid, do this for me? Could you leave at lunchtime and go and do what you wanted?

Yeah, we could. I feel like you needed to pass this out and stuff like that. The ones at our school could go to the mall. Maybe if you had a study period and stuff, if you had a legitimate reason, you could. They just left it up to you. Like, if you want to fail your Year 13 exams, then just do what you want.

By the time you get to Year 13, you pretty much know whether you've made it into uni or not, though, don't you? I think nowadays you do. Yeah. Oscar was saying that. Oh, yeah, no. We had to sit exams.

Yeah, university entrance and stuff like that at the end of it to get, you know. Your bursary exam. Because I think uni now takes your results from year 12. So then you go into year 13 with the year, I think you've got a last chance to save it if you haven't made uni in year 13. Right. But for the most part, you're like, man, this is tough. Well, yeah, no, it was all right.

If you want to go study, you want to get a degree or whatever, you've got to make sure you get university entrance. There's a lot of pressure on, like, one set of exams. Yeah, yeah. Well, now they've got all the options, obviously, the a degree or whatever, you've got to make sure you get university interest. There's a lot of pressure on one set of exams. Yeah. Well, now they've got all the options, obviously. The NZE or whatever it is. Cambridge is another one, isn't it? What? What's Cambridge?

Cambridge is like, that's basically just one test at the end of the year. Oh, okay. Yeah, I think it's more NZCEA is internationally recognised, but so is Cambridge as well. Just another testing method mate shocking at exams were you good at them? yeah I was alright

I was alright if I knuckled down it's one of those things I reckon it's a good skill to have like if you know okay I can knuckle down I can learn it and it's horrible

studying studying's horrible no one ever enjoys studying but it's quite a good skill if you can nail it and go cool I can nail it it'll fall out of my brain

in a few weeks most of the stuff but you can kind of yeah but it's not fun no i was quite studious just got a knuckle down i was like annoying student council kind of person organized like an art charity of auction jesus did you find any techniques i found if i had to write everything down again that was my main thing because if i just read stuff it wouldn't always retain so you'd have to write it down and you have like almost notes of that so you kind of remember how i i don't know if I had to write everything down again. That was my main thing. Because if I just read stuff, it wouldn't always retain. So you'd have to write it down and you have like almost notes of that. So you kind of. I don't remember how I. I don't actually think I.

Because I was like reading it. I was like, I've kind of lost my place and I haven't. Yeah. I don't think I was much of a studier. What? But you just passed anyway. Yeah. Yeah.

I don't think I did much studying. Oh, God. But I was like really like, I don't know, focused in class. Yeah. You learnt it that way. Yeah. Oh, God, I'm annoying even just telling myself. Didn't have to study but passed anyway.

I gave it my big shot and failed miserably. Failed maths, that kind of thing. Like maths couldn't do anything. Can't do multiple time tables. Got real hard all of a sudden maths. Yeah, I know. It was like real good in like fifth form and then no. And, you know, like I do feel like there's a lot of it you learn in school.

You're like, I've never once come back to this. Yeah. And that's, I want to say that to the kids. I want to say that to the kids. It's like, 90% of the shit you don't know me. But you can't. When they do the algebra, I'm like, oh, there's a reason mummy doesn't know that. Yeah.

But then, you know, the skills of learning stuff is important. But you're right. There's a lot of that stuff. You're like, oh, okay. What job do people use algebra? Is it like, what's the one where they use like protractors and like architecture? They'd probably use algebra, right? Do you use?

But other than that, who uses algebra? Engineering. All careers in the engineering field depend on many types, levels, and maths. Industrial engineering technicians, technicians who work in manufacturing, use algebra, mathematics... Certainly not radio. So they go to school. They go to work and could potentially use Pythagoras.

Finance, exchange. Okay, so... So actual proper jobs. Sports. Sports aren't forgotten when it comes to algebra almost all athletes unintentionally use algebra no this is rubbish oh this is someone really let's be honest athletes don't know how to use algebra hey we're cool guys is this a school being like oh so many jobs use algebra it's the math you'll read it yeah it is

yeah yeah they're trying to make it cool there's's algebra propaganda. Sports, okay, sports. Almost all athletes unintentionally use algebra. Cricketers can smash sixes because they can calculate the force needed to hit the ball. Oh, come on, algebra. Basketball players can calculate the trajectory needed to get to a point. Footballers calculate the force. But they're not going, thank God, for algebra.

Yeah, if I just give this another, yeah. A bit more algebra. Do you know there's this theory, and I don't know what it's called, but if you throw a ball or a stick for a dog, they will instinctively calculate the shortest route to get to it. Oh, yeah. So, like, I can't give a good example.

You explained it beautifully. No, I don't think I got it. They instinctively will just figure out the shortest way. Wow. Really? So they're using Pythagoras too. Oh, so dogs are using it. Oh, they're cool. using it Oh they're cool

Dogs are cool Dogs are cool Yeah dogs are cool Oh there you go Oh that's interesting Go on algebra So where do we start Where do we end on this thing?

Oh with the old ponytail We start on a ponytail We end up with algebra That's always interesting To see where you start Where you end on these conversations You know what It didn't go anywhere dirty today

No Kept it clean We did actually Do you want to really Spice things up right at the end you really got some stuff you want to get off your chest trying to think how do you get from algebra to somewhere sexy it's not done did you have the rumor at school where there was always that one student who hooked up with a teacher did they ever go around your school oh like a rumor of yeah like they're always yeah or the rumor that one of your teachers

was, like, a... Prostitute. Yeah. And you're like, these are shocking rumours. Terrible. Like, career-ending rumours. Oh, my God, the teacher...

It was our, like, lovely young English teacher, and she was the sweetest soul, and I think about it now. Like, she definitely wasn't moonlighting as... Oh, was that... Everyone was saying

she was a lady of the evening. Yeah. They're terrible stuff. Her name was Miss English And she taught English And she definitely wasn't Oh her name was Miss English Yeah That's right

Well good Her name kind of led her to that Her name wasn't Miss Prostitute No No It's a horrible There is I know

Sometimes Some that you're like If this got back to the Ministry of Education These people would be She would lose her job Yeah Yeah well thankfully

She didn't But you know There was always rumours About people hooking up With other people And the teachers And it's like Did it?

I think the last thing A teacher Mid 20s Early 30s Wants to do Is entertain the idea Of smooching a zitty Pubescent teenage boy.

It smells like Lynx and BO. Ones that do end up on those American stories that become worldwide news and stuff like that. They get ousted. It happens every very... Once every seven months. Yeah, they'll be like, I'm this teacher, this, and they lead this person along. Now they're in jail for life and stuff like that. You know, that happens.

But not that much. Not as much as kids and most of the time it's probably kids just saying i imagine if i was a teacher i'd detest the children the last thing you'd want to do is yeah hey well thanks for listening to the wild world web appreciate it