The Sky is the Limit

This morning I went through one of the upper inner city major streets, and went past the ladies (of both genders) of the morning before seeing ambulance staff helping a collapsed man outside a bar, and wondered that this is only the aftermath from Thursday night. Friday and Saturday nights are still to come.
Further along K Road, I saw this image. Westpac is one of the "big four" (Australian based) banks providing "services" to New Zealanders. Along with almost every bank in the Western world during the heady days of the early 21st century they gambled with their depositors' money. Through the gap and in the distance is the Sky Tower built to draw punters to the Sky City casino, dedicated to taking money from those least able to afford it, who enter their doors in the fantasy that they can beat the system.
For me,the tower symbolises the wish for riches while being bedded concretely and solidly in a building that is ugly squat and does little beyond relieving desperate people of what little they have left.
Although government argues that they choose to gamble, that obscures the fact that the taxes received seem immense. Seem, because the gamblers, and more particularly their families, need more state assistance than they would if they didn't gamble.
As the tallest building in the Southern hemisphere (when built) it seemed inspirational. Now it just seems a constant reminder of human distress.
On the other side of the street hanging from a pole is some Christmas tinsel.