NZ companies complicit in culture of violence, intolerance and oppression

By
Christine Rose
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24
0

War is great for business. About $1.68 trillion worth of business globally as of 2015. Defence market reports say global tension and conflict will drive ongoing defence spending, “leading to global market opportunities for exporters”. Even here in NZ, our comparatively small defence budget is increasing, and NZ based military technology manufacturers are poised to capitalise on market opportunities generated by instability, superpower aggression and conflict around the world.

Already the NZ defence industry generates about $60million per annum, and employs about 2500 people. The defence force itself has the massive budget of $3,261 million for the 2017/18 year with an almost $100 million funding boost in this year’s budget, and an additional $406million over four years for increased operational expenses, and $576million for capital projects. That’s a lot of money in both public and private sector involvement in the potential creation and dissemination of instruments of death.

Business opportunities provided by a thriving arms market are promoted by the NZ Defence Industry Forum which held its annual conference in Wellington this week. The Defence Industry Forum (NZDIA) facilitates discussions between defence suppliers and defence agency buyers, from here and around the world. The NZDIA brief is to “identify niche markets worldwide and optimise foreign exchange returns on assets of its members, …with a focus on gaining and maximising onshore and offshore defence contracts”. According to one of the referees on their website, ‘they’re one of the most effective industry forums in New Zealand”, reflected in the Government’s budget increases perhaps. But beyond the opportunities of expanding domestic military expenditure, New Zealand companies are benefitting from the global death trade. With the military as agents of state sanctioned violence, companies supporting the arms trade here and abroad, are war profiteers, complicit in a culture of violence and oppression.

And it seems that industry is booming. The Defence Industry Association annual conference was attended by around 500 delegates and 150 organisations. The conference is usually sponsored at least in part, by one of the world’s largest (worst?) arms manufacturers, Lockheed Martin. Representatives of other major weapons companies also attend. But smaller domestic companies who manufacture mortar firing devices, combat training systems, missile guidance technology, weapons and ammunition, transport, procurement and logistics systems, cyber security and military electronics are all there. We’ve got ‘arms dealers on our doorstep’. It’s an opportunity for these industries to buy, sell and lobby for ‘more weapons of war’. War in itself helps their trade.

Intolerant conservatives in NZ were appalled at the behaviour of protestors who sought to blockade, interrupt and disrupt the Defence Industry conference. In online comments, protestors were called ‘street thugs’, ‘rent a mob’, ‘the dregs of society’. They should “get a job, get a life, and if they want change, they should get elected”. Ironically Chloe Swarbrick, newly elected Green MP attended the conference blockade, as did the recently awarded Nobel Peace Prize winner Thomas Nash, recognised for his opposition to nuclear weapons. And many of the protestors were working people who considered the issue of NZ’s involvement in the death trade sufficiently morally important that they used annual leave so they could attend.

Among the protestors was ‘Uncle Scam’ dressed in stars and stripes, wearing a ‘wanted for war crimes’ sign, and carrying another asking conference attendees ‘is it ok when it’s not your family?’ with pictures of falling bombs. There were clowns, men, women and children, people carrying flowers, and a celebratory ‘give peace a dance’ event.

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Peaceful protestors blockading the route for delegates to the conference, were manhandled, apparently brutalised, and some people were insulted and injured by the police. Protestors say the police used inappropriate force, which the police deny, saying ‘they were extremely disappointed with the behaviour of protestors”, but protestors said if they’d acted the way the police did, they would have been arrested. The police have the long arm and the upper hand of the law.

Protestors questioned why the police were enforcing security at an industry event, which should be paying for its own security, and the cops were acting as ‘lap dogs to big business’. It’s a bizarre paradox; Wars have been fought to ‘preserve democratic freedoms’ which are suppressed by the police because those same freedoms are used to question the trades of war.

Some of the ‘appalling behaviour’ exhibited by protestors included spitting on conference delegates, and one online contributor suggested even ‘rebelling against the police is despicable behaviour’. It’s a sick world where war mongers and military equipment mercenaries are protected by the state, and those who bear witness and raise awareness of militarism, where the purpose is to kill, are condemned. Non-violent direct action is seen through this lens as a greater crime than direct and violent action through organised military means. In this context, even violent action would be appropriate to stop the dogs of war, but society condemns those who stand for peace, not force, as well as those who would use force to stop it.

Once again the power of the dollar trumps moral questions of the trade in murderous weapons. Turning a blind eye to the proliferation of the tools of war, and their production here in New Zealand, is the same as the American blind spot to gun related harm, but on bigger scale. Edmund Burke said, ‘all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’. And Malcolm X said, ‘if you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” This week, righteous and honourable men and women spoke truth to power, and stood against evil that’s institutionalised in the state, and such a cultural norm that the non-violent protestors were condemned more than the purveyors of war.

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24 COMMENTS

  1. Very true Christine Rose,

    It seems that we in NZ have no human morals when it comes to our Companies operations within our borders.

    One wonders who these companies are and who they are actually ‘aligned to’.

    Could some of these companies who produce these ‘tools of war’ actually be on a list of companies we can view?

    Are these companies strictly reviewed/inspected every month by the NZ Government, as to their production here in New Zealand?

    “Once again the power of the dollar trumps moral questions of the trade in murderous weapons. Turning a blind eye to the proliferation of the tools of war, and their production here in New Zealand, is the same as the American blind spot to gun related harm”

  3. Exactly Christine. Others who attended and need mentioning were ‘the Grannies for Peace’ . They stood under the banner of ‘ make tea not war’. Thanks for the support Grannies.

    • Nice. I love their style, principled and fun. And there isn’t much that a good cup of tea won’t solve.

  5. The above is generally true, but it is built into human nature, to be tribal, to be clinging to one’s tribe, state, organisation, social class or whatever, so we follow basic drives, even perhaps genetically pre determined.

    Mistrust and competition are major issues, and that is part of the reason all the arms business is thriving. The same reason is behind the security business, selling us billions in surveillance cameras and other systems.

    Humans do not trust each other, and a planet with different states, different organisations, different groups of humans, different cultures, religions, and different interests, and all wanting to protect their own, is leading to all this.

    In an ideal world we all understand to care and work for each other. We do not even manage to achieve this in NZ Aotearoa, so how can we expect it to work internationally.

    Hence in my view, it is more important to build on trust, and de-escalation, to strengthen the UN and other organisations, to stop wars from happening. Donald Trump is the Elephant in the China Shop, and he is clearly a major threat to world peace. Others represent other issues.

    The arms traders do not only trade to suck people into fear and wanting to arm themselves, and make profits from that, they simply are the result of the human condition, that is NOT perfect, that is built on mistrust, competition, and suspicion and a fear that requires actions to defend themselves.

    I doubt that anyone has the perfect answer, but to simply blame the arms industry for it all, is naive to the extreme, rather dishonest also, at least simplistic.

    • “The above is generally true, but it is built into human nature, to be tribal, to be clinging to one’s tribe, state, organisation, social class or whatever, so we follow basic drives, even perhaps genetically pre determined.”

      Speak for yourself. Are you still up a tree?

      “…genetically pre determined…” ?

      Is this where we all shout ‘Seig Heil’ @ MARC ?

  6. “Protestors questioned why the police were enforcing security at an industry event, which should be paying for its own security, and the cops were acting as ‘lap dogs to big business’. It’s a bizarre paradox; Wars have been fought to ‘preserve democratic freedoms’ which are suppressed by the police because those same freedoms are used to question the trades of war.”

    Well put.

    Those protestors are heroes, every single one of them and their actions will be vindicated in decades to come. Just as anti-vietnam war, anti-Bomb testing, and anti-apartheid protestors were vindicated as being on the right side of history..

    The arms industry is evil, pure and simple and I liken it to the slave trade of the 1700s and 1800s when some human beings thought that enslaving other human beings for profit, was a sound business model.

    NZ should have no part in the international arms trade. None.

    • I think burning the banks would give a stronger message followed by business that defy what needed for this planets health.

      Fonterra’s ad at Wgtn airport is obscene.

  9. Christine;

    “Edmund Burke said, ‘all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’. And Malcolm X said, ‘if you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” This week, righteous and honourable men and women spoke truth to power, and stood against evil that’s institutionalised in the state, and such a cultural norm that the non-violent protestors were condemned more than the purveyors of war.”

    Good that you have included Eiesenhower’s words and can I make one more contribution with
    this short string of speeches contained in this article below.
    http://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/2014/11/20/the-two-speeches-that-got-jfk-killed-part-one/

    Your excellent article shows you have your finger on the pulse of most of our problems in the world
    and with the addition of my link the sort of people/entities behind them.

    Two of these people above stood up and got killed for it while another two tried to warn us.

    All the rest are nothing more than the puppets and the face of a Global Elite that is behind most of the chaos and mayhem we have seen every day of our lives.

    Now, this is so important to understand.

    We all need to stop thinking in terms of ‘left and right’ and instead realize that these Globalists control BOTH SIDES of any conflict and this illusion above is just a strategy to ‘divide and rule’ so they can advance their goals and agenda.
    It is their MO. Hegelian Dialectic

    In today’s world, these Elites have got our countries in such a position that most our politicians, especially at caucus level, whether they know it or not, are really working for them instead of the people that they are meant to represent.
    It has become obvious to many for a long time.

    To add insult to injury, it is our hard earn tax payer monies that are then utilized to fund the armies and weapons that are then used mostly for their benefit/goals.

    With the arrival of the Internet, the peoples of the world are waking up so fast
    to the fact that we,the people, are being dictated to by really unelected officials / entities.

    I suspect we will see more of the Catalonia type violence and State clamp down as you describe on the protest above as more and more people awaken to the situation.

    THE ROLE OF THE MSM IS TO DEFEND THESE GLOBALISTS WITH THEIR SPIN AGAINST THE PEOPLES.!!

    THIS IS THE PARADIGM SHIFT WE ALL NEED TO UNDERSTAND.!!

    And if you don’t believe me and to boot my point home, this would have to be the most comprehensive analysis on the subject to date.

    Go to 80% down page and my 2nd reply to Martyn. A MUST VIEW to understanding.

    The relaxed presentation of Kevin Shipp – ex CIA on the Hagmann Report.

    Start @ around 6min to pause @ 6.14 min. The slide explains the Shadow Government.
    (different from Deep State and without explaining the structure above the CFR)

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/09/14/breaking-new-tv-one-poll-labour-44-national-40-green-7-nz-first-6/

    So, the CFR creates the CIA in 1947-48 and MSM becomes THE FACE OF SHADOW GVT.!!

    Ie OPERATION MOCKINGBIRD Martyn talked about a while ago that probably went over the heads of many.

    Now you can see, with the arrival of people like Farage, Trump and Winston Peters why the MSM are frantic to take them down.

    Because they represent a real move away from business as usual.
    A THREAT TO STATUS QUO.

    The MSM has got so bad that once we have this firmly in our minds, (Paradigm Shift) it is easy to see who are the ‘goodies and baddies’.

    Ie, The ones they bash / demonize / ridicule are the ‘good’ ones and the ones they praise / adore / idolize are the ‘bad’ ones.

    And I would put the Celebrity Culture of Hollywood / Music etc in here because these people are part of the Matrix.
    Used to get us emotionally attached to influence not only the minds of the mature but manipulate or indoctrinate the minds of the very young.
    We see the damage all around us,
    (MK-Ultra operation / experiments of the ’60’s) and it’s only got far worse.

    This is why we have moved to Personality Politics and not really focus on Policy of old debates.

    Now pause for a moment and just let all that sink in. The veil has fallen.

    And while you are on TDB link above, have a look at the last comment and read the 4 policy links of NZF chosen to see why TPTB would be frantic.

    Real change like these are certainly not business as usual, with Education and Broadcasting just the tip of the iceberg in the long road ahead to drag NZ back from that Neo-Liberal precipice.

    I think there is some hope yet.

    Cheers.

    Also follow the TDB link contained in that last comment, to follow right through with others,for far deeper understanding that you should never forget.
    Some really good stuff there.

    “Trust me,I know what I am doing.” Quote.

    • Referencing conspiracy theories while your man in the White House is promising to vastly increase the US’s nuclear weapons capabilities?

      “President Donald Trump said he wanted what amounted to a nearly tenfold increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal during a gathering this past summer of the nation’s highest-ranking national security leaders, according to three officials who were in the room.” – https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-wanted-dramatic-increase-nuclear-arsenal-meeting-military-leaders-n809701

      Nicely deflected, Iain.

      • Tl;dr. What Trump is doing is a bad imitation of brinkmanship Regean style by massively increasing not only nuclear weapon production but conventional forces as well further widening the gap between The USA and the technological sophistication of third world countries. And for a lot of reasons Trump will not succeed. One reason is the F-35 multi role stealth fighter has literally bankrupted the U.S Airforce who incidentally manage the U.S nuclear arsenal. It’s a hole airforce brace won’t get out of. They are willing to destroy the U.S military machine just so they can have there pet F-35.

        So this dream of a high end technologically superior military machine is just lunacy. They’re broke.

      • Sally’s Husband;

        Whilst not respectfully attacking you or your message, please learn.

        You will need to watch and listen to the full Kevin Shipp presentaion on the Hagmann Report.

        You are referencing MSM = Shadow Government, remember.
        It has been ‘outed’ and the genie can not be put back in the bottle.
        A Paradigm shift is now required.

        It is my understanding that America’s Military is seriously run down with ‘Contractors’ now performing up to 80% of the tasks. Morale is very low
        as well.
        Whether by design or not I don’t know.

        If Trump thinks he needs to boost spending, I believe, it will be for
        defense purposes only.

        It is over for the Neo- libs in America and these people are the face of the Global Elite.
        Quote: http://stevepieczenik.com/ They have utterly failed.

        I think Dr. Pieczenik MD PhD has done a marvelous job in keeping Hillary Clinton out of office.

        After all, he is the top psychological warfare expert we have, credited in taking down the Soviet Union without a shot fired.

        But unfortunately, history shows, when these Elites get a serious ‘poke in the eye’ and their power is threatened, they usually resort to military action,maybe from the UN this time, who knows, since it is one of their power structures they have set up.?

        However, financial collapse, another tool in their playbook, will usually come first.

        That is my take anyway.
        Since I cannot source certain material now you will just have to take it as
        a humble opinion.

        See below for another post that may clarify that should be allowed.
        Hope so anyway.

        Cheers.

  10. Fabulous Post @ Christine Rose.

    Ah…? paula bennet spent our money on their explosive tupperware party???
    Would she not warrant a visit by those same people who were brave enough to protest. Banksters make money, manufacturers make bombs etc, no soul so that’s to be expected but bennett is our Minister of Police for Gods sake. How can she get away with that?

    I think it’s interesting to ponder that the modern fascist wears a different style of uniform.
    And they wage war, not with guns and bombs so much, although they have a significant stake in that industry for sure.
    The New Fascist goes to war in high end cars, wear suits and call themselves ‘Bankers’.
    An old friend of mine said once through a smokey haze ” Them fascists mate. They’ve not gone away. They took on Jewish identities after WW2 and fled to the U$A. They’re still out there mate. Training new recruits, same agenda, different battle front. ”
    Example: ANZ manager on $2000.00 an hour? Sounds fascist to me.

    So, yay. Sunday.” Oh look ! A kitten amongst the daffodils”

  12. Christine; Modified 16/10/17

    You asked me a while back what did I think of Trump and should we fear him.

    With 93% negative reporting in MSM, even before he was selected to win the nomination to run, (Similar to Winnie) this should allay any concerns, again showing how MSM works.

    This website below may turn out to be one of the most important I have yet to come across.

    This speech at the UN was never covered properly in our MSM. It is truly historic.

    Change Agents of this nature never are, and by omission, we never get to understand.

    All readers should take the time to carefully listen. 19 mins.

    Notice it seemed to go down like a lead balloon. Showing his clear intentions.

    The Peace Maker, Defender of Sovereignty, Justice and Freedom for Family and Humanity itself.

    https://tbunews.com/did-u-s-president-trump-announced-the-end-of-the-old-world-order-and-the-beginning-of-a-new-one

    Get on the Trump Train. This is the hope of ending all these vicious wars.

    And then there was this.

    The proof of who are the backers / funders of all the chaos merchants used to destable Gvts around the world. eg; Black Lives Matter and Antifa groups etc.
    https://tbunews.com/breaking-news-donors-of-anti-trump-resistance-group-revealed

    Which led to http://freebeacon.com/ that has little gems like these;

    Short clips that really gets to the heart of who these hypocrites really are.
    Truly psychotic.

    http://freebeacon.com/politics/reporter-clinton-still-blame-others-loss/

    http://freebeacon.com/politics/clinton-i-dont-hate-anybody/

    http://freebeacon.com/politics/clinton-dismisses-sexual-misconduct-claims-husband-litigated/

    http://freebeacon.com/issues/pelosi-court-public-opinion-wisest-court/

    Compare with this;
    http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2016/08/12/clinton-cash-documentary-viewed-3-million-times/

    I rest my case. Dr. Pieczenik is correct. They are finished. Along with MSM.

    Reflect.

    SOURCES:

    https://tbunews.com/

    https://tbunews.com/about-tbu-news

    http://freebeacon.com/about/

  13. completely agree with the authour that war is good for bussiness, unfortunately. Was interesting to read, thx for thr article

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