Watching Identity Politics eat itself over the appointment of two Māori to Leadership & Deputy of the National Party would be funny if it weren’t so sad.
How Simon and Paula wish to identify is their own business, as it is for anyone of us. If you wish to identify as a Feminist, as a gender, as an orientation, as a religion, as a race, as a culture, as an individual, as a tribe – that’s your business and utterly up to you to decide. That’s the point of agency in a world of human rights. It is the purpose of the human condition, BUT the ultimate reality that hasn’t been spoken is that the Issue isn’t identity, the issue (as it’s always been) is CLASS!
Bridges & Bennett own 3 houses each!
Both have benefited from the State subsidising their lives and they have repaid that by pulling up that ladder behind them.
How many NZers own multiple properties? We know home ownership has slumped to its lowest level since 1951 and the number of multiple property owners is far less than that. Statistics NZ puts the level of those in debt to multiple property ownership at less than 10% for those aged 25 and above, so both Simon and Paula are in the top 10% of those able to afford 3 properties each.
For Māori, Pacific Islanders and student loan crippled students, the chances of home ownership have declined steadily since neoliberalism while land owning and speculating Politicians have climbed and climbed in terms of representation.
In 2013, the richest 10 MPs had over $160m in property portfolios!
In an age of selfie narcissism, Identity Politics is the only politics, but the real division is the top 10% – the 1% mega rich and the remaining 9% who aspire to be mega rich – and the remaining 90%.
Class is the unifying movement while neoliberal Identity Politics erodes that solidarity into factions at constant war with each other.
in 2017 Oxfam found the 1% richest in NZ had almost 30% of all the wealth while the poorest 30% owned less than 1% of the wealth.
How Simon and Paula identity is their own business, attempting to quantify their blood percentage is ugly and insensitive thinking. Identity is a personal story but class is a unifying experience. Watching Identity Politic activists paint themselves into intellectual corners they can’t get out of is fun but ultimately a waste of fucking time because that’s not where the debate should have been in the first place.
MEANWHILE the God damned planet is melting!!!!!
This event is a seismic shift in climate and is unprecedented. It is the last canary in the bloody coal mine and the country should be urgently discussing how we as a society, economy and as communities adapt and survive the radical environmental challenges we are now confronted by.
What percentage Māori blood Simon or Paula have is so far away from any semblance of contextualised importance it is insanity that we’e had to waste breath upon it.
Rather than what percentage of their blood is Maori surely it is more important to know what percentage of their career have they spent improving the lives of Maori?
Great point out about class being the real issue here Martyn
Yes you right Aaron and what percentage of their career have they spent hurting Maori people with their polices. Every time the tories get in power our people end up in a worse position in all facets of life now is this what we want from our Maori politicians I don’t think so.
No one cares about Māori. What people care about is when government does something it hurts them.
I don’t think its about how much Maori blood they have in them Martyn I think its about them and their parties polices that have hurt our people. For example high incarceration rates, building another prison on our land, bringing in low paid immigrant to take our jobs, tramping on the TOW to name a few. I also think it is about them trying to use their Maori blood as leverage to get Maori voters that normally would not vote for them and their party.
And all of a sudden now they are in opposition they are highlighting they are Maori and where they come from when we haven’t heard this mentioned much before. I come from both those Iwi they mentioned have they ever helped our Iwi I haven’t heard of them doing anything for our Iwi or our Maori people.
Now that he’s got his hand around her fat neck he should push her under a bus then go to prison for the crime. Two problems solved.
I found myself thinking this yesterday on one of my occasional visits to the Spinoff. Never have I seen the narratives of identity politics so self-consciously undermine themselves in the face of such minimal resistance.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/28-02-2018/is-simon-bridges-our-first-maori-prime-minister/
If Labour where clever they’d change electoral lines back to before they where changed in 2013. That would get it up them.
Wasn’t it a joint project? I remember cynically observing they hired a retired Nat and a retired Lab to divvy it up to as close as possible preserve their parties’ mutual advantages. Sort of a gentlemen’s’ gerrymander
I couldn’t say for certain. My gut says the Waiariki electorate of Rotorua/BOP was effected the most when, I believe it was the boundary of Kawarua was moved, if not for those lost votes Annette Sykes might have piped Te Ururoa a bit earlier than Labour. So not quite the result National was looking for, and one that surprised even Labours Tamiti. But baring something stupid, I don’t think Labour are losing any Māori seats.
Ummm…the country has a proportional electoral system so the geographic makeup of seats has very little influence on the outcome
True to a point, Gosman. But you’re also aware that a party might win more electoral seats than actual Party Voters – thereby creating a temporary “over-hang” of Parliamentary seats.
(By the way, welcome back!)
Bridges to Nowhere Man and his Bennetart, would much rather promote rabid, anti social, anti humane Natz policies, than work on improving the lives of those they are falsely identifying themselves with, Maori.
Trotting out the Maori card has the appearance of a badly advised media play to align with Maori voter (yeah nobody is ever forgetting Anadarko no matter who your ancestors are Simon).
When did either of them last go to Kapa Haka, either to perform or watch a competition?
Participated in Waka (ama)?
Visited TeWa?
Supported a local Maori emersion school?
Can they korero at least as good as Martyn Bradbury? Yeah I’m just not seeing either responding with something other than shock if a constituent attempted a native convo.
And how many on the Maori electoral roll who feel an ‘affinity’ with Maori therefore ARE Maori? Opening up a can of worms here Martin…shall we slice and dice anyone\everyone to says they are Maori, should be fun eh?
As an American implant of 21 years, and a human being for longer, I feel repulsed by the disingenuous nature of this farce of a team. These two are a shame to the very core of their birthright and being.
Anyway, thank you for articulating this absurd and disturbing state of affairs, which I can only hope increases the public’s disengagement from the entire Party.
… ‘ How Simon and Paula wish to identify is their own business, as it is for anyone of us. BUT the ultimate reality that hasn’t been spoken is that the Issue isn’t identity, the issue (as it’s always been) is CLASS! ‘ …
… ‘ Class is the unifying movement while neoliberal Identity Politics erodes that solidarity into factions at constant war with each other ‘…
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BINGO !!!
So glad you keep hammering this issue. For decades the neo libs have pulled the wool over peoples eyes and used that as a handy diversion that could be constantly used to provide never ending division and easy conquering.
But now people are waking up to the slimy bastards.
And I also like the statistics you provide, Mr Bradbury , – that goes to show these neo liberal quasi fascist far right suckers up for the sham that they perpetually try to foist on us.
The theft of the wealth and security of New Zealanders , – starting circa 1984 with the fourth Labour Government. And all that’s happened ever since is that the baton has simply been passed between Labour and National.
Do they REALLY think we are ALL that stupid ?!!?
New Right Fight – Who are the New Right?
http://www.newrightfight.co.nz/pageA.html
“Do they REALLY think we are ALL that stupid ?!!?”
Not ‘ALL’. The few who aren’t barely register on the Richter Scale of votes in favour.
If you’re brave enough to read any BTL comments on Stuff – ‘the unions run the government’, ‘Labour’s flipflops’, ‘paying benefits to get more voters’… poor things barely know it’s a coalition government.
They KNOW most people are stuck in a rut. Nothing’s easier than to divert the sludge pipe to the believers in that rut. They’re all happy in their misery.
However,
“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have. Margaret Mead”
And – “To get something done…keep quiet about it. Get the available facts, marshal your allies, think through the opponents’ defenses, and then go.” Robert Townsend. (It still works as well as it ever did.)
Neoliberalism described once as “the last pornographic orgasm of capitalism”, neoliberalism is basically a form of fascism whereby the State wealth is transferred to the elite and we revert back to a feudal like society with the overlords and the serfs.
It’s about CLASS. Haves versus Have Nots….. and it’s coming…
L0L !
No ones going to hold a revolution, my old deluded chook. We are not yet the dispossessed peasant farmers of Cuba during the Batista regime , and despite the general decline of our once reasonably egalitarian society , we haven’t yet reached those levels ,… yet.
Now , if there was a nuclear war in the northern hemisphere , a global financial crash / food shortage combined with a political vacuum caused by a lack of balance of power ,… you might have a point ,…
Who knows?
It may be coming quicker than we think ,… but until then ,… the revolution talk is sounding a bit … 12 year old-ish.
very well put Martyn, class is the number one criteria for assessing where people stand in the world, the majority of the people are exploited and oppressed one way or another by the tiny moneybags elite and their state forces
yes, the “identity groups” receive extra, sometimes multiple layers, of oppression on top of economic subjugation, and it is easy enough to understand why a young Māori person for example, might see the cops and white people as the main enemy, or a women–men
but class is the factor that can “unite all who can be united” when pitched well, convincing better paid employed to support unemployed, and working poor, to fight racism and rape culture, all helps reduce the division between people that the ruling class like to spike up to take attention off their activities
The above pose is about as false as the 2 people in it
Two peas out of the same pod ?
Well said Bomber, the focus on who has what percentage Māori blood is offensive and completely misses the point that the treaty applied to Māori and their dependents. It does not apply only to maori over x% purity and it did no stop being relevant once the colonists manage to dilute Maori blood down below x%. Being Māori is about knowing your whakapupa, it is not about how impacted by colonial interbreeding you whanau was.
It’s actually more abhorrent when the neoliberal Maori get where they are by using identity politics to aid their rise to the top and stifle criticism, only to shit on minorities and traditional Maori values (such as environmental) when they get there and on route.
I hate identity politics and it’s one of those weird situations where only government and media care about it, but seem convinced that everyone else gives a damn, in particular voters.
My experience is that they don’t, it’s all about integrity of the person and what they do, very few worry about ethnicity and gender as being more important.
Look at Bernie Sanders and Corbyn, who would think that old, white, guys would be leading the way for the youth, certainly not the stupid government and media, where what you look like (or can be identified as) seems to be more important a ‘box’ than the person and their current and previous actions.
A bit disconcerting having a Nat leader who resembles rich Bish Brian Tamaki… the Lord indeed works in mysterious ways…
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