Now is the hour for us all to briefly look at the facts before us concerning our choices as a democracy when it comes to leadership and even the intentions behind policy.
On one hand we have Jacinda Ardern, the incumbent Prime Minister, scorned and ridiculed constantly by local partisan conservative media but hailed all around the world as the kind of leader other nations would dearly love to have.
A virtual spiritual new wave breathes over Planet Earth because of her demonstrative actions to lead us all to a better place.
It’s astounding.
It’s unheard of.
This is like bigger than anything since decades ago…when famous names like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Junior walked the earth.
The same spirit.
The spirit of Te Whiti.
This is the class Jacinda has stepped into.
A whole new stratosphere.
And then there is the alternative.
Equally astounding but at the other end of the spectrum.
One of the most unpopular leaders ever, embroiled in a Serious Fraud Office investigation, only recently discovered he was Maori, covered in fossil fuels, dripping with self praise and determined to wind the clock back on progress to take us all back to the dark ages.
A man who constantly distorts the truth, stuffs cucumbers in his mouth for attention and had a bash at a two day old baby to gain traction.
Yes it’s a tough choice.
Definitely 41% of New Zealand’s voting population choose the latter because their minds have been made up long ago when they cast themselves in stone and ignored every other fact before them.
Left wingers were all the same as far as these already decided voters go.
There’s nothing better than being Tory to them.
So much for merit or performance, let alone ambition.
These are the citizens of well heeled suburbs who pay no attention to left wing radicals or anyone else who may write such garbage like I do – about their predetermined righteous political fixations.
Right now they are stewing about Jacinda’s rise to acclaim.
It’s not something she has sought, planned and grasped for – unlike their own leader.
No – but still they will never vote for her.
They know Simon is the winner they want and admire.
They will vote for him in 2020.
They are quick to tell me its the party really – you know, the one with hardly any new policies after a year and a half – apart from undoing anything done.
The party of unified robots who rally around cameras when the heat is on and everyone speaks the same lines.
Yes it’s admirable stuff.
Supported constantly by conservative media – it could be a near run thing….an even contest…and we’ll actually all line up in 2020 for a leaders debate and listen to the staged act.
Now is indeed the hour to clearly witness this stunning impervious anti reality conditioning of so many New Zealanders – who cannot change their minds and have no intention of doing so.
The next polls will also coincide with decisions about capital gains taxes and right now nobody cares about that….we are all looking at who’s face is on the world’s tallest building.
Peace.
Gerard Otto is an activist and a writer.
This is absolutely bang on. A superb article written by
A clear headed highly intelligent person. An excellent journalist.
Exceedingly precious in this age of misinformation and lies from right and more tragically a right wing media.
50 % of nzrs failed shill certificate and 50% vote
National. One need only look at debt and gdp
Figures to see that Labour is blowing National out of the water
In terms of Government performance.
Judith Collins And now exposed Lanne Daizel
Are both involved in making multi millions from water export fir which we get nothing. It’s all about the love of money,
Corruption and deceit and people still vote National!
Thank you dailyblog for the light of intelligence.
I don’t want to see investment money go overseas- because of a capital gains tax. Is there a way round this?
A Financial Transaction Tax? The Alliance proposed this back in the ’90s and could deal with that problem.
Only way New Zealand is suffering from a foreign investment drought ending is food shortages and business depression is if we are totally cut of from trade. If New Zealand wanted to survive that, she has to immediately establish communications with the Australia and US and exchange our tech for basic necessities.
Feel it Sam, we suffer from a lack of foreign investment? The foreigners invest only when they can see a superior profit here than from elsewhere. The profit mainly goes off here leaving little for investment here. So we cannot invest much in ourselves…..begs the question why not just tell the investors go forth.? What next? Can we stomach it, do a Cuba? Hard questions.
Our own attempts to protect our own futures haven’t been well implemented. If we do not let talented people from abroad feel comfortable in New Zealand then we will not amount to much and we will not be global citizens.
It’s funny that we NZers have a cringe factor that we need international talent to help grow our economy. I remember the much maligned MOWD in the 60s and 70s built the electricity system we use today. Of course we then sold it off. If we have a real talent it is in giving stuff away to international capital.
Well money is a form of energy as well. If you agree that it can be traded for anything then that includes calories and kilojoules for human sustenance and for utility needs as well. So any factory with out energy is a monument and any worker with out energy is a statue. So segregating men and factories from money is equally a bad idea. So first thing I’d do is look at axing welfare to transnational corporations like taxing and restricting oil companies and then run R&D tax credits for new start ups. We just can’t harden our boarders so hard that knowledge and ideas can’t pass through either and both money and ideas use the same transmission lines.
You mean to coubtries that do not have cgt?
Exactly how many , and who are they. Do we really want/need tobe part of that lot?
Go and live there.
Like Goebbels in 1930’s Germany Herr Otto is obviously a lost soul is search of a glorious Fuhrer.
You could say I’m a little similar but where I differ is that what I say goes because I say it does (no references or links needed to justify my stance).
This is my default “to be or not to be” setting so I suppose I’m a little closer to discovering the leader I seek within myself than Gerard is?
Anyway, my reflections on our well intentioned leader are as follows;
Jacinda was brought up in Mormon church, hence she obviously has a bit of a saviour complex simmering away inside her. This tragic event in ChCh has played right into her hands. Maybe this is all part of God’s master plan for Jacinda that is yet to be fully revealed?
Yes I agree, respect for her actions at this time will undoubtedly grow & some may even begin to worship the ground she walks on, so where will all this adoration end? Perhaps a Hail Saint Jacinda, you’re well on the way toward canonisation in Rome or its secular equivalent in Sweden is in order.
For me though, Jacinda is & will always be a subservient poster woman for globalisation, the left & right leaning liberal establishment who progress this ideology & the bankers, trans-national corporations & the UN who pull the strings of our ruling elite.
All I can say in the light of what’s recently happened is fuck our pc divide & conquer globalisation dictatorship which has for example; destroyed & weakened the fabric & infra-structure of our nation, eroded our identity & pride in who we are & our achievements, fostered white self loathing & guilt, encouraged knee jerk historical revisionism & unbridled immigration & demoralised our people.
We are our now on our knees & totally dependent on the global rules based order overlords for our very survival, security & language. Our nation has become a shinning example of a good little globalisation colony led by weak willed, self serving liberal enablers & compliant followers of foreign ideas, values & dictates.
If we do not come together & liberate our country from the soul destroying inequity, exploitation, suppression of free speech & foreign ownership & control that are part & parcel of the globalisation process, then I fear that massacres like the one in ChCh may become a regular fact of life.
LET’S UNITE TO LIBERATE NZ FROM THE EVILS OF GLOBALISATION is the message I take out of this recent tragedy.
“Like Goebbels in 1930’s Germany Herr Otto is obviously a lost soul is search of a glorious Fuhrer.”
Cynical much mate??
Fuck me, invoking Nazism in the same article as Jacinda Ardern? Pretty damn shitty Johnnycomelately
You’re so wound up in whatever dogma you’ve buried your head in that you can’t see the obvious in front of you. Fact is she’s handled herself with remarkable grace and compassion. People can see dignity when its in front of them
Contrast Ardern’s humanity with that clueless boofhead Key. Think about *that* for a moment. Think long and hard
Otto has called it well. She is the right person at the right time
You say; “Fuck me, invoking Nazism in the same article as Jacinda Ardern? Pretty damn shitty Johnnycomelately”.
Of course I wouldn’t expect a self righteous storm trooper for the liberal globalisation elite to have any understanding for such views, however cynical they may be. You & the bigoted views of your mutual admiration society mates are just white noise to me
There are many alienated, marginalised & impoverished citizens among us, & a good majority of them are NZer’s of European descent whose ancestors built this bloody country of ours & we’ve been sold down the river. I’m fuckin one of them so how dare you talk down to me.
There is one thing we have in common & that is an intense dislike for our hypocritical & self serving pc political establishment & the liberal/neo-liberal globalization elite they serve.
I suggest you crawl back into the safety of your keyboard warrior closet that is probably situated somewhere in middle class suburbia.
I’m a radical loser, put me on your watch list.
You’re being utterly unfair, Johnny. Ardern has done spectacularly well in the face of unspeakable evil. If you can’t acknowledge that, then question your own humanity.
I watched her closely the last few days, often in person. You can’t fake her intense sincerity. Not humanly possible.
We have a good person for PM. Not perfect, but who is? If you want perfection, vote for an Angel , but they’re hard to find on the face of the Earth.
“Some may even begin to worship the ground she walks on?”
Shows she an amateur, eh? I mean, the Prime Minister before the last one could walk on water! Couldn’t he? That’s how his supporters carried on anyhow.
Jacinda has without doubt handled this massacre as well as anyone could expect but it takes more than a great leader to run the country you need a team behind you and she is sadly lacking in this area. Also she has a coalition partner that is
being exposed as leaches willing to bully or bribe in an effort to give Winston his final show before he departs . The Greens have achieved little of concequence and may not get to 5%. Labour had 9 years to work out what to do when in power but apart from setting up a lot of committees chaired by ex Labour MPs have not done much to help the poor . I vote for a party and their manifesto not because I like the leaders smile as was the case with Labours change of fortune
“Change their minds” based on what!? Our PM has done a fantastic job at bringing the country together with true leadership BUT people should vote on policy.
Labour still need to execute policy change to make a difference.
Shit I thought you were ta liking of Key.
Gerard Otto, your blog-rave is over the top. Jacinda’s performance has brought people together, and helped many to appreciate Muslims. It has not enabled a better recognition of injustices to Maori, the working class and even Muslims in the recent past. We need more than passion and head scarves to change what is rotten in the state of NZ. Capitalism, local and global, is at the core of exploitation and inequality but it is easier to see the more tangible Other as the cause of our discontents. Jacinda has begun by declaiming ‘They’ are ‘Us’, meaning ‘they’ are no longer ‘they’. We’re all part of our community/society. A good start but let us take on the more complex journey ahead. Now is the time to provide basics for a decent standard of living for all – social housing for the poor, access to good health and education, and a living wage.
Daniel Ford, who has exposed Lianne Dalziel for making millions out of water? If you can’t prove it, you have defamed a former Labour MP.
Janio, what’s this Leanne bit? Has somebody accused her of grifting? Hope not, she’s a total champion, it’s just not how she operates.
Personally I’ve never been interested in the cult of personality. Indeed it is policy that matters because policy directly influences peoples lives. Like the decision made by both National and Labour to push the CP-TPP.
I suspect 2020 is going to be hard for a lot of left inclined swing voters like myself who don’t feel there’s an awful lot on offer to vote for. A vote for the smaller parties is inevitably a vote for Labour and the alternative is National.
That said if this govt don’t get on course with genuine left reform or they may face a similar scenario to the US where 7% (maybe more??) of Sanders voters migrated to Trump because they didn’t want Hillary.
For myself I’ll probably sit the next one out and hope for new parties I actually want to vote for next time around.
Germany are going to have big problems soon the far right got 15% of the vote in this country we are going to see another incident similar to the scale of chch I hate to say it but its coming the white supremacy lot are stewing and brewing
Germany has always had this problem, but two events in recent times have drastically increased support for German nationalist groupings.
The first was the fall of the Berlin wall & its aftermath which I experienced first hand. Some back then, like the east German ‘New Forum’ group who stood for democratic reform wanted East German to remain an independent nation.
Fat chance of that as in a few short years capitalist West Germany & their globalisation masters had colonised & pretty much privatised the whole of the formerly independent East German state.
The unemployment, societal disruption, influx of foreigners & access to long forbidden fascist literature that followed led to the rapid spread of west German right wing parties in east Germany & the rise of new neo-nazi groups.
The second event that has led to the rise of the right happened a few year ago. This was the well meant but absolutely naive decision by Chancellor Merkel (a globalisation fanatic) to allow hundreds of thousands of desperate refugees from the middle east to swarm into the country.
My friends in Berlin often send me documentaries about these recent developments in Germany & right across Europe, & you’re sure right about the big problems that Europe is facing. These growing tensions throughout the continent may only be resolved through localized civil & racial warfare as the EU politicians seem to be way behind the 8 ball & completely our of touch.
For us here in NZ I think its important to understand that the Germans, Brits, French, Italians etc are what we call here the people of the land (tangata whenua) of Europe. The frightening thing for them is that many places within their countries are now ethnically & religiously different or foreign occupied no go zones.
Many of these immigrant areas (ghettos) are also breeding grounds for radical Islam & all manner of crime. So of course many simply have their noses full of the liberal multi-culti globalisation establishment & the EU & UN do gooder’s who’ve encouraged such developments.
Remember also that Islam, like Christianity, is a proselytising religion & Europe, which is an amalgam of Christian nations has almost been overrun by Islamic crusaders on numerous occasions in the past.
This does not go down to well with many Europeans who tend to see Islamic migration as another form of invasion & a threat to their religion, values & way of life. We here have no right to criticise them for this so what is important for us here in NZ is to be honest with ourselves about who we are & sort our own dangerous shit out.
We NZer’s of European descent have a very different problem on our hands. Even though some of us belong to families that have been here for 6 generations we are still being made to feel by some in the Maori community as unwelcome in this land.
Some Maori even go so far as to say we should all go back to where we came from. This kind of brown racist rhetoric is very unhelpful when we should all be working together to shape a better & more independent future for our nation.
My ancestors have participated in building this country, some have fought to defend our way of life & the bones of my forbears lie in our soil. I am of this land, I have no where else to go & I will bloody well die here. No one, brown or white will tell me otherwise.
Until we sort this stuff out then there will never be peace here in NZ. I may be descended from European colonialists, but so are all Maori as well. This may be an uncomfortable truth but until we start facing such facts we will remain a nation divided by race & differing agendas. If this continues it will of course eventually lead to own form of white right wing extremism, which will be much better organised & effective than the rag tag bunch of right wing gangs that currently exist here.
We are all descended from colonialists, but it just so happens that the Polynesian colonisers arrived a few centuries before us white folk. Just a blink of an eye in the history of humanity.
What our greatest priority now should be is to focus on liberating ourselves & our nation from our most recent colonisers who all those who put the globalisation agenda & the interests of foreigners before the interests & well being of our own people.
Feel it Sam, we suffer from a lack of foreign investment? The foreigners invest only when they can see a superior profit here than from elsewhere. The profit mainly goes off here leaving little for investment here. So we cannot invest much in ourselves…..begs the question why not just tell the investors go forth.? What next? Can we stomach it, do a Cuba? Hard questions.
Hardly a week gone and you are turning this tragedy into a political re-election campaign.
Utterly reprehensible at every level.
I have no words
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