GUEST BLOG: Bryan Bruce – I’m getting tired of the 9 years argument.

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It goes like this. National were in government for 9 years and ran everything down and you can’t expect this Labour led coalition to fix everything straight away.

There is some truth to this statement. National DID manage the economy to the benefit of the wealthy few at the expense of the many not only in their last term but every term of government they have had over the last three decades.

But this is what neoliberal economics is all about and it is the system that Labour introduced in 1984 when our current Prime Minister was 4 years old.

So Labour is simply reaping the social issues it sowed from a theory of economic management it introduced
( and maintained while in government during the Helen Clark years ) that is designed to pamper the wealthy few at the expense of the many.

Every political party currently in parliament is supporting this “business as usual” model which has government serving the interests of Capital instead of the other way around.

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Now, until we address the fact that you cannot have the the politics of kindness funded by the economics of selfishness you will not see the dramatic change in social policies – housing,health,education and so on – that we REALLY need to put in place to regain the much fairer society we lost 35 years ago.

That’s why I hosted The People’s Budget. I want New Zealanders to understand that there is an alternative way we could be running our economy if the mismatch, as I say, between the politics of kindness and the economics of selfishness is resolved.

PS if you are looking for something to watch this weekend please consider viewing The People’s Budget which you can find here:

If you want to know more about how neoliberalism took over our economy and what it did to it – you can watch my Mind The Gap documentary here:

And if you would like to learn more about how our housing crisis came about you can find my documentary Who Own New Zealand Now? here:

Brilliant cartoon by Garrick Tremain

Bryan Bruce is one of NZs most respected documentary makers and public intellectuals who has tirelessly exposed NZs neoliberal economic settings as the main cause for social issues.

34 COMMENTS

    • Doc, we’re ALL tired of the continuation of the failed neoliberal paradigm, not just Bryan

      When even the children of the middle class can’t hope to own their own homes, that constitutes an unmitigated failure wouldnt you say?

  2. If the general election was held today, there is a high likelihood I’d vote Act.

    I like Act’s cannabis stance, free speech stance, education outlook, housing solutions, good policy guidelines, etc.

    Even their flat tax policy is interesting, though stopping government contributions to KiwiSaver gives me pause and makes Australia look more inviting.

    Slim pickings, I certainly won’t be voting Labour, National or the Greens. David is 100% right, ‘the Greens are dangerous to freedom of speech’.

    I don’t want to live in a society where their is no contest of ideas, religious rule, missed opportunities cus nobody dear speak, etc. Such oppression has happened throughout the story of man. It exists in many countries most of us wouldn’t choose to reside

    Labour and the Greens are becoming very dangerous indeed. I’m still blocked from Labour’s Facebook page, yet all other parties are happy to hear my opinions.

    Labour are a ship of fools, just look at Kelvin Davis, not much talent on the front or the back benches – truly cringe-worthy stuff at times.

    The whole fingering of the meritocracy by trying to have a equal balance of males and females in Caucasus is putting the countries governance in peril, considering the lack of talented government MPs

      • I pointed out that Labour only started to care about the housing crisis a year out from the general election.

        Also I pointed out that CO2 causes plants to grow more virulently.

        I really don’t know .. Labour just loose out in the end because they show themselves to be anti-intellectual, unwilling to engage in debate.

        They’ll get exposed and mocked on YouTube soon enough

        • Zack, it would be interesting to know who does the blocking, it could be some junior staffer.

          From what you’ve said here, you gave them the opportunity to provide you with a constructive answer, which is what switched-on politicos would have done. A clever person could have produced answers.

          I don’t think anti-intellectualism is just a Labour attribute though – its a Kiwi thing.

          I had a similar experience emailing the Greens on a specific issue. I got no response, and was dropped from their email list for months, then I was resurrected.

        • “Also I pointed out that CO2 causes plants to grow more virulently”

          Water is good for you as well Zack

          How much of it can you take in before you drown?

          Apply that rule to everything

    • “If the general election was held today, there is a high likelihood I’d vote Act.”

      Oh goodie, more of the same bullshit policies that benefit millionaires and send others into poverty and living in cars

      Just what we nedd after 30 yearsof failure, more of the same

  3. … ” So Labour is simply reaping the social issues it sowed from a theory of economic management it introduced
    ( and maintained while in government during the Helen Clark years ) that is designed to pamper the wealthy few at the expense of the many”…

    ——————————-

    Yeah.

    Its called ‘third way’ politics /economic theory , – broadly coined after the war criminal Tony Blair of the Labour party introduced it after Maggie Thatcher.

    Good article.

    Another good website is this one from Hugh Price of Hugh Price Publishers and was a contemporary of the thefts and rorts from Douglas’s time ( 1984 ) through to John Key.

    New Right Fight – Who are the New Right?
    http://www.newrightfight.co.nz/pageA.html

    Then there’s 3 others which serve a similar purpose :

    New Zealand – In a Land of Plenty Full Doco – YouTube
    Video for New Zealand – In a Land of Plenty Full Doco▶ 1:44:13
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x04aJ_ICqYo

    New Zealand – Somebody Elses Country Full Doco – YouTube
    Video for New Zealand – Somebody Elses Country Full Doco▶ 1:47:20
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJQvKIHV6n4

    Ruthanasia – Wikipedia
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruthanasia

    ================

    That should about do it to expose the rorters and the wreckers, the thieves and the criminals.

  4. The main problem is that it’s easy to sell right neoliberal thinking – you just say (or yell) tax breaks, small government, and lazy beneficiaries – and you’re done.
    However, when it comes to left-wing philosophy, it’s a lot harder to sell as if you want to raise taxes you have to have a good reason and explain it. If you want to increase government regulations again you have to justify it. Finally paying beneficiaries a benefit they can live off again stops a whole load of societal ills (prostitution, crime, child hood poverty, etc, etc).
    Of course this is not helped by MSM headlines and reporting that tend to reduce everything down to a tag line and simplify stories to meaninglessness.
    Labour want to get re-elected and justifying larger policy changes is not easy.

    • There are a lot of greedy selfish people in power, who waste our money on frivolous bullshit for their own gain. Many simply do not trust those in power to spend their hard earned wisely and efficiently, that is why more taxes and regulations are hard to sell. Not to mention that our side of politics consistantly fails to get out of their corner and start swinging for our beliefs. We prefer to stay in our corner, get DQ’d then moan because we are not as transformational as we believe. Case in point was the CGT and upcoming cannabis referendum, that looks like it’ll fail due to our ineptitude in allowing our opponents to scare monger and control the narrative.

    • @LEAPS

      Jacinda, if she wanted too, is more than capable (and has the political capital) to sell left wing policy that will benefit and win over the majority.

    • Haha. Luv it ” just say (or yell) tax breaks, small government, and lazy beneficiaries – and you’re done.” Susinct and spot on. Thanks.

  5. “you cannot have the the politics of kindness funded by the economics of selfishness”.

    Now that is a great line.

    I do wonder whether we can have any party introducing the politics of kindness without them coming under serious attack by the agents of power? You’d need a regime so controlling (to prevent foreign backed destabilization) it would look like Iran or Russia and look where that’s got them…

    How do we stop this and claim back our sovereignty?

  6. What do you suggest we replace neoliberalism with?. People keep going on about how bad it is, show us its replacement and explain how it would work and how it will improve society.

  7. @Bryan Bruce

    When is the hard hitting documentary coming holding this lot to account, Bryan?

    If you release one soon, there is still time for them to improve. Releasing it later runs the risk of costing them the next election.

    The People’s Budget was great, but it got little coverage by the mainstream.

    Did you invite anyone from the Government to attend and did they? I failed to spot any.

  8. Haha. Luv it ” just say (or yell) tax breaks, small government, and lazy beneficiaries – and you’re done.” Susinct and spot on. Thanks.

  10. Haha. Luv it ” just say (or yell) tax breaks, small government, and lazy beneficiaries – and you’re done.” Susinct and spot on. Thanks.

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