Trump understands resentment.
As a billionaire narcissist who never received what he believed he was due, he understood the power of resentment that being sneered at can generate.
This is the secret behind National’s ridiculous new ‘burn two regulations for every new one’ policy which is straight out of Trump’s actual playbook…
…The Dark Art of politics now is not in the proposal and debate of ideas, it is the promotion of anger as policy which is communicated to potential voters based on the outrage it generates amongst identifiable tribal protagonists.
On social media platforms algorithmically fuelled by subjective rage, that person always denouncing you as racist or homophobic or sexist or transphobic becomes the person you resent. When you see them scream at National’s plan, even if you don’t understand the idea, even if it’s economically counter to your interests, you support it because it makes that person you resent angry.
I’ve outlined how National intend to maximise this phenomena via social media and their desire to simply replicate a neoliberal Trump policy is designed to create that outrage and instead of evaluating the madness of simply burning regulation for the falsehood of the free market, the debate will denigrate into name calling and virtue signalling.
We have created a terrible feedback loop where our disdain for others difference of opinion has been weaponised with all the resulting resentments that generates.
Here’s the political problem for the Left, the public service has been a neoliberal stick to beat the bejesus out of the poor for decades now – people don’t queue at 2am outside WINZ for shits & giggles – perversely National’s message will resonate despite their underfunding being part of the problem.
One of the rules so merrily burned by National during the nineties was the building standard requiring treated timber in building frames. We know how that ended… In fact we don’t. That fiasco is ongoing. They gutted the mining regulations by under staffing the inspectorate. We do know how that turned out. These people don’t do joined up thinking. If there is money to be made by a party donor, who cares what happens five years down the track.
Sadly this simplistic drivel appeals to many unthinking voters.
Life and politics is a little more complex than this. There’s a reason why regulations exist. In fact given how the free market is not delivering in many areas (e.g. the environment) we need more rules and regulations not fewer.
The problem today is too many people cant talk to people face to face they use the keyboards/i phones and say things they haven’t got the guts to say. We have young people who are socially inept and we have adults that don’t lead by example and so what do you expect.
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