Death Cult Capitalists: ‘Hey slaves, time to get out to work now, my gold card air point perks are at risk, you must work to keep my privilege and wealth intact”
Slaves: “But Master, it’s the eye of the storm”
Death Cult Capitalists: “SHUT UP AND WORK”
The NZ Death Cult Capitalists are pushing their Plan B Economic Genocide argument and where is the NZ Left?
At no point in NZs 35 year neoliberal experiment has a moment arisen that so utterly corrupts the very foundations of free market capitalism than this Pandemic. The next 12-18months until a vaccine is found will be an economic depression unequaled in global dimension and where is the NZ Political think tank Left?
What is the intellectual response from our organs of egalitarian power?
The CTU have set up a phone line to dob in bad bosses…
…
…
…
um.
Great?
I’ve suggested that the NZ Left urgently put together a virtual conference to thrash out a basic policy agenda platform as a response to this unprecedented crisis of free market capitalism and that should be getting planed right now because the Death Cult Capitalists are ramming their agenda through and will throw the working classes who suffer most from this virus under the bus faster than they can say untaxed capital gains.
The Left haven’t had a real public economic academic since the passing of Bruce Jesson and the Labour Party was almost ripped to pieces from the ideological fallout of Rogernomics so the experimental neoliberal hegemonic platform has been unchallenged for the entirety of its 35 years.
Please tell me the Left have an economic response beyond middle class identity politics.
Please.
We’re great at organising petitions on Action Station to free the nipple for PoC vegan cycling mommy bloggers and Trans Allies, not so great at reconstructing the neoliberal hegemonic structures of the economy.
Look, I’ll even draw up an agenda so you can’t fuck it up.
Agenda: NZ economy until a vaccine is ready
Mass State Housing Rebuild – The only way to force slumlord landlords to upgrade their slums is remove the desperation of the market. 30 000 new state houses would do that and create mass jobs while upgrading the entire housing stock.
Mass mixed forest replanting – we need this for climate change and mixed tree planting would create huge new jobs.
Ministry of Works – It’s time to stop managing and actually doing, recreate the Ministry of Works and put them to work building state houses and planting trees.
Nationalise Fletchers – This will be the bones of the new Ministry of Works.
Universal Union Membership – There has NEVER been a stronger case for Universal Union Membership, it has been the unions protecting essential workers, the unions arguing for their safety, the unions who have stepped in when bosses have ignored their obligations. Until a vaccine is available ALL workers should be members of Unions to ensure their rights are protected.
UBI – For the self employed a UBI will be the difference between surviving and not. We should have one until a vaccine is available. Labour looked at this during their ‘Future of Work’ conference before they got elected.
Extension of Benefits – Stop the toxic culture in WINZ, immediate reform so that those needing welfare can gain it immediately and lift the benefits minus the draconian punitive stuff until a vaccine is found.
Community Resilience & Whanau Ora – Vast increase of budget to community groups to directly build sustainability into their communities.
Taxation –
- Financial transaction tax
- Wealth tax
- Multinational tax
- Inheritance tax
- Capital Gains Tax
Bruce Jesson would be rolling in his grave at the lack of imagination and ideas being espoused by the Left right now. There has never been a better time to challenge the fraudulent foundations of neoliberalism, we’ve had 35 years to prepare ideologically for this moment, where is everyone?
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Notice that they are already starting to talk about increasing taxes in NZ to ‘pay for Covid’.
However the biggest rescue packages seem to be for business shareholders (many overseas owned companies and shareholders) and sunset businesses employing people who are not citizens/long term residents of NZ.
Bizarely while business got the majority of the bail out apparently nobody is talking about increasing the corporate tax take in NZ which is ridiculously low and being lowered for decades.
Aka corporate income tax rate has gone from 48% to 33% and currently to 28% on 1 October 2010.
I wonder why the MSM don’t moot increasing that tax when profits is our 2nd biggest exports in NZ!
There seems to be huge reluctance to tax overseas profits higher when everything local seems to be going up historically….
aka GST 10% to 15%,
Council rates a local property taxes on properties goes up 2-1000%
“Government involvement comes after the council proposed, in April, an average 31% rate increase for the 2012–13 financial year largely due to the Mangawhai Scheme, which has led to the rates revolt thought to involve around a third of Kaipara ratepayers. Last week the council said it had been too aggressive and said it was now proposing an average rate increase for 2012/2013 of 19%.”
https://www.interest.co.nz/bonds/60974/heavily-indebted-and-disgraced-kaipara-district-council-raises-fears-over-bailing-out
“Former world cup cricketer Warren Stott is aghast at facing a 1343 per cent rates rise.”
( https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10807032)
(While businesses can claim big rates increase, individual home owners can’t and there have been some eyewatering increases of rates for homeowners, generally due to mismanagement and poor government regulation on councils, that did not lead to any penalty to those officials in the council that made the bungles and hid the issues from the ratepayers!)
Bright line capital gains tax introduced (on taxable income not actually on the capital gain so that individuals can manipulate their taxable income, while generally normal folks can’t)
Petrol taxes that were supposed to pay for public transport but now are being rerouted to ‘safety issues for roads’ and upgrading bus terminals for the most part (aka the petrol tax money going as usual to big construction firms (normally overseas owned and staffed now with overseas migrants and using overseas materials) that are not actually increasing the actual public transport and making it easier, more frequent and less expensive to use for the public).
While income taxes have not gone up, in real terms the cost of living has escalated so much in terms of increases like insurance gone up 30%+, food has risen massively in particular over the Covid, power, water charges and incomes are going down…. so any increases in personal taxes will hit people extremely hard.
Mortgages are predicted to go up.
Weird how the companies that seem to be profiting the most out of NZ never get any talk of increased taxes put on their profitable industry like banking and financial products!!!!
Australian banks are making $580,000 in New Zealand every hour, money a former Kiwi banker says should be staying in the country.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2019/03/the-astounding-profit-australian-banks-make-in-new-zealand-every-hour.html
I propose a tax on profits that are going out of the country before the government even thinks of charging the locals any more taxes on top of lower incomes!!!!!
Not the neoliberal mantra of giving free citizenship for high worth individuals. We already did that silly, and they ran off with all the profits they made in NZ.
Billionaire Peter Thiel makes fortune after ‘sweetheart’ deal with Government
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11794020
We already sold citizenship for decades in NZ, the government needs to tax the multimillion profits that overseas investors keep removing from NZ, to ‘encourage’ the investment in NZ by taxing them if they take it out!!!!
Add Barry Soper to the list.
Barry’s on the ” government destroyed the economy ” bandwagon and “Australia did it better”. Sounds like an extract straight from the Tory handbook. Sadly Barry doesn’t use science to promote his article, it is driven by money.
I suggest Barry does not have first hand experience of having the virus nor being in the position of making decisions for millions.If he did N.Z. would be in a worse off position with thousands affected.
I would add that given Sopers career is on life support it is hardly surprising he is on the anti government bandwagon. What has Simon promised him?
Maybe time spent on the benefit will ground Barry.
Bomber, you tend to sanctify some individuals. I think your eulogy to Jesson is misplaced. He sometimes spoke about his admiration of business people. At the time he thought the policy to decentralise education (Picot Report) was a good thing. A bit of a chameleon, like many of us. Lots of academics are speaking out now and you have them on TDB; Susan St John, Liz Gordon, Dave Brownz, Jane Kelsey, etc etc
CTU has just dropped a letter on the Government’s desk, wanting Government to change the discrimatory “Wellfare relationship” rules benefit system, and about time!!!!!!
QUOTE;
“The government should instead be seeking to support strong connections between people and build strong, resilient communities. The solution is for people in government to change how relationships are treated by Work and Income New Zealand so people get what they need to live a dignified life that does not trap them in poverty and make them fearful to build relationships.”
Unquote;
We say;
• Most low wage workers are trapped in a clear poverty cycle now.
• Ever since all living costs are rising far greater than wages and benefits,
• Government must increase benefits to pensioners also who are left out of this issue.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2004/S00124/union-leaders-join-call-for-end-to-welfare-relationship-rules.htm
The threat to the economy and it’s impact on people’s mental health has to be taken into account as we move forward. I know from personnal experience the feeling of despair when you have worked so hard to fulfill your dreams of a secure and fulfilling future for you and your family to have it vanish due to a situation out of your control. We need to look at all senarios and just because one of these does not follow the path suggested by one person they should not be written of as a death cult.
Some seem to see this as an opportunity to go down a new path but we need to do this slowly as we cannot afford to slip further down the ladder as I fear without hope some will resort to harming themselves or others out of anger and frustration
Peter Conway was a pretty good left economist I think. Not as well-known as Bruce Jesson – but something they both have in common – they are dead, The good people are going and the inferior ones are getting monkey transplants. Can those who want to see a good NZ for all, one that works, please step forward and join computers, tap biros, and skype etc? Even if we can’t shake hands, we need to find each other and for each criticism that we voice or write, we come up with a positive idea that is fleshed out enough to show others how it could be done, and why, and the advantages of one method over the other, even before it goes on to be costed.
Too much grizzling, and not enough active, practical imagining.
In the past NZ was thought a great place to bring up children. Time to turn the goodwill spreader outwards instead of pointing it into the midle of the chosen circle. The families and the young people used to be head and shoulders in everyone’s planning; let’s get them to the forefront and encourage them to have dreams and help them to realise them. Let’s make sure they have jobs with social hours, weekends to do things with the kids, plenty of access to polytechnic-like entities where they can build skills, and come out with guaranteed jobs for six months provided they don’t mess up. I am so depressed watching the leaders hesitate to put their toes in the water; many can’t find water or their toes I think. Let’s get some good initial projects going, ones that young ones can cut their teeth on, and then move them to their choice from three more advanced projects, give them something to work towards going up a ladder to higher pay, more secure work etc.
Great agenda, Martyn. This should be on everyone’s lips, tongues and keyboards.
The CoVid-19 plot seems to be a great excuse to ramp up prices- $24.00 for a jar of hand sanitiser, ffs! Also all food now comes from foodstuffs and local butchers, market gardeners and bakeries, not to mention chippies, are forced off the streets. Flour is unavailable as everyone thinks lockdown is about staying home and doing yoga or baking. Why isn’t Monash https://pharmafield.co.uk/pharma_news/study_shows_anti-parasitic_drug_ivermectin_kills_coronavirus/ taken seriously?
Next we get a call to ‘nationalise all blogs’, will we?
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