Bryce Edwards is one of our most important political public academics, he keeps demanding ideology and political philosophy must be examined and the gaps between the vision and policy reality measured.
His latest column in the Guardian is a must read. He makes the point TDB has for sometime that our shallow NZ on Air funding identity politics application box ticking definition of ‘diversity’ once again ignores class…
New Zealand’s politicians are too middle-class to tackle our biggest problems
A very liberal revolution has been occurring in New Zealand politics. Our parliament and Labour-led government are more socially liberal and diverse than ever before, and that’s something for progressives to celebrate.
Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister, embodies this, and is lauded as a breath of fresh air in a political world traditionally dominated by “stale, male, and pale” social conservatives. She has just reshuffled the cabinet of her re-elected government, bringing more women, Māori and Pasifika into senior positions. It is the most diverse cabinet in history. The appointment of moko kauae-wearing Nanaia Mahuta as the minister of foreign affairs epitomises this modernisation. Similarly, we have our first openly gay deputy prime minister.
Increased diversity and liberalism is evident throughout New Zealand’s parliament. A third of the parliament are new MPs, many from traditionally under-represented backgrounds. Our House of Representatives has become more female, younger, browner, and more openly gay.
New Zealand is now the closest in the OECD to achieving gender equality, with 48% of MPs women. Māori make up 21% of MPs, compared to 12% of the adult population. Pasifika make up 10% of MPs compared to 6% of adult population. 11% of MPs identify as belonging to the LGBTQI community, compared to an estimated 3.5% of the population. And the parliament has become much younger.
However, at the same time as our politicians are becoming more diverse – especially those from the Labour and Green parties – this doesn’t extend to socio-economics or social class. MPs’ occupational backgrounds are more middle-class than ever.
…of course we want more diversity, look at Robert Muldoon’s Caucus…
…all the diversity of a loaf of white bread.
The problem is that when we say diversity now, it means the identity politics NZ on Air funding application definition of ‘diversity’.
No one has pointed out that the real lack of diversity here is from poor people. Most of this influx of new MPs own property.
The Landlord class, the propertied class and the well to do class are all represented, but Renters, beneficiaries and the poor can go fuck themselves. Their class ‘diversity’ is amputated and ignored.
Willie Jackson is the last working class hero left in the Cabinet so it should surprise no one that Labour are tone deaf and flat footed when it comes to the property price spike they are all personally benefiting from.
The shallow identity politics pursuit to look diverse eliminates class and class criticism of the neoliberal economic hegemony.
Which is the way the neoliberal economic hegemony likes it.
So yay, it’s a rainbow flag of hashtags and diversity, except where it actually matters, class.
The demarkation line of power in a society is not between the cacophony spasm of allies and shallow diversity fringes, it is between the richest 1% + their 9% enablers vs the 90% rest of us.
Left activism is ensconced in a woke cancel culture schism gumbo of intersectionist apologies and alienating purity tests, challenging the neoliberal economic hegemonic structure is not what the Activist Left does much anymore.
#Freethenipple
If the Political Left don’t wake up and start providing real reform for the lives of the poor and not just whatever woke nonsense is trending on Twitter, the poor will turn on us.
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Looks like Maori and non hetero people are over represented by those stats. Best we have a quota.
Fair point re poor, beneficiaries, renters not represented, but let’s not forget the workers the working class is actually named for.
A prosperous working class solves a lot of social ills.
The woke Wellington elitist bureaucrats in government don’t just not represent the working class, they actively attack everything about it.
Spend some time over at the standard to appreciate the arrogant elitism Labour is dripping with.
It’s not backed up by actual knowledge or intelligence, it’s an assumed superiority based on identity and dubious tertiary qualification like a law or humanities degree.
Well, yes. But talk about stating the blindingly obvious.
I think the concept of camouflage might be a useful analogy.
All the above gibberish referred to and written about is camouflage.
And what is camouflage? It’s a complex pattern of various shades and hues designed to render the target non visible. Politically debating sexual orientation, gender, race etc, while in and of themselves is noble and valiant etc, blah,blah,blah it’s also camouflage designed to cover a massive swindle spanning 100 years and clearly it’s doing its job very effectively.
The enemy, the ones who come up with the above relatively banal and irrelevant details of the various permutations of humanity are well dug in and they’re not going to go quietly.
The little piggy was an early proponent of throwing up camouflage to deflect inquiry into his own particular crookedness. His was abortion and rugby if I remember correctly while Labour’s is Gayness and a virus while twisting the snake of ‘inclusiveness’ and ‘ the politics of kindness’ ( A little bit of sick. ) around our necks.
At the risk of causing many eyeballs to fall out from over-rolling, if you really want to find out what’s actually behind or politics and finances then go down on the farm and then from there turn 180d and follow the money from the farm gate to the Swiss bank accounts. Aye boys?
Yes, yes , yes!
I’m just a nobody in the comments section but I’ve been saying this for a long time; our current Labour party occupies the place that the old Liberal parties used to – which is to say they represent the liberal wing of the ownership class and they don’t like working class people very much.
There is a real distaste for working class people amongst the ‘educated’ managerial classes. Now that you can no longer be sexist, racist or homophobic the only people left to hate are white working class men (farmers are included in this catetgory).
Since I’m a member of this class so no one attempts to hide their views from me – in fact this form of classism is so acceptable it usually doesn’t occur to people to hide it.
The people who get the most hatred directed their way are those who still have some vestage of racism, sexism or homophobia. Once someone exhibits those traits they become sub-human, their opinions are considered worthless and we can treat them how we like with no feelings of guilt. Ironically enough this is the same way that white people used to view coloured people in the 50s. In fact it’s considered so normal that a lot of people reading this will struggle to relate to what I’m saying.
But then we are often blind to our own prejudices.
NZ selects every ethnicity under the rainbow in NZ parliament as long as most are woke lawyers! Even better if they hardly practised law, but have a great backstory.
For those that think lawyers mean justice, just compare the victims of state abuse compensation compared to their lawyers fees? Justice and law are two different things and the divide is increasing.
Thank you, so well written, finally a forum for truth.
Workers prepared to rock the boat just get put to one side until they give up. The Kirks and Andertons are now not seen.
The early Labour party had a smattering of communist party members or followers, who were proud of their socialist leanings for greater equality.
That push just doesn’t happen now within Labour and Hone Harawira who was the closest we had to a working class socialist, was ganged up on by all parties and effectively dispatched.
RNZ needs working class and socialists on its board to demand a bit of balance to the present rubbish and lies fed to the public. MSM largely controls the minds of the nation.
RNZ has seriously morphed into being unrecognizable, so I’ve switched off completely.
I voted for the Labor list this year with the videos and everything. The only guy who said mentioned class in his video was that Kurt what’s it with the antiIslamic tweets from years ago. And we all know what happened to hom.
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