When was the last time a journalist or commentator used the term working class in a news report or opinion column? A long time ago I’m guessing.
Not that the media has ever used “working class” to report on class issues. Middle class is commonly used but working class or ruling class don’t make the grade. One of our national myths involves European settlers arriving here determined not to replicate the bitter class divisions of the Britain they had left for a better life here. “Jack was as good as his master” was how this myth was expressed. Needless to say it was never a reality. Access to capital meant the social and economic structures of colonial settlement was based firmly on class. Not being seen to flaunt one’s wealth was the only concession to classlessness – a point abandoned since the 1980s Rogernomics revolution.
Possibly its only lasting legacy is the relative informality of dress here but that owes more to the climate than avoiding class divisions. John Key drinking beer from a bottle at a barbecue is meant to tell us we are all equal when in reality we are one of the most unequal countries in the world.
Today’s media reporting of economic and social issues never uses the term working class but instead focuses on the disproportionate impact of government policies on Māori and Pasifika. The problem is seen as the disproportion rather than the policies themselves.
This focus on the disproportionate impact of economic and social polices on Māori and Pasifika is not a problem in itself – it reflects institutional racism and our long history of colonisation which are critical issues Aotearoa New Zealand must tackle head on. Te Tiriti o Waitangi has been abused for 180 years and facing this and its legacy which reverberates in the present is critically important. The new developing and redeveloping partnerships between Crown and Māori point to a positive way forward.
Many bloggers, myself included, have focused on this in many different contexts such as when talking about housing, imprisonment rates, health, education and even taxes.
Yes – it’s true that Māori and Pasifika pay a higher proportion of their incomes in tax than anyone else – not because the tax system discriminates against them on the basis of race but because they are disproportionately in the working class who are the target of savage tax rates compared to the super-wealthy billionaire class.
It’s also true that 62% of the state house waiting list are Māori and Pasifika but it’s also critical to note that 100% of those on the state house waiting list are working class New Zealanders.
At one time we would have expected the trade union movement to champion the needs of the working class as it faces discrimination in health, education, housing and taxation policies for example but the largest private sector union is joined at the hip to the Labour Party and the Council of Trade unions is dominated by the relatively well-paid workers in the public sector unions. There is no leadership on these issues.
The media use of Māori and Pasifika as bywords for working class has also been driven by the current focus on identity politics. Race, gender and even religious identity now occupy the high ground in political discussion while the working class as a whole are left to fend for themselves.
Issues of identity getting a decent and long-awaited public airing is a healthy sign because identity is important to all of us. We all deserve to feel accepted for who we are and comfortable in society’s view of us.
But why is the media focused so strongly on identity politics rather than seeing our economic and social policies from a working-class perspective? For the same reason it has always avoided talk of working-class struggles. The private sector media are dependent on income from the big corporates who advertise online, on radio and in newspapers. The first priority is to get our eyeballs on the advertisements they carry while the private sector media fill the decreasingly small gaps between the adds with news stories.
Identity issues are a more comfortable fit for the media, avoiding the awkwardness of upsetting advertisers and the big corporates behind them.
At least two initiatives I’m aware of will be attempting to engage the country on the key class issues of housing and taxation in 2022 where the focus will be on class rather than identity politics.
We will need to drive these issues ourselves – the media will be slow followers – if at all.
Or have identity politics been driven by politicians to suit themselves, and the media followed along ?
Agree John about class and huge division in wealth. Focus should be on lifting people out of poverty so they can have a decent life, have a secure warm dry home to live in and access to good health care. If this was achieved, our country would be in much better shape. More like NZ in the 60s where I grew up
You say we all deserve to feel accepted for who we are and comfortable in society’s view of us. Why not what we are? Who we are regarding race, gender, and religion is insignificant compared to what we do and say in our daily interactions. Being kind, considerate, helpful, caring, or loving, as opposed to using blame, criticism, punishment, hurting, demeaning and being selfish, overrides any supposed status, position, race, gender or religious identity.
I agree that housing and taxation are two issues which need to be addressed, debated and thought of in 2022 because the economic, social, and cultural factors, & potential repercussions for the future of this Nation, are immense.
With housing, anything that either party has come up with and seriously acted upon in the last two decades or perhaps even longer than that, has been minimal. Why not announce a buy back of the old State houses in the interest of National security and safety? There are scores of these little residences, now in private hands, simply sitting there and waiting for the government to repurchase them for the vulnerable and needy. Of course, we’ve borrowed money due to the pandemic, but still have credit available of course and that project will be worthwhile. South Auckland homelessness will he diminished. Re-start the drug & alcohol clinics that have been closed, and people will not only be housed but clean and sober. It will provide jobs to those who’ve invested time, money and energy in earning a counseling degree, which is a lot of people in this country.
The most astonishing example of this was recent report highlighted by the Green Party which showed that Pakeha beneficiaries were paying $11 in debt repayments, on average, a week while Maori were paying $16 per week.
So the issue was not “why is WINZ indebting those in poverty” but “why are Maori $5 more indebted than Pakeha.” The implication being that if only both were paying the same per week everything would be great.
Like the author I am a full supporter of the treaty process and holding ourselves accountable as a nation for historical injustice but sometimes identity can cloud the more fundamental economic issues – which are class based and require class based solutions.
My view of unions has changed a lot and I now think that they are no different to investors – their only concern is small group of stake holders within an organization i.e. their current membership and nothing beyond that. Unions share and go along with the concerns of an organizations management and act as a plug on worker discontent. We should view Unions as another enemy of the working class and they will need to be confronted and challenged as much as any one else in a fight for economic reform.
Like the author I am a full supporter of the treaty process and holding ourselves accountable as a nation for historical injustice but sometimes identity can cloud the more fundamental economic issues – which are :
”CLASS BASED AND REQUIRE CLASS BASED SOLUTIONS”.
Precisely.
It has always been a class war, even when heavily disguised or ignored. The tongues of the boss class have always been the most powerful weapon against the working class. The voices of the working class need to be echoed in the media and the only way that can happen is for the working class to organise.
Bloody liberal,…. nuthin’ wrong with workin’ all night on a drink of rum! – Stop your bitchin !!!
“Banana Boat Song (Day O)” – 1956
https://youtu.be/PMigXnXMhQ4?t=126
You say, “We all deserve to feel accepted for who we are and comfortable in society’s view of us.” That’s debatable because what we are – caring, considerate, supportive, fair, generous, just, honest – far outweighs race, gender and religious beliefs. Our identity is given to us by those with whom we interact, not by conforming to imposed beliefs. If we are mean, selfish, greedy, a bully, a racist, an ageist, a misogynist – all of whom may blame, criticise, demean, hurt, or lie to others – any identity claimed through race/ethnicity, gender or religion is overridden. It’s how we live our lives that establishes our identity, not any status claim.
The Lange Labour government brought New Zealand back to its roots in the private colonisation project of the New Zealand Company backed by the military power of the British empire. As anyone who reads history will know, New Zealand was explicitly designed to be a class society.
Now whether or not the regime’s media chooses to talk about “the working class” is beside the point. Regardless of what language it uses, the Realm of New Zealand will continue to be a class and race-based social system so long as it remains in existence. It must be destroyed before we of “the working class”, Maori and Pakeha and others, can fully realize our destiny as a people upholding mana motuhake kotahitanga and rangatiratanga.
John, it seems you will continue in a futile and misguided struggle to make colonialism honest, compassionate, just, decent and egalitarian. I doubt that many will choose to follow where you are trying to lead.
Agreeing with the sentiment that while the focus is on Maori and Pacifica, a whole segment of the working class society is being actively discouraged and ignored. If 38% of state housing applicants are not Maori or Pacifica you get an idea how large this ignored underbelly is.
It is from there that the future “red necks” will generate from. After all white trash is the picture that is painted and moniker applied, if you are working class and not Maori and Pacifica you ain’t worth nothing.
So no wonder we have racism if one or two race is favoured over others.
Reminds me of the song Steve Earle’s Copperhead Road.
“I volunteered for the Army on my birthday
They draft the white trash first,’round here anyway”.
The 2018 census showed 16 per cent Maori 9 per cent Pacifica 15 per cent Asian. 2 of these are prodominantly in the low income sector and I believe much of thst is ue to the attitude towards education. I am sure Maori and Pacifica are not less intelligent but many of their parents are less inclined to push the need to well at school.
Poverty is not caused by indifference to education, decided that I could do better and went to enrolled at the New Zealand School of Forestry. I worked bloody hard, just as I had in the bush, and graduated top of my year, but found myself unable to obtain employment in a professional role in New Zealand and went back to working as an “unskilled” labourer. So it is not about education. The problem is colonialism, which was made very plain to me when I was applying for the jobs which my class mates (who with all due respect were “less well educated” than I) obtained without difficulty. In our rohe we have doctors, teachers, lawyers, even a judge of the supreme court, self-evidently all very “well educated”. But as the Chair of the marae committee observed
The Asian children are the most successful worldwide regardless of wealth. In communist Czechoslovakia we had workers from Vietnam. They were working in factories and were not rich at all.
Their children were the best students in all types of schools includong universities. It is their drive to achieve that many European and other families lost.
Geoff, what happened to you is clearly unfair. I know a young family who came here from Russia, both have PhD, in chemistry and biology and both could not find any job, not even in the ZOO. And other woman from Danmark speaking 6 languages did not get the job she applied for though she had years of experience in that area. I will not blame colonialism, but individual bias, maybe even corruption.
Because the Realm of New Zealand is a race-based state discrimination affects not only indigenous people but immigrants also. Depending on their race and country of origin, some immigrants receive preferential treatment from the regime, and others from different backgrounds face an array of discriminatory obstacles.
If you try to follow the “bias” and “corruption” in New Zealand society to its source you will find colonialism there. Every human being has the inherent capacity for bias and corruption but it is perverse social institutions and distorted values that bring these characteristics to the fore.
Like the rest of us, immigrants have to accept that is the way things are in this country, and to find positive value in being part of the working class (that is, the one truly honest class). Despite the fact that we still live alongside a colonial regime we are a people who champion the values of kotahitanga, mana motuhake and rangatiratanga regardless of the personal cost.
The family from Russia and the woman from Denmark can take comfort in the fact that by virtue of the discrimination they face they become one with us – rather than one with those who seek to exploit and oppress us.
Geoff, but you can find bias and unfairness in every country even in those which never experienced colonialism. As you said, all people have that potential, we are not perfect and there is not a perfect system that can guarantee that these things will not happen.
We will never have a perfect world, but the incidence of bias and unfairness varies greatly between nations and social systems, and there are reasons behind that variation. A better social order makes for better people, and better people make for a better social order. At present the western world is descending into a vicious spiral. We need to turn that around, because ultimately it will affect all of us. Colonialism is the particular form of moral degradation which afflicts New Zealand society. In other societies (France, Britain, the US) it is the other side of the same coin i.e. the legacy of imperialism. End colonialism and Aotearoa will be move on to a better and safer track.
My apologies for this incoherent comment which inadvertently posted itself (?) while in the process of being drafted.
I totally agree John and I have been frustrated by this the entire time since the last election. I am beginning to see what the conspiracy theorists are banging on about. Identity politics are divisive and the government’s behaviour is really polarising people across almost all issues. Identity politics achieve 2 things – divide and rule, us vs them, no solidarity, no consensus = less people power, more turmoil = justification for new laws limiting freedom of speech and a whole lot of other things.
Ultimately all will be solved by a new kind of government who can take away all these problems just as long as you abandon your freedom and accept a ‘kind’ authoritarian ruler. The media and corporations are sucked into this because it makes them feel that they are showing leadership in a modern world and get cool points for virtue signalling.
If you take the plight of Maori for example, What have the highly political He Pua Pua, 3 Waters, Maori Wards, narrow curriculum changes etc achieved? Us vs them, mistrust and division. Wouldnt Maori have been better served by a massive programme of bulk house building, a strong Maori development focus along with a greater understanding of the needs of Maori by all NZer’s (its called consensus building, we used to do it a lot) All the while genuinely but apolitically getting to grips with systemic racism.
They have taken a political big stick to all Maori issues which has resulted in greater racism on all sides.
Every day Maori have gained nothing. One can only conclude that the problem is not supposed to be fixed.
…”One can only conclude that the problem is not supposed to be fixed”…
Bingo ! And I aint even got a dog in this fight. I’m a Scots, Norse , Irish, Swedish, German, Danish, English specimen who can trace his family back to the 8th century on my mothers side and the 9th century back to my fathers side. But unfairness is unfairness and that’s that. So whatever it takes, just do it. Sort it. And enough of all the bollix.
Excellent commentary as usual, John.
“Jack was as good as his master” was how this myth was expressed. Needless to say it was never a reality. Access to capital meant the social and economic structures of colonial settlement was based firmly on class. Not being seen to flaunt one’s wealth was the only concession to classlessness”…
So many salient points:
…”Possibly its only lasting legacy is the relative informality of dress here but that owes more to the climate than avoiding class divisions. John Key drinking beer from a bottle at a barbecue is meant to tell us we are all equal when in reality we are one of the most unequal countries in the world”…
Actually I give up. There is just too much in your article. Its late,… and I must sleep for Chrissy. Its a beer and rum night on the eve of Christmas for me. A sailors choice. You speak from not just the heart John but from empirical and some would say, antidotal evidence. Evidence that is none the less true in our fair land. As COUNTRYBOY would say, in this land of rich plenty,…WHY are we enslaved to Australian banks and foreign / free market forces even in this post covid world? And even way before then ?!!?
Why in this rich resourced land both marine and terrestrial,…are we still paying the piper from some foreign owned lending company aka an Australian Bank their unwelcome dues? Who did that to us? Who warranted their foreign invasion? I didn’t vote for it,… who did? Who voted for that?!!?
My chief concern is wages and the housing crisis, and my questions are ; who gains’, ‘how do they do it’, and ‘why ‘. We all know the timeframe of when.
1984, 4TH Labour govt, Roger Douglas, Finance Minister.
And the author is not the only one who recognizes this problem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ortmpBSz4ko
In depth Media sources and news outlets in NZ have pretty much targeted the middle classes, advertising remains forever aspirational. The class system here much like most immigrant nations was you could work or educate yourself into the next class level, whereas (in Britain) many of these classes were rigid in structure. These days increasingly we have different definitions of people whom are in benefit, working and middle class, people move in and out of them more often depending on their current circumstances. Increasingly more people are also asset rich and cash poor, so much so we now see huge demand for the basics by reasonably well placed people. We see contractors, many of whom are business owners AND workers- lurch from having no work to working round the clock. All in all income has become uneven and unpredictable. Traditionally Maori and Pacific families are collectives with income supporting the others, while the tax and benefit system is more geared towards individuals, what’s needed is flexibility that can respond to peoples circumstances. Ability to pay off debt is a sure enough way of deciding class levels, the flexibility in paying debts was something that has been seen during the lockdown, and should be part of standard practice. Easier options for lump sum and/or trickle payments (income and outgoings) should part of the new normal.
Ach, bollix. The early Scots in the Imperial army of the Brits recognized the Maori much like themselves, ,… Clannish, fighting against a superior foe by which was technology [ read British ] , AND , – both of them KILT wearers,- the Scots in the employ of General Cameron [ himself a Scot and who later resigned because he didn’t want to fight NZ’s dirty war in the Waikato on behalf of NZ / British / Australian banks] , saw themselves as the ones they were fighting against. And what’s more?,… intermarried with.
And so that’s why you have many happily married couples with kids of both Maori and Irish, Scots and English extraction. Why?,… Because they both got hot blooded and thought ”you’re a piece of all right” and got it on.
And that’s just human bloody beings. We get together like that. That’s just what we do. And so it should be. We are all one family. There’s much to celebrate here in NZ. From the rough pioneer days to the year 2021. We should not let either the woke or the globalists tear that all apart. We are a peaceful people for the most part, with many lovely [ interracial] intermarriages. Never let the cynicism of globalism rip us asunder. They have no right to do that to us as a sovereign nation.
So govt’s last for 3- 5 terms depending in which country you live in, whereas family’s last for decades upon decades. Remember that, and remember what’s best for your children’s children. That’s the old time wisdom garnered from at once fighting each other to falling in love with each other .And that old time set of values? Well that raised family’s and made a nation. And that’s good enough for me.
I’ll leave you with this :
Either
Old Time Religion – Willie Nelson
https://youtu.be/aWO6rxk0SrU?t=5
[ from a pot smoker L0L ]
Or:
loretta lynn “old time religion”
https://youtu.be/aQq9F3TacoM?t=1
Or my fav, Johnny Cash,…
Johnny Cash – Give Me That Old Time Religion
https://youtu.be/EpwXEdYM10c?t=1
Enjoy !!!
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