While Muldoon’s repugnant use of identity politics to divide a nation over rugby will always mark him as an authoritarian thug willing to plunge the nation into the social trauma of mass civil disobedience, he was ahead of the curve with Think Big.
His economic nationalism was ahead of its time, triggered by stagflation and geopolitical shockwaves, it parallels the same threats we face now.
Why shouldn’t we have our own basic pharmaceutical industry?
Engineering industry.
Industrial industry.
The supply side shocks caused by Covid and war are not going away, and they are being compounded by catastrophic climate change.
The arguments pushed forward by Muldoon for Think Big infrastructure resonate more importantly now than ever before.
Radical adaptation and communal community resourcing alongside a Big State approach to lynchpin infrastructure for basic self-reliance as an Island country facing enormous economic shockwaves is the only means to build the muscle mass to respond to the ever intensifying external disruption of late stage capitalism.
The need to increase military spending to 3% alongside the new costs for this infrastructure must be funded via new taxes aimed at corporations and banks.
A financial transaction tax and windfall profit tax would take the yoke of taxation off working people and place it upon the shoulders of the wealthy.
National and ACT see mass immigration as a means to create fake growth at a time when we should be focused on de-growth.
Climate Crisis is here and adaptation is now.
We need to start rethinking Isolationism as a strength and Think Big as Economic Sovereignty.
The geopolitical shock waves are only getting more intense.
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Cuba has a population of a little over 11 million. It has been subjected to an illegal siege by the US for going on 60 years.
And it developed the most effective COVID vaccine in the world. People who say we ‘need’ to kowtow to psychopathic neoliberal s**thole countries like the US, Britain, and Australia have holes in their heads.
Yes R D Muldoon was NZ/AO’s biggest and best forward thinking socialist in the last 50 years.
Muldoon a socialist?? Only neocon economists claim that, because they cannot see past their view of economics.
Muldoon hated all forms of the Left Wing of his time. He was definitely a Capitalist – just less extreme than the ultra-right economists who followed him.
Why is capitalism always juxtaposed against socialism? surely a socialist society can be capitalist? China, Vietnam? Isn’t it about sharing in the means of production? Muldoon was a Nationalist but his Think Big policies were Socialist. oops see what I did there.
So you are wanting 2025 equivalents to the Trekka and Bata Bullets. Don’t tell me we are going back to a time when downtown Nadi was more sophisticated than the viaduct.
With the internet now in play there isn’t a surer way of white flight
Nothing wrong with Trekka or Batta Bullets Frank, Although I much prefer Hush Puppies and NZ/AO had a certain un-sophisticated flair especially in the hospitality/entertainment field, state/brewery run pubs/restaurants where one could tuck into a hearty chicken kiev washed down with a glass or 5 of finest leopard beer and for the truly enlightened a glass of Marque Vue wine/plonk and all this would be done and dusted by 11pm when you were sent home and if you were lucky get to watch the Good night kiwi on TV 1.
Ah the memories keep flooding back. Those were the days, NZ was a true hermit kingdom back then
Don’t you mean ‘white fright;? People who can’t stand living in a practical and sustainable manner can PO on their flight. There are a lot of lovely, dozey people around who should make up their minds if they want to live in their television, all coloured and glossy, or stand shoulder to shoulder if they are in good health and make this country a satisfactory place to live and love and have plenty of good times. Just less often than previously.
There is nothing wrong with more self sufficiency. Strategically it makes sense as does weaning ourselves off China!
The problem is a generation of New Zealanders have been repeatedly told that state intervention is bad and socialism is not cool( as witnessed by mindless tossers blocking roads because the government wants to protect them)
Actually in the wake of the 1930s depression John.A.Lee and Bill Sutch were among a number of economists and academics who advanced the idea of self sufficient Aotearoa insulated from financial recession.
Of course they not be taken seriously because Lee was a ruthless radical who dared to criticise the cuddly Mickey Savage and accuse the Labour Party of not taking advantage of its popularity to make sweeping and meaningful actions to eliminate poverty(see, nothing fucking changes)
Sutch was a vile communist who was accused of spying for the Soviets(actually because of his known communist sympathies he was always blocked from any sensitive information so he had no useful information to ever give anyone and his resulting arrest and failed trial displayed the wanking traditions of our Intelligence Services that continue to this day).
The concern of successive governments with Free Trade Agreements where as a sardine we try to swim with sharks also makes us economically dependent on overseas events.
I remember the Muldoon days when Rob was a vicious bully that destroyed his political opponents. I had a job that paid a reasonable wage and I had a house, bought with a state advances loan. When I got hurt I could go to hospital and get prompt medical care that did not cost me a penny.
I remember that Muldoon introduced the Domestic Purposes benefit that made it possible for single mothers to care for their children and not put them up for adoption. I remember cheap electricity and free water.
Maybe a bloke can be a bastard and still do good? Offers some hope for me then.
We cannot do anything meaningful until we can wean young people away from the idea that socialism equals dictatorship
I agreed with Think Big at the time and think that by offshoring everything we have ended up with a hollower country totally dependant on Agriculture and Tourism. We also opened the door wide to global capitalism with hellacious social consequences. Vision, greater self reliance and increased taxation are needed now and increasingly into the future.
Who could argue against the merits of enhancing our self-sufficiency, that we might become like Sweden, Denmark or Norway. But that would involve not only stepping away from trade arrangements that include importing commodities which we would make for ourselves, but also stepping away from their concomitant foreign policy arrangements too. And the ramifications of doing that are such that not even Muldoon, was prepared to tackle them. Our “security”, as guaranteed by “The Mob,” is only assured for as long as we trade as we’re told. And it’ll be a cold day in hell when any of today’s politicians try doing otherwise – unless they’re prepared to invite the wrath currently being reigned on China and Russia
I think there are a few industries that should definitely be part of any “self-sufficient” economy and is something every country should strive for. It isolates you from sanctions, global threats (e.g. pandemics, climate etc), currency devaluations (e.g. if the NZ dollar were to tank how can we buy foreign goods?), and war (e.g. imagine if the sea and sky are cut off due to ships being torpedoed and freight planes shot down.
The key areas of focus for NZ should be:
1. Energy (I think this is maybe the only category we’re basically good on, with the exception of oil, see 5)
2. Bulk chemicals (we should be making our own base chemicals, e.g. methanol, ammonia, solvents etc – also a requirement for 3 and 4).
3. Basic medicines (e.g. we should be making our own paracetamol, aspirin/ibuprofen, antibiotics etc).
4. Fertilisers (obviously we need to keep that working regardless of external events, and a lot of crops require fertilisers).
5. Refining of raw materials (e.g. our own steel, concrete, oil etc – Jacinda shutting down OUR refinery is nearly a criminal act imo and we can see dumb it was given the events of this year).
6. Basic manufacturing (e.g. sufficient to repair tractors, trucks, engines, and servicing manufacturing itself).
Feel free to add to this list.
Muldoon economics stood in the way of private corporate profit, especially in the manner organisations like MOWD stood in the way of private sector provision and rent seeking.
International capital always seeks to exploit, then to avoid competition. Lange, Douglas and crew failed to understand that market mechanisms work well where there is a lot of competition but always, especially in small economies, tend to monopoly, cartel, duopoly etc.
First easy step is to regulate profiteering which requires a strong public body.
Guy F Go fork yourself. We are trying to have a serious discussion here.
Bravo Country Boy! Best and most accurate commentary of NZ Political History posted here! We should all take heed of the current dilemma we face and start decoupling ourselves from the Train Wreck of Neoliberal Capitalism. To do that we must return to the #8 wire mentality of the 70’s & 80’s, with a bit of John David Savage added for good measure! – PRONTO!
Nitriums’ ideas should be expanded and focused on, particularly around our Self Sufficiency in
“1.Energy (I think this is maybe the only category we’re basically good on, with the exception of oil, see 5)
2. Bulk chemicals (we should be making our own base chemicals, e.g. methanol, ammonia, solvents etc – also a requirement for 3 and 4).
3. Basic medicines (e.g. we should be making our own paracetamol, aspirin/ibuprofen, antibiotics etc).
4. Fertilisers (obviously we need to keep that working regardless of external events, and a lot of crops require fertilisers).
5. Refining of raw materials (e.g. our own steel, concrete, oil etc – Jacinda shutting down OUR refinery is nearly a criminal act imo and we can see dumb it was given the events of this year).
6. Basic manufacturing (e.g. sufficient to repair tractors, trucks, engines, and servicing manufacturing itself).” Excellent stuff Nitrium!! Allow me a couple more additions to your list please. #7 Toss Rio Tinto the hell out of NZ and Nationalise their operations along with the Refinery at Marsden. Call it National Security, or whatever..
The other Tossers that need to be tossed out on their Tukus’s are our dear Aussie Bankers & they can take their Reserve Bank Governor with em! Worthless bunch of Scavengers..
I heard this morning that Americans are planning to create a new Political Party Option named “Forward”. Might be worthwhile if we were to look into their Party Platforms for some tips of our own on how to take out the Dirty Laundry without dumping our kids in the trash as we are at the moment…
At this juncture in time Self Sufficiency is critical for a small country of basic insignificance to Bully Pulpit Big Capitalist Enterprises that we break our necks & wreck our Landscape to provide for.
We need to quickly clean out the Profiteers from our midst and make a quick move to Circle the Wagons to take care of our own during these rapidly changing times.
Me First, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme Populism is a dangerous Trend and needs to go the Fek Away along with the Stale Bathwater of Greed.
IF we can accomplish the disconnect from the current Status Quo that we need, we won’t need to compare ourselves to the other guys, or Countries out there, they’ll be gone long before we are & the good ones will be looking to us for their future examples.
Anyone with half a brain cell can see exactly where the US is headed with the current War on Russia and it’s sights set on China. Top Guns is an Oxymoron like Military Intelligence & Jumbo Shrimp. The good ole US of A has no intention to let up on its intentions to be the Solo Unipower in this part of the Galaxy & are drunk on their arse with false Bravado in following the PNAC Document to it’s conclusion.
If you haven’t yet read PNAC, get busy, you’re behind in your homework around Civilisations & Empire Building. These idiots aren’t muckin around! They’re truly Psychotic and need to be Quarantined from polite societies. NZ doesn’t mean shit to any of these guys folks, so please pull your heads in and get a bit of much needed Kiwi Patriotism in ya! Nobody’s gonna take our hands and lead us out of this mess so if you’re waiting for a Saviour Good Luck don’t hold yer breath!!
We once again need to shoulder the Yolk and do the Grunt work to future proof our country lest we lose it in the Next Global Real Estate Auction & if you think I’m kidding, or havin you on, guess again!
We have some of the most dangerous Capitalist & High Tech Criminals in the World living right here in God’s own that have no problem writing a check for a measly $6 Million Dollar investment to be a Kiwi & you don’t count to your own Government where Money in large denominations comes into the picture first and foremost.
You can thank Mr. Key for that one! We’re the Playground for the next batch of Kardashians, Trumps, Putins, Gates, Thiels, Rothschilds et al.
If we’re to get outa here alive we need to go it alone together and not cut corners! As they say, you only go around this life Once, so don’t blow it thinking your hot shit, you’re NOT! Look at yourself as an important Bit-Part Player and do your bit…Together as a team of 5 million we can knock this bugger off!
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