Winning an election takes different skills to governing.
When people privately ask me why Labour have failed to be transformative in any stretch of the progressive imagination, I note that if you don’t have a pile-driver strategy to ram through immediate radical change via a 100 day implementation programme, then the Wellington Bureaucratic Elites will stymie you and shut you down.
Labour didn’t expect to win in 2017 so had no plan to outmanoeuvre the Wellington Bureaucratic Elites and didn’t expect to win a majority in 2020, and again had no plan to outmanoeuvre them.
The masquerade of representative democracy in NZ requires participation for legitimacy. The MPs rarely have the personal mana and skills to outplay a Ministry forever resourced to outwit them so it’s really these Wellington Bureaucratic Elites who run Government.
The Politician is there to make you think you have the power.
This Wellington Bureaucratic Elite are becoming increasingly highlighted as an issue now, the only reason to ever read The Spin-off is Danyl Mclauchlan and his latest essay on the Professional Management Class that Comrade Chris Trotter has been blogging about is bringing the issue sharply into focus.
Award winning journalist Aaron Smale, pointed out the power of this class last week in his examination of the State’s tactics in hiring private detectives to dig dirt on victims of State abuse.
That is happening at the same time as oversight is being removed from Oranga Tamariki.
These are the actions of a self serving Public Service who set the rules to ensure they are not held accountable for the underfunding of welfare and the carnage that generates.
It’s a neoliberal pact between gentlemen, except it’s woke AF now so that’s a neoliberal pact between gentle persons (they/them).
It’s a woke conclave of middle class aesthetic virtue signalling focused on consolidating power for their own personal fiefdoms within a landscape dominated by Union rules that never allow for sacking.
The reason the Twitter Wellington Woke are so quiet on this Professional Managerial Class is because most of them are employed one way or another inside it!
Whether they are in a state agency, NGO or Union, they are the very same class pushing the very same intensification of power.
It’s just like having our Parliament of property owners! They don’t represent the 40% renters, they represent 100% of the owners! That’s why the rules are written in their favour!
Any Labour/Green/Māori Party Government MUST have a 100 day plan to ram through radical change that materially benefits the many and not the few or else we will be crushed by the grief of our citizens.
Here’s the good news.
The climate is warming at such an immense and dangerous rate now that it will doom economic activity meaning free market globalisation is dead and radical isolation is here.
The geopolitical shockwaves coming will destabilise and fracture the political spectrum of NZ. The political force to demand Fortress Aotearoa adopting a self sufficiency platform that radically reformats the economy for the adaptation required for rapid climate change will be far greater than the caution of Labour and punitive blandness of National.
The planet is only getting hotter and hotter and hotter...
In the age of climate change, our past intrudes upon the present. Last week, receding water levels in a Serbian stretch of the Danube, Europe’s second-largest river, surfaced a flotilla of Nazi-era German warships that were still packed with ammunition and unexploded ordnance. They were exposed at a time when Europe is experiencing what appears to be the worst dry spell in half a millennium, with two-thirds of the continent under some form of drought warning.
Other ruins and wrecks are popping up as waterways shrink. A submerged 1st century AD Roman bridge possibly constructed under the orders of Emperor Nero emerged from the Tiber River last month; further to the north, out of the depths of Italy’s tourist-clogged Lake Como, emerged a 100,000-year-old skull of a deer and the ancient remains of lions, hyenas and rhinos.
Scorching high temperatures left the Iberian Peninsula drier than any time in the last 1200 years. In Spain, parched riverbeds and shrinking reservoirs have exposed a Neolithic monument known as the Spanish Stonehenge, a Roman fortress, a medieval church, and a number of more recent “ghost towns” that had been abandoned and flooded following 20th century dam projects.
In France, which is experiencing its worst drought on record, winemakers are harvesting their grapes earlier than ever. At a time when anxiety is already mounting over energy costs, surging temperatures and sparse rainfall have hit hydropower capacity in parts of Europe. They have also wreaked havoc on the continent’s agricultural output.
On this front, too, Europe’s rivers are turning up bleak omens – the receding waters in parts of Central Europe have revealed old “hunger stones,” markers placed along riverbeds that locals centuries prior left as guides to earlier droughts. One stone that emerged out of the Elbe read: “When this goes under, life will become more colourful again.”
…things are only going to get worse faster.
Do you honestly think our tourism industry built on air travel will be sustainable?
We need to stop thinking global and focus only on the regional.
We need to stop thinking of ourselves as a country with all the false security of a well funded bureaucracy filtering out stupid short sighted plans that the word ‘country’ conjures up.
We are a couple of Island’s, we need to start thinking like an Island.
The change is coming whether we like it or not, free market globalisation is dead, radical isolationism is here.
In the words of the wise and mighty Destiny’s Child, I do not believe that we are ready for this jelly.
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Isolation will do nothing for the climate indeed burying ones head in the sand will contribute to climate change.it’s a global issue that requires a global approach.
The reason the Wellington Public Service runs rings around the Labour/Green Ministers and MPs is because the MPs are too lazy and haven’t read and understood the legislation and regulations, and then worked out what needs to be changed in the legislation or regulations, and then have a scheme fully worked out to implement those changes – such as what new government organisations or official entities will spring into existence.
The modern-day Sir Humphry says: “An excellent scheme Minister, but we will have to change the existing legislation and that means finding time on the Parliamentary calendar in the first two years of this term, after we have developed the new Act from scratch, then put it through a select Committee process to find the obvious and embarrassing flaws, and worked out all the consequential amendments to other Acts of Parliament.
Then we can start on drafting the regulations and begin the process of establishing the new XXYZ Agency and finding the suitable people you want to appoint…. Of course, this change will be transformative, courageous, even controversial, and the PM may not want to campaign on it in the final year of this Parliamentary Term.”
That’s the tragedy of the 2017 and 2020 elections – the underlying laziness meant the new government hadn’t done the work to make actual changes.
You are absolutely right Martyn.
sorry but the with workplace changes in the past 30yrs the days when you could glibly say white male problem are long gone…a dickhead crammed into spanks is as much a dickhead as one in a pinstripe suit.
Well, how many are ready for serious JELLY until the ATM’s no longer support that bank balance, that you know! you have, and the toilets on the third floor back up for good, and the supermarket automatic doors are closed for days.
People will get serious about all sorts of things rather quickly in a societal and economic collapse. Hey–yeah, rain water tanks and solar would have been a good idea, Hey, booting Rogernomics would have been a good idea, Hey, getting out of 5 Eyes and developing relations with Cuba and anyone else non imperialist would have been a good idea…etc.
The problem we have is how to quickly develop a working class socialist strategy versus a “last chance power drive” capitalist one–which enlists the alienated elements of society as the Anti Vaccination campaigners did in aid of a fascist response to keep their circus happening for a bit longer.
Wise. How to collect and grow minds together in practical ways. Don’t put unions in charge for a start. They don’t impress me as thinkers. Know how to do sums but perhaps learned to be calculating instead of calculus etc.
So perhaps everyone who wants to be on the team could face a page of four or five questions – what would you do in these circumstances? in the immediate, then getting things on a short-term working system then aim at … for long-term? What would be the cost in human upset and how to balance that, monetary – and where would it come from, or instead what would you offer to barter with to another group or entity?
That sort of thing to get the brain cells working with practicalities not flouncy theories or ‘shoulds’.
Also I suggest watching Babylon 5 on the small screen. It has problem solving ideas in it I realised when watching the last episodes. Some thugs infiltrated on Babylon 5 small-planet style spaceship and the leader attacks a member of another space race. They request the leader of B5 to let them settle this savage attack their way. They hand the bully a weapon he is not familiar with and subdue him on the basis that bullies like to get others to fight for them, and produce terror in their victims, which they then turn back onto the bully. The latest has the Psycorp about to arrest some mediums who have sought asylum with B5 and the Captain finds a bureaucratic medical reason why they can’t though that is only a temporary few months reprieve.
But B5’s method is to work with what you have and can do, try to be peaceable but not soppy, handle problems as they arise, as well as can be managed. That’s what we should do. There are lessons in art, if we can see them.
We have been regarded as a small experimental entity for trying out neo-lib on. That was last century, these are fast-moving times, time for a new experiment – one that we are applying not cruel-eyed financial obsessives. Know our finance system thoroughly, understand it and its forces, and apply it carefully as and where needed,
make it work for all of us not the few, and understand your adversaries and when to give them what they want, or make a change. Political statesmanship and maneouvring.
”The problem we have is how to quickly develop a working class socialist strategy versus a “last chance power drive” capitalist one–which enlists the alienated elements of society as the Anti Vaccination campaigners did in aid of a fascist response to keep their circus happening for a bit longer.”
My problem is the working class in rising-up described as being enlisted by fascism. Which is a joke when they were opposing authoritarian and divisive measures with no justification beyond making people feel more comfortable, as Adern herself said. I wonder if the massive trasnsfer of wealth from the poor to the richest might have given you another clue about whose interests were being served. Maybe the working class know something about being shafted and exploited by manipulative means.
Have you ever heard of ‘false teaming’? It is a strategy employed by psychopaths. Look it up. Then think about the folksy-wokesy ‘team of the five million’. Does it ever occur to you that life experience might have taught the working class things the pampered poodles have not had dumped on their heads.
Does your world view allow you to imagine that the dangerous opportunists attending the main protest might have been leeching on the prominence and courage of the working class rather than leading the working class?,
Or is the idea of the working class not being ignorant sycophants too hard for you to imagine?
Who is the working class you speak of as developing a strategy….? My guess is you really mean follow a management-class posing as left strategy.
” When people privately ask me why Labour have failed to be transformative in any stretch of the progressive imagination ”
Bomber these people had nine years to organise a plan for government. And progressive transformation did not feature then or now. Sure the public service ( an oxymoron in anyone’s language ) are the enablers of neo liberal policies but so are the NZLP and their donors and vested interests. We will never get progressive transformation from these people who ensure the enforcement of the status quo.
Even with an unprecedented majority they still would not will not make the structural changes you talk about until they are forced either by a new movement entering parliament or the climate catastrophe.
The enough is enough campaign is underway in the U.K being led by the incredible Mike Lynch with no assistance from their Labour party because after briefly standing for traditional Labour values under Corbyn they have quickly reverted to the party of Blair and Brown.
” EIE has five demands:
1. A real pay rise
2. Slash energy bills
3. End food poverty
4. Decent homes for all
5. Tax the rich
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2022/08/18/as-enough-is-enough-launches-the-working-class-are-fighting-back/
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2022/08/21/unions-and-campaign-groups-are-mobilising-as-rishi-sunak-and-liz-truss-wage-class-war/
And like here
https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2022/08/25/in-a-stunning-move-emily-maitlis-says-what-weve-all-been-saying-for-years/
Danyl Mclauchlan essay was a great read, thanks for the link MB. And in the SpinOff of all places!
“Lasch notes that because the PMC is meritocratic it tends to strip-mine non-elite communities of their best and brightest, elevating them into the cognitive class. So anti-managerial movements tend to be disorganised, incoherent, leaderless and easily captured by bad actors. We’re seeing that all over the world, too. ”
Exactly. Will there be no more Working Class Heroes?
I have been thinking about this in the context of Martyn’s desire for upping defence spending to 3% of GDP. I’m coming to agree that we need to be able to defend ourselves against likely future aggression – from……..Australia! Perhaps that was also the thinking behind Martyn’s comments.
Well whadda ya think about my idea for bringing in again. Compulsoory Military Training for yioung people, can be entered as young as 15, and be a paid apprenticeship sort of. It was abolished partly because we were over war and regimentation. But we still have both, but regimentation needs to be applied again. Two things in today Nelson ail. IOne of g24 year old guy eggfed on by similarly tragic mates, driving across paddock into a pregnant ewe and killing her of course. And the other of an Italian patriot who chanced a bullet from German Nazis in Rome keeping them on the go with home-made bombs. IPerhaps the dumb killer instinct in young Kiwi men could be controlled, they could learn restraint, and find something to do with their limited hymanity that would be good for all of us. Males to be given the opportunity first. And the training to precede entry into university. Give the males of all kind a taste of achievement at something other than self-advancement of random anarchy.
Maybe if you send some Te Reo wrapped chocolate to the Greens / Labour they will find the strength to come up with a hundred day plan. But keep in mind that they really don’t like being held accountable, hence no plan. Just bullshit made up new, every day.
schools crumbling – heck teachers not knowing where the students are.
standard medical prescriptions in shortages
Yes riddled with pot holes and bald wanna be men who think they are born to lead Reactionary brat.
Yes and Luxon said this morning on RNZ we need to diversify but he hasn’t. He also talked around ram raids and gangs (blaming inflation and Labour) but his governments 501 policy has exacerbated gang problems.
I haven’t driven along dome valley but I regular drive in the Hutt Valley and see state housing being built and replaced by Labour. Unfortunately National sold too many and gentrified many state housing areas, selling many under the auspices of the state housing not being suitable either too small or too big, mongrel mob problems, meth contamination and saying some were earthquake prone. Funny that, as I saw people moving into a block down Petone that were suppose to be earthquake prone and after a quick lick of paint and a bit of a touch up by the new Indian landlords they were occupied.
We’ver always had Sir Humper in the public service ever since I can remember (having jumped in and out of the ps, banking sector, and briefly academia over 40 plus years)
Danyl absolutely nails what’s happened over the past 30 or so years – the rise of the PMC. Early on, when at Justice, and then Ministry of Works and Development, despite, and even in spite of Sir Humphrey, stuff actually got done.
Then the rise of the PMC – oozing its way into academia (Guilford et al), the bizzniss whurl and even media.
Tertiary education schools of pols and public policy had to become schools of gummint, bizzniss and marketing.
There are, and have been some bloody good public servants over the years – especially the actual worker bees and those that refuse to indulge in the managerialist agenda, but the PMC has a mission to mould and ‘develop’ them into the PMC – or they’re under threat. It’s not necessarily a conscious mission – just learned parrot fashion behaviour.
I’m pleased to see Danyl mentions MBIE – one of the worst Munstries. It’s a bit rich too for the gNactoids to be criticising any agency which operates under MBIE’s aegis. It was a Joyce and Coleman creation that always was going to be a bugger’s muddle and is working as designed. More fool Labour for not dismantling this absolute fuckup as one of the first things on the 100 day plan. But there ya go. I mean!!!! Smol FFS, and now some decrepit old biddy who has spent the majority of her lifetime learning the PMC ropes. She’s probably got aspirational desires to become the next SSC (oops ‘P’SC).
So where to now? Waiting for the PMC to collapse under its own weight – which inevitably it has to, is going to be too late.
Danyl suggests ‘WE’ – that pesky electorate will get pissed off and demand this lot get get thrown out by another version of the same thing.
I’d prefer to consider which of our groups of electricate representatives (Political Parties) has the greatest potential for change and a purge. Hopefully Labour will get the shock it needs by way of having to grovel for supporting coalition partners. One or two Gweens – those with a bit of life experience; TPM, and even a TOP or two.
Failing that, Labour will deserve to be pushed into oblivion so that something can be rebuilt from its ashes (in this space, going forward)
Check out and listen to this morning’s Nine to Noon on RNZ btw on the plight of midwives to see how the PMC operates. There are people that should never again be allowed to hold roles in the public service.
Btw – I’d be interested to know what you think @snow white.
The media-bureaucracy complex. I would add the universities into that mix too. It’s an ever growing cancerous growth on our society
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