There is a cultural class dimension of the ram raids and the Dairy violence we are seeing that is rarely investigated.
You have migrant Indian and Chinese workers working in Dairy’s and Bottle shops, many exploited by other Indian and Chinese permanent residents in NZ who are being violently assaulted and attacked by angry and alienated Polynesian and Māori youth who are the legacy of Key’s kids in cars and whose families were thrown out onto the streets thanks to the flawed Meth testing of State Houses while the white middle classes gasp in the suburbs (safely ensconced in their work from home privilege) demanding ‘something must be done’.
That’s NZ in a nutshell.
The Right are manipulating the Prison and Crime narrative.
They say the soft-on-crime-cuddle-a-crim Labour Party are fecklessly letting out 4000 prisoners while the crime rate soars.
They are not only confusing correlation as cause, they are ignoring how and why Labour gained those numbers in the first place.
When the National Party tightened Prison policy they allowed for non violent offenders to apply for home detention while in prison. All Labour did was provide assistance to the Prisoners eligible for that process to fill in the forms, because most of the prisoners are illiterate.
They aren’t skipping out the front gate and ram raiding Michael Hill Jewellers, they are on home detention and we put them on home detention because we know being inside prison is the best indication you are going to go back to prison!
70% reoffend after being released for two years!
They do that because Prison is a brutal, violent, corrupt, understaffed nightmare that is deeply traumatising and damaging for those who don’t pose a violent threat.
Only the worst are being kept in there, people whose actions are deeply damaging and all we are gaining is time inside where they can’t hurt the general public.
Our prison system is damaging, it takes angry hurt men and turns them into angrier monsters.
That’s why you want them out of prison!
So why is our crime rate soaring?
Let’s be honest, some certainly are sawing off their ankle bracelet and joining the Frey, but that is a single digit minority, not anywhere near what is generating the current crime wave.
What is generating the current crime wave is the same thing that is generating crime waves throughout the post-covid Western World.
The same is happening in Australia, UK, Canada and America.
Polling for the Mental Health Foundation found 36 per cent of people surveyed were experiencing poor emotional wellbeing, up from 27 per cent a year ago.
Add to all of this stress the enormous jump in rents and cost of living crisis and you have desperation, anxiety, anger and fear all combining into the current maelstrom.
Of course every effort must be taken to catch every perpetrator and have them dealt appropriately through Youth Court processes or social agencies, but understanding these ram raids are the psychological and economic symptom of a deeper malaise that is running through post-Peak Covid NZ is a far greater starting point in terms of decision making than allowing our fear and anger dictate policing policy that might make things worse.
Post covid societal and economic stresses causing crime waves at the same time there is 12.4% food inflation and a cost of living crisis while surviving the ongoing economic, cultural and social impacts of climate crisis storms and geopolitical shockwaves is as predictable as National having to walk something back 24 hours after Luxon says it!
Of course crime is exploding everywhere because the covid sacrifice was felt unevenly across our unequal society, pretending building more fucking prisons is a solution to all of that is sophistry at its most intellectually bankrupt.
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It’s not just the right, virtually anyone with an ounce of common sense bar gaslighting Ministers in Labour and the entire Green Party have had a guts full of crime and lawlessness. I actually think Hipkins was oblivious to it, hence his casual – who cares – pick of the awful Ginny Anderson!
Regardless its certainly not all on Chippy, Labours policy seeds are now reaping the poisoned fruit good intentioned hopelessly naive beliefs sowed.
And seriously, why not reform the prisons? Because Labour are too incompetent to do it. So plan A was to empty them instead with all the innocent collateral damage that never stops taking.
Crime is highly profitable and for the youth especially, its been purposely made to be practically consequence free. It’s that simple. Those young criminals know it’s wrong but don’t care.
Solving economics is not the responsibility of of the poor. It is the responsibility of the wealthy. Billion dollar prisons is the solution of incompotent leadership.
100% Correct
Bullshit
White collar crime is highly profitable as is money laundering and the latter was highly prevalent when John Key was our PM.
Ginny Anderson is blaming Covid. No Ginny, it’s your party’s law and order policies! She is quite the gaslighter, isn’t she?
How? Policy to deal with crime is actually driving crime? There has been nothing said from ACT and National that will reduce crime. Do you seriously think building more prisons will reduce crime rates? So these flash new prisons will be empty then?
Solving crime isn’t premintive and niether is it and niether is it solved as if only a particular piece of paper was written so wonderfully and beautifully well.
Solving crime is just the really fucken long way around to economic propsperity no thanks to John Key.
Come on wheel, Labour’s law and order policy was written on a sheet of plywood, and it’s on show, everywhere!
So you clearly think NatAct have something other than plywood. Where is it? Again prisons are not the answer to reducing crime, they are the evidence that we can’t. I am not arguing against prisons I am just saying David Seymour does not have an answer to crime reduction.
I beg to differ Martyn. They are a feral underclass which are the result of an indulgent society who tolerate indolence and inter generational welfarism with no consequences for anti-social behaviours and attitudes. We have reaped what we have allowed our politicians to sew.
If what you reckon were true crime rates would have spiked at similar rates through out time. So no one can take your word for it. There’s something else going on and Martyn is much closer to the truth than your states. Post your states or run away. Don’t care.
The safest decades in NZ were the ones after both World Wars. When a large proportion of the adult male population were both professionaly trained and experienced in using lethal force – & had easy access to firearms.
That safety and security was underpinned by the fact that we had just destroyed half the world productivity given the west a joyous 50% share of global GDP which has shrunk to 17% today. You ought to hide your face coming up with bullshit theory like because because ferals indulge in welfare we have to construct prisons and cut welfare because it’s the right thing to do. You ought to drum yourself out and hide your user name.
You mean like Stanley Graham? That went well.
People have access to firearms now. Or are you saying a shotgun is not a deterrent, it has to be an automatic rifle? Bollocks
I said “…after the two WWs”, ie. not 1941.
No I just don’t think that machine guns in civilian hands is a very good way of protecting human rights, Or is a very good reason to control constitutional reform.
Not so – I posit that our increase in crime; especially aggravated robbery, gang related crime and domestic abuse correlate with the liberalisation of attitudes and the removal of our societal contract with each other and the government. Suggest you read some of Nigel Latta’s books – broken people stem from broken childhoods and the ideology of a no responsibility approach to social welfare is the root cause of that.
Do you mean, Nigel Latte, the genius of “Covid is no worse than the flu, you racists!” Twitter fame? Um….OK…
+100
We need a specialist Police Group to target these Ram Raiders and shoot them if necessary, this might act as a deterrant to others. The lack of Police out at night is amazing when most of this activity is taking place.
Fuck it. Nevermind prisons let’s just shot everyone. What a wonderful and incredibly redeeming idea.
While the various parties are blaming each other, what does the science say?
>Predominantly these offenders will be from single parent homes.
>Their solo mums will have subsisted on DPB since they were born.
> There’s a high chance they experienced a combination of abuse or neglect as babies or infants.
> Some will have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or were meth babies.
> Most will have dropped out of our not-so-world-class education system.
The damage is done for this generation. Not much can fix these people at this late stage. Better build more prisons! 🙁
But we must urgently address the root causes before this country completely runs off the tracks.
We can blame both major parties. One for being wrapped up in a failed ideology and the other for being weak and indecisive when in government.
Sad but true.
Labour Government Policy of Soft on Crime is not working. Our Laws are not fit for the purpose. When you have youth committing crimes knowing they can not be prosecuted and being actively encouraged by their parents and their peer groups we actually have a problem which needs addressing. There is actually lawlessness out on the streets of Auckland and the woke in the Wellington Bubble have closed their eyes and minds to the problem.
What actually is the soft on crime policy? That’s sounds like a National campaign point not an actual reality. Not putting youth in adult prisons? No government has gone there yet.
Wheel, every bodies favorite Labour sea lion.
We’re going to end up with our own version of Guiliani who will crack every skull until the crime stops.
If it’s not this way already then, very soon people will care a lot more about abruptly stopping this kind of criminal behaviour by whatever means necessary than the historical or contemporary factors that contribute to it occuring.
Send them all to military bootcamp, finishing school and technical collage and Whanau Ora. Y’know I’ve worked with some of societies worse. I know dangerous people. Most of these young people are not irredeemable they still have the luxury of youth on there side
Better late than never, Labour might be seen to be doing something about this ISSUE ??? If they manage to get some legislation through.
Good analysis. Inequity aversion or perceived unfairness, is a key precipitant for anger in the cognitive behaviour theory of human psychology, together with with the evolutionary fight/flight response.
Yep and sadly most of the anti social crime committed is in the suburbs of those most vulnerable and suffering the most from the cost of living crisis and can least afford there car or tools of work stolen, there houses broken into, there kids intimidated and bashed and local playgrounds reserves vandalised by shitfaced little hood rats
Sad but true.
Well, the ‘catch and release’ system is not working and will lose the election for Labour.
Obviously we have a huge disconnect between the Police, Government, the Judiciary, Social Services and the Corrections Department. We know what the problems are, we know who are causing the problems, we know why they are causing these problems but we are not doing anything to solve the problems. Millions and millions of $$$’s are being spent going round and round in circles. All this proves is the total incompetence of all the parties involved. I don’t have much faith in National ACT or NZF doing any better as they purely pay lip service to the problems. It requires an integrated approach by all parties concerned, otherwise we take a hard line and get the military involved and sort these delinquents out.
The state houses are better than the rental market/ housing for sale. So can’t be the housing.
Martyn for some 2-3 years I have followed and read your blog site and largely found it interesting, informative and entertaining. One trend that has been noticeable for some time now is how often your views appear out of step with those who comment. I’m wondering how that makes you feel as someone who holds and promotes quite black and white views and presumably someone seeking to influence social thought. Maybe those generally supportive of your views don’t feel the need to respond/comment? Just a thought. Keep it up.
Definitely more balanced on TDB than Kiwiblog IMHO.
It’s the curriculum dummy!
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