THOSE WHO DISMISS mass political protest as historically ephemeral, leaving nothing of significance behind it, are wrong. The Springbok Tour protests of 1981 made a huge impression on the NZ Police. So much so that, in the 40 years that have elapsed since the Tour, the policing of political protest in New Zealand has undergone a profound change. Just how vulnerable that change has left the New Zealand people was made frighteningly clear during the occupation and eventual clearing of Parliament Grounds in 2022. If the NZ Police are not conducting a root-and-branch reform of their political protest policing methods, then they are failing in their duty as protectors of the state and its citizens.
In the weeks and months that followed the Springbok Tour, the Police found themselves repeatedly humiliated in the New Zealand courts. Thousands of New Zealanders had been arrested during the Tour but only a tiny minority of them were convicted – and even fewer were jailed. In case after case it became clear that, right from the start, the Judiciary had been ill-disposed towards the Tour, would rather it had not taken place, and were not prepared to saddle those who had protested against it with a criminal record. Consequently, only those guilty of the most egregious acts of protest (especially those involving aircraft) were subjected to the full rigor of the law.
The Judiciary’s unwillingness to punish protesters conveyed a disturbing message to the Police. On some issues, the usual close co-operation between the Judiciary and the Police could not be relied upon – quite the reverse, in fact. As instanced by the famous case in which protesters pled “Not Guilty” to being illegally on a building, but without the intent of committing any other offence. Their lawyer argued that his clients had every intent of committing other offences – hence their “Not Guilty” plea. The Judge, clearly amused, acquitted the defendants. The look of dismay and bewilderment on the face of the Police Sergeant prosecuting the case is readily imagined!
It did not take the Police very long to realise that they were being told to go easy on the sort of people who participate in protests against morally indefensible systems like Apartheid, and/or the pernicious ideologies that spawn them. Regardless of the fact that they are sworn to uphold the law, while it remains the law, Police researchers were left in little doubt that, in the Tour’s aftermath, a great many members of the New Zealand public identified the Police as the Government’s enforcers and the Springboks’ protectors. More bluntly, they had made it possible for an immoral and divisive tour by a racist Rugby team to go ahead.
The research data was unequivocal: the policing of the Springbok Tour protests had resulted in a significant decline in the public’s trust and confidence in the NZ Police. Worse, the people whose trust and confidence had been dented the most were, by-and-large, members of the urban professional middle-class. This was not a social formation whose support the Police could afford to lose. Their skills, coupled with their location in the power-structure, made them indispensable mouthpieces for, and buttresses of, the state. The working-class was expected to despise the fists and boots of the Police – but not the middle-class. Henceforth, its protesting children were to be treated with kid gloves.
Winning back the trust and confidence of the urban professional middle-class wasn’t the only, or even the most daunting, of the challenges facing the NZ Police after the Springbok Tour. Police commanders were acutely aware that in policing the Tour their human and material resources had been stretched to the limit. Had someone been killed in the protests, the Police’s ability to preserve law and order without resorting to deadly force would likely have been exceeded. As it was, on the day of the Third Test between the Springboks and the All Blacks, serious violence broke out on the streets surrounding Eden Park. Armed naval personnel from HMNZS Philomel were very close to being called to the assistance of the Civil Power. Deadly force came within an ace of being used.
Senior Police and the nation’s political leaders would have been aware of just what a near-run thing they had lived through in 1981. Very few of them, if any, would have wanted to risk another highly organised challenge to government policy.
The more thoughtful among them would have considered the policing of the Springbok Tour alongside the Police operation mounted three years earlier at Bastion Point. Clearing away the Māori occupiers of the land had required an enormous number of Police officers, backed by significant logistical support from the NZ Defence Force. Politicians, public servants, police commanders and senior defence personnel, seeing the effort required to clear a few hundred protesters, operating in a single city, would have shuddered at the thought of one, two, many Bastion Points. In such circumstances, the use of deadly force would be inevitable.
But, even the possibility of the state resorting to deadly force was abhorrent to most New Zealanders – as the Police would learn the hard way in 2007 during the course of Operation Eight. The possibility of an armed terrorist cell training in the Ureweras could not be ignored by the Police – and it wasn’t. The deployment of masked police officers wearing helmets, body armour, and carrying semi-automatic rifles to the tiny settlement of Ruatoki, however, shocked and angered not only the local Tuhoe iwi, but also that same urban professional middle-class whose support for the Police had been so sorely tested 26 years before. Once again, the Judiciary and its minions were less-than-impressed. Once again the Police were humiliated.
The cumulative effect of these lessons in how far the Police’s “social licence” might be stretched was on display in February-March 2022 when Parliament Grounds were occupied by hundreds of New Zealanders protesting against the Labour Government’s handling of the Covid-19 Pandemic – most particularly its coercive vaccination mandates.
Over and over again, New Zealanders heard the Police Commissioner, Andrew Coster, reiterate the citizen’s “Right to Protest”.
Confronted by protesters who refused to play by the rules, however, Coster and his commanders were at a loss. Their confusion grew when the all-important urban professional middle-class began insisting that the Police clear the grounds – by any means necessary. The same people who had objected to 81’s riot squads, and the gun-toting “ninjas” at Ruatoki, were now insisting that Coster’s officers start cracking heads.
Except that more than 40 years of affirming New Zealanders’ Right to Protest had left the NZ Police without the training or the equipment to “move on” hundreds of determined protesters (many of whom were working-class battlers and not at all averse to mixing-it-up with the cops). The Police’s first attempt to enforce the law ended in ignominious retreat, and it took weeks to assemble the person-power necessary to clear the protesters’ encampment. Even then, the operation ended in fire and fury of a sort not seen in this country for 90 years.
Horrified New Zealanders, looking at the extraordinary photograph of Police officers with their backs to a granite wall, huddled together and cowering behind their Perspex shields, as all manner of missiles are hurled at them by furious protesters, suddenly realised that their state was no longer equal to the task of protecting its citizens from serious political violence.
What was (just) possible in 1978 and 1981, had ceased to be a sure-thing by 2022. And, on all three occasions, it was political protest that provided the critical test of what New Zealanders were – and were not – prepared to tolerate from the forces of the state.
I dunno, this sounds like a call to beef up the police. An under prepared police against a protest movement not worthy of the cause, sounds like the name of this game.
From my point of view, what happened was allowed to happen until the powers-that-be said no more and whoosh, it was over with in a flash. Hardly unequal to the task. And the NZ public at large, will their views, as per usual, were shaped by the mainstream media coverage, thus they were kept in check, easily enough.
Such unrest would have to have a level of mass support, were it to ever escalate beyond a mere rowdy protest.
Political terror by a tiny minority is another question, but it’s hard to believe the cops would be unable to deal with something so small.
It’s also difficult to believe that they would not severely crush any major threat to the U.S. neo-liberal order. Surely such protesters would be off to jail for “insurrection”, “sedition” etc. — and, if the government itself was breaking away from U.S. control, the N.E.D. funded N.G.O. groups would be launching another Langley-directed Color Revolution (i.e. a coup).
Well said…pretty much said everything else I contemplated saying.
AO and Kristoff R. Excellent stuff.
That police needed to be prompted by political will to take decisive action is an important aspect that needs to be analysed. (If that is what occurred in this instance.)
IMO this entire event could have been better managed by all in authority.
Now is the time to reflect and see how we respond to future events of protest. This one turned into civil disobedience for some or other reason.
I have my opinions as I am sure others have theirs.
But it is for our government authorities and the elected to reflect on this and develop appropriate responses to demonstrations and civil disobedience.
It was a political protest, a significant political protest at that, henceforth government drove police actions more so than police themselves. Our government and police does not need to reflect on anything because like-minded political protests were common all over the world at that time ditto the reactions to them by officialdom. Our lot only needs to choose from the many reactions governments of the world enacted to quell their protests. Fortunately for us, our lot chose the softly, softly approach to the protest, but protesting government decisions, these days, is much tougher than the old days.
I support the right to protest, but also the right for citizens to go about their day without being negatively impacted by others around them. I was disappointed it took so long for the police to act, but really thought the army might have been a better option given the risk to our parliament and even some within the protester group where increasingly unacceptable actions were being taken by some (e.g. child abuse and neglect, assaults, bullying etc. – typical stuff to be expected by that lot given any length of time). With rights come obligations and I believe we are faffing around way too much with rights for those who are in no way meeting their obligations as citizens.
This is not true or even remotely just.
It was wrong of a few to criticise passing children who were wearing masks but hardly constitutes child abuse. As for neglect of children in attendance: pfft.
It is difficult as information trickles out that the gist of the reasons behind the protest are proven correct in light of the hysterical middle-class scapegoating mandate protestors were subjected to, including from the media. Especially since the protest was partly sparked by the government proposal to inject children with a phamaceutical no-one could know the medium and long-term effects of, and for a disease that the majority of children were minimally affected by.
You spoil the lines of comment cantremember. You name some child abuse as if you know what the previous commenter was thinking. I would expect you to request info – ‘What child abuse please?’ Name all that you are referring to.”
The rest of your comment repeats the woolly thinking of people that I would hope would never hold public positions or leadership. Hard decisions have to be made at times not mumbling ‘It will probably be okay as they say it won’t affect most of… because… (invalid gossip). Actually this attitude is already showing up in gummint! and alarms all, when on the other hand, precise and rigid compliance is required in some cases often with heavy fines. Uneven policing is disruptive.
Child abuse is a serious allegation. It is one of the many vicious slurs heaped on protestors, yet no such charges were laid by police. All I ever heard was allegations in relation to the issues I raised. The commentor was happy to just slander protestors by repeating such incendiary claims.
This is no small matter. It is dirty politics.
Well, rights (and freedoms) were one of the key drivers of the protest. Protecting these all important societal ideals is an obligation in of itself, an obligation that all too few people can be bothered with. Yes, some people behaved poorly, yes some people allegedly did this, that and the other and yes, it is human nature for many people to write an entire grouping or event off, because of the actions of a few. Oh how easy it is to nullify the ability to protest. Makes you wonder, huh, how long such lofty ideals will be around for, given how easily they can be taken from us, and how little we care about this fact!
Take two. Upholding rights was a pillar of the protest. But the way you saw the protest is unfortunately, the way many people saw it too, meaning, the ability to protest, let alone the reason(s) for protesting, is on shaky ground.
It was a sort of Arab Spring in New Zealand. It was a protest against abuse of power.
Perceived or real? That is for every individual to judge.
Chris – Nice…here is some ideas…
1. Have a independent, highly skilled, with wide ranging powers unit to investigate the Police
2. Have the various MPs who support the right to protest, named and shamed
3. Have a functioning media that follows up on Police abuses
We should all support the right to protest. The “covid protest” was a law and order problem until it became a civil disobedience problem. The only means to deal with an “unruly disorganised mob” is by using force.
Before escalating law and order operations it is appropriate to get buy in from authorities and the elected.
1. Why create another authority?
2. The fourth estate should not be an arm of government or a mechanism to spread misinformation. They should name and shame those in authority and the instigators of civil disobedience.
3. Stop state interference in the fourth estate. It is the role of authorities to hold the fourth estate to account.
Trotter is correct that we failed to deal with the protests and let it escalate to civil disobedience ruled by mobs.
Maintenance of law and order need fixing but the structures are in place to do this and manage police abuse.
Neihana, 4) Issue frontline officers with body cameras.
Tipene – Awesome
Absolutely.
I don’t like body cameras all it says is that the police lie. That is not an environment I want police operating in. I want every officer to be as independent as possible. 200 or even 400 police officers to every 100,000 citizens simply isn’t enough to suppress internal descent we need everyone playing by the same hyms, the same rhythms. Woke protestors ought to beg The New Zealand Police back into the pride parade and apologys.
Chris – Opps — 2. Have the various MPs who DO NOT support the right to protest, named and shamed
That is better.
I wasn’t in New Zealand in ’81. Ironically, I had just arrived in South Africa after 4 years in Zambia. I was rather bemused at the idea of the protest in NZ because I found that blacks in South Africa were generally FAR better off than those I worked with in Zambia and several other post-independence nations to the north of SA. Zambia was a one-party state under Kenneth Kaunda. and he had literally wiped the Lumpa tribe off the map. Total genocide. My Zambian workers were starving when I left because of a collectivist socialist induced famine. President Mugabe in Zimbabwe was killing the Matabele in that country, leaving mass graves in his wake. Tanzania had also turned into a one-party Marxist state under President Nyerere and its citizens were starving too, despite it being an exporter of food under British rule. Just like Zambia. Zaire under Mobutu was just a despotic hellhole of thuggery. Both Mocambique and Angola were at war with themselves whilst also starving. Africans were pouring into Apartheid South Africa to escape all of that! The black refugee Rhodesian who lived next door to me in Joburg said “My Brothers at home are crying for Smith!”
I suppose the message I got at the time was not to protest about something you know nothing about. I think the same would apply today about Israel. How many of you have actually been there? If you wish to destroy that country because in your mind some aspect of it ‘isn’t fair’, what’s your alternative? The Muslim thug state and theocracies that surround it? Really?
Well certainly South Africa is now a complete disaster; dysfunctional and corrupt with the highest inequality (GINI coefficient) and third highest crime rate in the world – just behind socialist paradise Venezuela and tribal madhouse Papua New Guinea. Agree Andrew, the “know it all” Minto type obsession with Israel is deeply and dangerously unbalanced. Motivated by hate not love?
Note: African countries take out nine of the top ten most unequal societies in the world, so it’s not just a SA issue.
I don’t understand the obsession with Palestine by the likes of Minto.
I was talking to a psychologist friend the other day about this. He said the type of people who join crusade bandwagons often do so to avoid addressing their personal affairs. It’s an avoidance mechanism.
Then again there will always be those sociopaths who joins these crusades just for personal gain, either political or monetary.
I do. I am pretty conservative but I consider that what Israel has done and continues to do is some of the most egregious and long running shit in the world.
Certainly, there are faults and issues on both sides and the Israelis havent committed mass genocide per se but there is more than one way to annihilate a people. Pen them up and starve them out for example. Leaving no choice for those that can, to create a diaspora from their own land.
What is your alternative? You fall into the category set out in Andrew’s post.
No one is blaming you for questioning, but blindly protesting is not useful.
Its only not useful if the people who represent us choose to do nothing (a la the Parliamentary Protests).
How its supposed to work is this:
MPs govern for the people and in their best interests irrespective of race or creed. People protest when they are unhappy. The Govt listens and generally does something to show they have listened and offers a compromise.
Because the govt has been corrupted by the PMC and is full of nothing more than hubris and self interest then the answer is not ‘less meaningless protest’ it is more!
If enough people do it, change can be brought about. Giving it up as pointless means agreeing with the corruption in front of you and those who are perverting the system.
I think the worse thing about the parliamentary protests was the message that the Govt managed to get across and that was – it doesnt matter if you protest or how just your cause. We have all the power here and we will use it as we see fit.
It’s spawned even more people, dare I say like yourself, who believe dissent is pointless. Which is exactly the message Ardern was sending. So very un NZish. Ardern should be written up in the history books in less than glowing terms but only time will tell. I suspect the future is only going to get more authoritarian.
OK.
But my comment was about your stance on Israel!! Or Palestine?
It is not blind protesting, it is protesting about what the Zionists are doing to the Palestinians day in and day out. Constantly ignoring every UN mandate.
I just don’t like juden
There is that element.
That is why Andrew asked “what is your alternative?”
Sorry posted in the wrong place. The potential answer is a mixture of international Court of Justice and pressure brought to bear via the UN and major players like the UK, US. It wont be possible to get a peace accord but it may be possible in some way to enforce a moratorium on further encroachment onto further Palestinian land. I imagine getting some of it back will be an impossibility. And a concerted international effort will be almost impossible either because the US and probably the UK wont play ball.
Because it is an apartheid state: https://www.adalah.org/en/law/index
And because Israel at the behest of Britain stole the land from the people who have lived there for thousands of years. In 1948 there were Jews, Christians and Muslims living in Palestine in harmony, Only 5% were Jews.
I also worked in Zambia and explored Southern Africa, and I fully endorse what you say here. Rhodesia, to which I traveled often, was a beautiful prosperous country, ‘the bread basket of Africa’ until Mugabe took over and destroyed it, a pattern repeated endlessly as you point out, including in SA. Tribalism is far worse than apartheid ever was. The self-appointed, ignorant do-gooders have much to answer for.
Apartheid is a special evil. It dehumanised people. But, otherwise you are spot on.
Yawn
Is decolonising NZ to Aotearoa NZ destroying it?
Same for the Israeli colonisation apartheid and occupation.
I mean, if you are for israeli impunity and the dropping of missiles on a population without recourse to a military or justice, I’m sure just the latest murder of shooting of a 2 year old in the head is just bread and choose to you. cos they deserved it. Cos “since we let it happen, it must be all right.”
We know that power corrupts, the question is how do we stop it & not our corruption is better than yours as an excuse to do nothing.
Indeed.
But blindly claiming to be part of the “99%” and protesting do not help either.
Protecting free speech and democracy is our best hope.
was right with you Andrew until you commented on Israel.
Israel sits on stolen land.
Do Palestinians have a choice?
Israel is a Fascist state which commits regular atrocities against it’s neighbours.
The bible is not an accurate historical record of anything.
The controlling majority of Ashkenazi Jews in Israel practice a class system of exclusion against Jews who are truly Semite. Ashkenazi ‘s not being semites.
No one who understands Israel supports the horrific cruelties inflicted daily by Israel upon Palestine.
Shona, have you spent a few years in Israel? Or are you relying on what you’re being fed by media? And have you seen what the neighbouring states perpetrate on their own citizens? It’s a tough neighborhood.
Fascinating, perhaps you should listen in to the interview Kim Hill is doing in a couple of weeks with Anthony Loewenstein a Jewish Australian German independent journalist. The very idea that you have to go somewhere to know what is going on is a nonsense. I know about the West Papuans and their struggle against the takeover of their place by Indonesia. I know about the people of Western Sahara whose country was taken over by Morocco. I know numerous other things about colonisation in other parts of the world and in Aotearoa. I have heard many speakers over the years who live in those countries that are under the gun, including of course Palestinians. It was the black people of South Africa through the ANC that called on the world to do something, and I am proud to have not sat on my hands then or now. This was about apartheid one of the most evil systems in the world. When the yanks don’t need their beachhead in the middle east Israel will be dropped like a hot cake.
Everyone’s land has been stolen at some point in history. Still.not sure why Palestine is the hill the activists choose to die on.
Agree and whilst the impact of the holocaust can be used to justify things, what I cannot forgive them for is that they suffered so much to come back and dole out suffering to others rather than seek peace and conciliation. Coming close to 100 years of this now and it gets worse and worse.
Shona, wow you surprise me calling Andrew a fascist supporter of apartheid Israel? I mean he’s also a Maori hater similar to some of your values and beliefs that you’ve espouse on this bog site.
Also interesting Shona what you say about Ashkenazi prominence when you consider that Abraham and Jesus were both the descendants of Shem (Semites) but even more interesting is the biblical quote that the sons of Japheth would return to live amongst the tents of Shem. Being sent out northwest to become european Ashkenazi but prophesied to return to Israel.
Certainly interesting to wonder whether things would be different if ‘native’ middle eastern jews were the ones holding power.
Well said, Andrew.
Andrew, I wouldn’t take anything seriously you’ve had to say about any indigenous group especially the Palestinians. Apartheid Israel apparently is the only democracy in the M.E!! It’s so democratic that it regular bombs (mowing the lawn) Gaza population that Israel has full control.
You do know that a lot of the filth that you spew in support of apartheid Israel has already been debunked? I’ll catch you another time so we can hash out some of these myths that you keep insisting are facts.
Free Palestine.
Where to start?
Approximately one and half million ethnic Arabs vote in Israel’s elections. So, it is in fact a functioning democracy. Better than ours because it doesn’t have an element of racial segregation in it! LOL
Most ‘Palestinians’ weren’t indigenous to the land. Some were nomadic Bedouin and others were attracted to the land by enterprising Jews who provided work opportunities. (Yassar Arafat himself was an Egyptian born in Cairo and held an Egyptian passport.) Others were dumped there by Ottoman Empire which had a nasty habit of uplifting entire populations.
It’s messy – as history often is.
Andrew, Jews aren’t race they’re an ethno-religious group made up from a variety of races. The Jews that migrated to palestine were from Europe, Africa, M.E, mostly.
The Iraqi Jews were kicked out of their own country because of Zionism terrorist attacks on the Iraqi jewish population (Arabs) before Israel even became a state on May the 15, 1948, its called the Nakba! They also were kicked out in conjunction of palestinians being ethnically cleansed form their homeland. Same as Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein gave the ultimatum to the Egyptian Jews of where their loyalties lay?
And the cheek of you making up assumptions and induindos that the Palestinians aren’t indigenous to palestine? You’ve made similar claims about Maori not being indigenous to NZ. You aren’t to be taken seriously Andrew especially when it comes to indigenous culture and its peoples.
Free Palestine.
Was it a long-term failing of the Police, or was it a long-term failing of the judiciary that fails and failed then to hand down sentences?
Law and order failure. Hold government to account. We deserve better.
The Police failure at Albert Park leaves a lot of unanswered (or even unasked) questions. It was obvious there would be a large contingent of protestors blatantly broadcasting their intention to “stomp the Terfs”. Why such a half arsed effort to ensure peace and legitimate assembly?
I refer you back to the article paragraph 4.
“… [police] had made it possible for an immoral and divisive tour by a racist Rugby team to go ahead.”
If we take the articles argument then precedent taught them not to assist unpopular tours.
Perhaps the Springbok protests were just an earlier example of hinderance to freedom of association/movement/speech. Perhaps NZ has simply always been this popularist and violent. Perhaps _disruptive_ protest has always been a shit idea.
And that is why this is a law and order failure.
Thank you David George. I wondered when someone was going to mention Albert Park.
No. It was the blatant hypocrisy of the Left who think the right to protest only applies to them.
100%
At least Martyn was completely consistent on this, unlike many on the left.
As MB had pointed out many times, the Wellington twitterati were beside themselves with rage that someone could,
a. Protest for lockdowns, afterall lockdowns were such an Auckland thing don’t ya know.
b. Protest while a left wing govt was in power, especially the incomparable Jacinda. We on the left, are the ones of protest, how dare someone take that from us!
100% Robbie
100% Robbie. I couldn;t believe the squells from the professional middle class in Wellington about how much more worthy their protests were compared to the anti mandate crowd
The attitude was also similar about Albert Park where many lefties denied, distorted or rationalized the violence against women there. It made me realise that many of those “feminist ” leftie men had been full of shit and really had no idea about women’s issues whatsoever
Bingo!
Even slippery John said that the left believe in free speech, but as long as it’s theirs.
Nonsense. The actual Left (e.g. Bryce Edwards) did defend the right to protest, just not the liars claiming to be “the left” (i.e. the Third Way liberals)
Most licenced firearms owners no longer trust the Police and many believe that firearms licencing should not be administered by the Police anymore.
The ’81 protestors got old, and we knows what that does to your outlook on life.
The Te Urewera raids in 2007 when the heroic armed defenders squad held hostage at gunpoint children going to Kohanga Reo on their little school bus. The impetus for these drastic measures culminated from the “War on Terror” when our legislators and executive tried to replicate US laws in combating terrorism, luckily the Judiciary interpreted the incident with skepticism.
The executive and the police made an over exaggerated assumption that a few Maaorees with tattoos on their faces playing cowboys and indians down their local river were somehow equivalent with ISIS and Al Qaeda???
Law and order failure?
Or was it intelligence failure?
Nah Im not buying your story Chrs.
Police had enough “person power” (what?!) to roll the Parliament protest from the get go, they were just hesitant to use it as they knew it would make Ardern’s “Be kind” mantra look as fake as the crocodile smile that went with it.
So they held back hoping that poor weather, time and hardship would do the job for them, but that didn’t work and the protesters held out and held on much to Labours embarrassment and annoyance.
In the end the Police, predictably, rolled up the protest camp with ease, and even managed to get in some eye gouging just for lol’s.
They could have done it on day one but simply didn’t want the bad optics
people mistake what the police are for they think it’s to deal with crime, their actual function is to protect property rights
A few can openings here. What’s really to learn? How about we focus on an election coming?
Who cares? Votes are locked in.
Most interesting thing here is how much influence the professional middle classes have always had in this country. I had been deluding myself that we were all largely working class despite our life successes and personal progress.
Quite frightening to understand that this self protective cadre are in a sense, the true enemies of democracy. it’s like a giant python which squeezes the life out of NZ while feeding on it and growing ever more powerful. It probably numbers about 30% of the population but its fingers on the levers of power give it so much more weight.
These are the architects of co governance, electoral reform (gerrymandering etc) etc and despite their supposed independence almost always seem to favour the government of the day (along with their own financial or political aspirations). NZ today with its dramatic inequalities is a direct result of their influence in all the corridors of power.
Time for Swiss style representation or something similarly democratic. Time to dislodge the ticks from the animal and restore it to full health.
Great comment.
Maybe we need a “Boerenpartij” like in the Netherlands.
The left, woke and professional middle class hate farmers so passionately that idea will not fly. Shit they are the majority!
Nice analysis Piwakawaka, the PMC are a major issue in a bureaucratic economy, both public and private. Their inclination is to utilise technocratic method to seize control on “behalf” of the owners and populace. Tariq Ali warned us of this in the Extreme Centre. I’d describe it as Gramsci meets Machiaveli to deliver velvet glove despotism, delivered by MBA bearing corporate Jesuits.
Thanks for that Nick, I wasnt aware of that book, will certainly check it out
That explains their reluctance.
Fascinating commentary, especially the people from South Africa on the mess that was post colonial Africa at the front line of the Cold War. I don’t know enough to comment.
I protested in 81, so for the benefit of those who weren’t there or weren’t yet born, it was NOT all about apartheid in South Africa. That was the focus but not everything. We had racism to address in NZ, still have. We had paternalism and authoritarianism that was becoming an intergenerational fight.
One thing stood out. We the protesters were going to have our say and be heard, not shut down by the powers that be. We will be heard was the spirit of 81.
Bringing us to last year’s protests at parliament it would seem that the lesson of 81 was forgotten by our government. They refused to hear the protests, whatever the protesters had to say, however whacky, was not just ignored. It was delegitimised, binned. With the refusal to engage a new precedent was set, protest did not need to be heard or addressed in our “democracy”. The spirit of 81 was put to bed, binned.
That makes sense.
A protest against the abuse of power.
Long live free speech and democracy.
South Africans of colour took strength out of those protests, the Afrikaners were generally left confused and many English speaking Saffers celebrated the protests.
I wanted to see the Boks, when YouTube appeared decades later I finally saw the highlights.
Nice analysis Piwakawaka, the PMC are a major issue in a bureaucratic economy, both public and private. Their inclination is to utilise technocratic method to seize control on “behalf” of the owners and populace. Tariq Ali warned us of this in the Extreme Centre. I’d describe it as Gramsci meets Machiaveli to deliver velvet glove despotism, delivered by MBA bearing corporate Jesuits.
You will have to translate that.
Johan, Gramsci theorised Marxisms long march through the institutions, Machiaveli the ultimate amoral pragmatist.
Today’s Masters of Business Administration are the direct inheritors of Loyola Jesuits who developed managerial methods.
Hope that helps.
Thanks.
I got the parody the first time.
So your translation was not useful to me.
But that is OK.
“That’s good Johan, except it is not a parody unfortunately. Reality it is and reality is a bitch”.
Who are you quoting?
I’m quoting Nick J and the current vernacular.
The Covid vaccine is neither safe nor effective and should never have been mandated
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