Damien Grant: The pathway to freedom from a narrow-minded, petty economic backwater
Why would anyone with get-up-and-go choose to stay in what is increasingly becoming an inward-looking, narrow-minded and petty economic backwater where success is treated as a sign of dishonesty and merit treated with suspicion?
Oh blah, blah. blah, the rich and ambitious are fleeing Soviet Aotearoa because we don’t love them enough.
Boo fucking hoo!
Who knew the rich and ambitious were such little snowflake wimps?
The rich and ambitious are just like farmers, students and feminists, in that they are never happy!
I love the narrative the Right are running with that because we want to tax the rich and make them pay their fair share in a rigged casino capitalism that benefits them, we are hurting their feelings and making them leave us for the free market fuck pit of the global market where the orgy of capitalism will give them everything they want.
What a load of bullshit.
We are not an over taxed, over regulated economy!
Our top tax rate is the 39th highest in the world behind all the Scandinavian countries plus Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and South Africa!
Australia’s top tax rate is 47cents!
Our GST rate doesn’t even get us into the top 50 and our corporate tax rate is 40th while Government spending against GDP ranks 56th!
And we are voted easiest to do business by the World Bank!
Not only are the Right spinning this false narrative of envy, they are actually denying reality, and that reality is that the rest of the world is burning!
That’s right, global warming is melting the planet and New Zealand will be one of the few countries that will be impacted the least, so watch as these rich and ambitious quislings come screaming back to New Zealand as the reality of global warming raises its ugly head.
We should pass a quislings tax that pings them when they come back over the border.
In 5 years of ever increasing climate catastrophes, ‘Smug Hermit Kingdom’ will be seen as aspirational.
Let’s see Damien’s mates begging to get back in then.
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Now, maybe Damien has a point. We wouldn’t want to drive away rich and successful New Zealanders like Peter Thiel, by raising taxes or banning transfusing yourself with the blood of teenagers.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/08/peter-thiel-wants-to-inject-himself-with-young-peoples-blood
He is correct that the country became “an inward-looking, narrow-minded and petty economic backwater.”
What he refuses to admit is that neo-liberalism — and its trade policy, referred to by Henry Kissinger as ‘globalism’ — is entirely to blame for that (and the monopoly firms wish to keep it that way). He is no doubt embarrassed that the world’s great industrial superpower is full of vast state-owned factories, banks, skyscrapers and bullet-train railways.
Yes I agree, it’s completely weird how many of the rich are so sorry for themselves.
Why is NZ so soft on them?
Why?
Why did Chippy back away from a wealth tax, and why don’t we have a windfall tax on corporations when they make outrageous profits.
Capital Flight is a tired projection/metaphor that is paraded by opportunists and fifth columnist any time capital is even slightly challenged. Let ’em go then I say!
Some have commented that it is not just a proportion of the 1%ers that are worried about fairer taxes, but also the huge NZ petit bourgeoisie hooked on property and tax free capital gains that will squeal.
Nasssty lefties–fair taxes–it burns us!…
Windfall tax on large corporations should be on the cards .Increase in personnal tax is likely to drive entrepreneurs away .The way our tax is spent should be looked at . At the moment any increase in tax take would just lead to more wasteful spending.
What is inward looking about our country? It’s basically defenceless from a trade point of view. There’s no regulation of substance and foreign money can buy what it likes. My goodness we are so worldly all his mates at ACT have NRA talking points as proposed policy.
Did anyone notice how in the case of the missing real estate agent, her friend was openly talking about getting 600k sent in from China for a property purchase? Weren’t we supposed to be restricting this?
I feel sorry for the rich, do they need a handout?
Bomber and Damian are both making appropriate observations, trouble is in both cases, only 50% of their observations are correct. Life generally and in NZ because of – how much reading time do you have?? – is a lot more nuanced. People need to stop talking politics and start thinking practicalities – until we do this the country is stalled as it has been since around 2008? when GDP last grew.
As a country we are sinking economically and its time to abandon all the rhetoric and unravel all the labyrithine levers and systems of power that have led us here. Its all about what do NZers want (and need) and how do we manage the next 50 years.
Rather than increasing tax, how about decreasing useless Govt spending. New Zealand used to be able to live within its means! What happened? Ask yourself are we better off now than we were 10 years ago? 20 years ago? What has changed?
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