12 graphs that show New Zealand isn’t doing as badly as you think
Trend lines show that we’re heading in the right direction in all sorts of ways, from race relations to ram raids. Max Rashbrooke celebrates the Upturn.
As a hard right racist Government gets elected…
…Dr Incremental, Max Rashbrooke – the Wellington Woke General most responsible for the Wellington Left’s love affair with tiny insignificant gains and calling that a revolution, has been on the accursed The Spin-Off (surely NZ on Air is turning off the light on that woke social engineering notice board any second now?) and The Project (which has been cancelled) to assure us all to always look on the bright side of life.
We can not allow Labour Party apologists like Rashbrooke dominate the debate and let Labour and the Greens off the hook for the pitiful wins while they were in power!
Let’s look at Max’s evidence that things are great and not really that bad.
Greenhouse gas emissions – Sure the tiny incremental changes Max loves (which are all about to be thrown out by the new hard right racist Government) have shown a lowering of those emissions, but those numbers really dropped because of Covid lock downs. In light of the enormity of catastrophic climate events and temperatures last month that were 6 sigma out all point to run away climate change meaning everything we’ve incrementally achieved to date is meaningless.
Child poverty – The level of poverty desperation is hidden by Dr Incremental, Max Rashbrooke, whose pitiful defence of Labour’s foot dragging over at the eternally compromised Spinoff is made nonsense by CPAGs criticism that the numbers he’s relying on are horrifically compromisedand show none of the true magnitude of poverty.
Race relations – As the new hard right racist Government announce a purge of every reference to the Treaty and work to legislate it out of all Government policy, Dr Incremental tells us Race Relations have never been better.
Smoking rates – The new hard right racist Government have just dumped all plans to be smoke free by 2025 meaning everything he wrote here is now trashed.
Ram raids – On this he is correct but it doesn’t mean a fuck of a lot. Ram Raids are coming down and the work Labour did in providing wrap around services to damaged kids left feral by a system that doesn’t give a shit has worked, but not before the damage to the public perception has crystallised.
Justice reform – Again, doesn’t matter because a hard right racist Government has won and intends to build a new prison empire with far harsher sentences. It’s not enough to release people from prison, you need to release rehabilitated prisoners with the right wrap around services from prison and we on the Left failed at winning community support for that.
School attendance – To justify his argument that we should always look on the bright side of life, Max argues…
Last year, regular student attendance – defined by the Ministry of Education as students being at school at least 90% of the time – fell to just 39.8% in term two, the period when children are most absent due to winter illness.
In term two this year, the rate was 47% – hardly great, but an improvement nonetheless.
…when your position is 47% attendance rate is a success because it was 39.8%, I think you are becoming desperate for examples to prop up your incrementalism. All school truancy is destructive.
Emergency housing – John Minto has attacked these numbers so many times it’s weird Max is trying to defend them. We have 24 717 on the social housing wait list and are kettling beneficiaries into unsafe motels. The petty level of state housing builds is only made impressive because National did nothing for. decade. That isn’t progress, it’s incrementalism.
Public transport use – Shit Max is getting desperate. Public Transport use trending up only highlights the economic desperation many are now forced into , that’s not a symptom of good, that’s a symptom of economic desperation.
These were all ‘good first steps’ but there is only so many times you can hear that in 6 years and not realise that all these ‘first great steps’ are just amounting to jogging on the spot.
The Wellington Professional Managerial class that Rashbrooke represents will tell us that incremental change is the only change which is just a Wellington myth.
Look at how romper stomper the Right are about to go the millisecond they take power, while the Rashbrooke’s of the Left sing to us…
It’s not time to make a change
Just relax, take it easy
You’re still young, that’s your fault
There’s so much you have to know
Find a girl, settle down
If you want you can marry
Look at me
I am old, but I’m happy
I was once like you are now
And I know that it’s not easy
To be calm
When you’ve found something going on
But take your time, think a lot
Why, think of everything you’ve got
For you will still be here tomorrow
But your dreams may not
…fuck incrementalism and everyone pushing it on the Left as our way forward while the romper stomper hard right racist Government set fires to our cultural libraries.
Incrementalism, the Wellington Professional Managerial Class and the Woke are not the future of the true Left and they must be burnt out of any leadership role whatsoever if we are to have any hope of winning back political power in 2026.
We need a revolution at the ballot box, we do not need more incrementalism that makes middle class woke activists feel unthreatened about their privilege.
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Banning cigarettes outright was radical, not incremental. The rest was fiddling while Rome burns. New govt loves the burn, wants to build the Domus Aurea. Perhaps we can kick them out in three years and build the Colosseum.
Although “Nero” in this analogy is neoliberalism, and the will of the people for bread and circuses unfortunately apt.
The rate of policy change must meet the times. Cullen and Clarke’s increments were right for the time. A huge Rogernomic lurch right followed by a lurch left was not possible for an electorate suffering from neo liberal shock therapy. When Jacinda came in even Winston was saying check the neoliberalism. The time was ripe for big change. After covid people were ready for a bold government economic response, they wanted a decisive government willing to do stuff. They came in six years ago with the whole country wanting the housing crisis fixed. But it took 5 years to get the beginning of a State House build on stream just in time for the tap to turn off. This election in the face of a cost of living crisis they did nothing! Not even something incremental, just nothing!!
However, you can change your gender on you passport so thats an incremental win for people in poverty.
Left/right middle class ballot box revolution.
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Preach brother!
Max is a fanboy for neoliberalism. A fake wannabe leftie come wokester.
Another fuckwit not worth listening to or take advice from.
“We can not allow Labour Party apologists like Rashbrooke dominate the debate and let Labour and the Greens off the hook for the pitiful wins while they were in power!”
Just add New Zealand Council of Trade Unions to that list of revolution de railers and you’ve got my vote.