Could MAGA populism occur in NZ?
Absolutely.
Here’s the blueprint.
At the Heart of Trump is an understanding of resentment that is Hitler level in its sophistication. Trump’s orange fascism appeals to people who have been left behind and nativist in its solutions.
This self interest is reflected in the hopes of working classes left behind by globalisation and in the venal drives of the Billionaire Crypto Bros infecting Trump’s Administration who have built their wealth thanks to that globalisation.
Trump has used the Undermensch to empower the Ubermensch.
It is this isolationism self interest that could absolutely be injected into the NZ political psyche and has a good chance of occurring whether anyone wants to admit it or not.
The catastrophic heat via pollution locked into our system goes so beyond what the ice core samples tell us that we are in uncharted territory.
Normally heat like this occurs over hundreds of thousands of years thanks to the angle of the Earth on its axis but we have done that in less than 3 centuries!
When the process occurs naturally over hundreds of thousands of years, the sudden and dramatic flip from burning hot to ice age can occur within decades. Create all that power within centuries and we turbo charge those flipping points in ways far more abrupt and damaging.
The rapid melting of the doomsday glacier in Antarctica and the shut down of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation will trigger irreversible environmental collapse within decades, not the end of the century.
There is no optimism on the climate front, just consequences now.
With such significant weather catastrophes occurring with ever more whithering destruction, other country’s will move to Autarky, will NZers cheers those planes landing with tourists while burning more climate gases or will they attack the Airports to shut them down?
Look at how every poll in NZ shows over 50% support for a total close of the border from a virus with the low mortality rate of Covid?
The climate crisis destroys environments and makes it more likely and probable that an Alpha virus far more lethal than Covid-19 will emerge – you think Kiwis will
While the globalists infect every political party in NZ, all it takes is one populist spark to breath Fortress NZ into life.
Post growth capitalism with true sustainability calls for Autarky on a burning planet than can’t take anymore globalism.
Muldoon thought big because he believed the oil shocks of the 70s was the future. He was wrong then but that doesn’t mean he’s wrong now.
The US Military Industrial complex simply solved the problem of an Oligopoly by seeding and backing harsh authoritarian regimes with lots of oil so that they could always access cheap petrol making Muldoon’s investment meaningless but The Military Industrial Complex can’t negotiate with the planet as we make it sicker and sicker!
The tyranny of distance has always been our malaise but on a burning planet of constant external shocks the Shire of NZ is looking very good right now.
‘Build that wall’ will soon become ‘defend that moat’.
In 1980, the time between billion dollar climate destruction events was 3 months.
It’s now 18 days.
There is a point where the next destructive weather event strikes before you can rebuild from the last one.
Fortress Aotearoa is coming whether we want it or not.
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Mass deportations…
We already have that situation with the DESTROY MAORI AND GET THE LAND GRAB BACK ON TRACK .
That’s why good recreational drugs are essential. To divert peoples thinking away from the intrusive peat-bog thinking of lessor others like politicians and God botherers or God ( Irony alert) help us, God bothering politicians.
When I look at muldoon I see a liar, a traitor and a bully. Thank Christ the bastard’s dead. That’ll learn the Devil.
Will require a figurehead. That individual won’t be in a political party nor a politician. Sportstar or businessperson.
At least 2 election cycles off yet. Will likely follow the first openly socialist government led by Chloe in 2029. 2032 is my bet. In a landslide either via NZF or a new party.
I couldn’t follow you.
Maga can happen here possibly. Mainly down to divisive media sources to people who wouldn’t know an idea if they saw it — what is that, 60 or 70 % of us. Mostly the retired folk.
To a large extent MAGA populism is already here. What else would you call the morass of hysterical lies that took down the Ardern government? Supposedly mainstream politicians like Luxon did not openly endorse it, but they willingly fertilised it with bullshit to encourage its growth.
The question you’re asking is whether it can become dominant in the face of turbo-charged climate breakdown and consequent economic chaos. Quite possibly, but what form it takes we can only guess. It’s unlikely to manifest as “Fortress NZ” as you suggest – because our Five Eyes friends won’t permit that. If NZ remains livable and is producing (say) food surpluses while they are not, we can expect the Australians and the Americans to come calling. Possibly in quite large ships.
And we have plenty of fresh water, so much that we can give it away. Look how much comes out of tailrace at the Manapouri power station 100’s of tons a second straight into the fjord which then drains into the ocean
Each thing affects and involves other things. If the border is closed than less people come and less crowded conditions. The tourists help the country keep going but the distribution of revenue may not go to NZs; we are too abrupt to be pleasing servants to the tourist horde, Filipinos etc are preferred.
The profits probably go out of the country and may be to overseas pension investments. If the government could maturely balance its actions and take direct action we might get satisfactory outcomes. But no they set up rigid rules of how contract firms should operate, and I believe printed out they go to many pages. We have a landlord or proxy government. The real power holders are elsewhere; friend’s son is put in his electorate knowing he will follow the class line on behalf of his or her connections.