I’ve watched Seymour take ACT from.7 to the 11.5 they just scored in the Roy Morgan Poll, (which would be almost 3 points higher than they polled in the 2023 election) in just half a decade.
It begs the question, can the NZ Left beat David Seymour and ACT?
I don’t think they know how to because they don’t understand how he has gotten to where he is right now.
Firstly, the NZ Left refuses point blank to acknowledge that our middle class woke Identity Politics activists fed ACT the culture war ammunition Seymour used to gain the political power he now has.
Our activists were too busy leading social media Lynch mobs against enemies of woke dogma to appreciate how alienating their call out culture had become.
Secondly, the sophistication of the Taxpayers’ Union stable of astroturf clients all linking to the NZ Initiative and Atlas Network allow a level of lobbying power via social media that leaves the Left bitter and divided. Social Media Hate Algorithms are tested and finessed by this stable of astroturf organisations to generate lobbyist talking points camouflaged as the opinion of the people.
The Left are too divided by Identity for any kind of clear message in response.
Thirdly, David believes in things. He’s a philosopher before he is a politician and he believes in a far right libertarian economic platform where as those he face on the Left are mostly soft capitalists who are better suited at organising Free-the-nipple Mommy Blogger militant vegan bike protests than challenge the neoliberal hegemonic structure.
Fourthly, David is a killer. Currently ACT are skullfucking the Union movement.
The Union’s response?
“Please stop skullfucking me’.
Problem is the Left have forgotten how to fight and because they aren’t really sure what they believe in (beyond hashtag awareness politics), they’re not sure what the fuck it is they are even fighting for! So when ACT come to burn down the library, the left thinks we can negotiate with them.
We can’t.
The Left have underestimated Seymour for too long. They need to engage with him in a completely different way and understand they need to push back by offering better solutions and by defining him far more ruthlessly when they do attack him.
Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.
“Our activists were too busy leading social media Lynch mobs against enemies of woke dogma to appreciate how alienating their call out culture had become.” – Nails exactly why I voted ACT last election.
Straight-line thinker James Brown. Not the sort of person able to cope with the twisted present society. Sorry you aren’t included in my rescue boat.
Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes-Benz, uh
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys [/trans] that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget…
https://genius.com/Eagles-hotel-california-lyrics
David Seymour et.al is a sad indictment of our society he’s scratching the red belly of the right who feel so disenfranchised poor sods
“The Left are mostly soft capitalists who are better suited at organising Free-the-nipple Mommy Blogger militant vegan bike protests than challenge the neoliberal hegemonic structure.”
Well put.
The problem is that the “talking points” from the Atlas perspective ‘appear’ to be logical and coherent … but deeper analysis reveals questionable and flimsy assumptions underlying these points. But to be able to disentangle these points does require a degree of technical knowledge and competence and unfortunately the well reasoned rebuttals often present as politically correct or woke – which is the entire rationale of these points – they appear to be “just the way things are”. We need to constantly remind ourselves that we make things the way they are – we do have agency but often don’t realize it.
Bob-bing Alone – You make good thinking points – thanks we need to bear these in mind.
The Unions have been described as the fighting battalions of the Left, when the unions are weak the Left is weak.
“Currently ACT are skullfucking the Union movement.
The Union’s response?
“Please stop skullfucking me’.
Problem is the Left have forgotten how to fight and because they aren’t really sure what they believe in (beyond hashtag awareness politics), they’re not sure what the fuck it is they are even fighting for! So when ACT come to burn down the library, the left thinks we can negotiate with them.
We can’t.
The Left have underestimated Seymour for too long. They need to engage with him in a completely different way and understand they need to push back by offering better solutions and by defining him far more ruthlessly when they do attack him.” Martyn Bradbury.
Q: What is the percentage of trade union membership in New Zealand? Google search?
A: In New Zealand, the percentage of trade union membership among employees is currently 10.48%, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment. This figure is based on the 373,967 union members as of March 1, 2023, representing the total number of union members as a percentage of the total number of employees in the labor force.
https://www.google.com/search?q=What+is+the+percentage+of+trade+union+membership+in+New+Zealand&oq
Solidarity with the most oppressed and marginalised is how the Left beat the Right.
In the US, New York Democratic mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani’s, courage in standing up against ICE and Trump in defence of immigrants shows us the way.
Donald Trump a Rightwing billionaire, built his MAGA movement on anti-immigrant bigotry.
The Right beat the Left with divide and rule.
Zohran Mamdani, a Leftwing Muslim immigrant built his movement on inclusivity and diversity..
The Left beat the Right with solidarity
Q: What is the percentage of migrant workers in the NZ workforce? Google search
A: In New Zealand, migrant workers (including all visa holders and recent residents) make up a growing proportion of the workforce. In the year to February 2024, they represented almost 14% of the workforce, up from just over 11% in the year to July 2022. The increase is largely due to a surge in migrant workers, particularly in Auckland.
https://www.google.com/search?q=NZ+migrant+workers+by+percentage+of+workforce&sca
14% percent of the New Zealand workforce are migrant workers, this is greater than the number of unionised workers, at 10.48%,.
14% of the workforce left vulnearble and unorganised is a dagger poiinted at the heart the trade union movement. But rather than fear these workers as a threat, as Trump wants, the union movement needs to see them as an ally as Mamdani did.
New Zealand Productivity Commission
Te Kōmihana Whai Hua o Aotearoa
Impacts of immigration on the labour market and productivity
The share of temporary migrants in New Zealand’s workforce is one of the largest among
OECD countries……
In some industries, there have been troubling patterns of exploitation, particularly of
temporary migrants. Visa conditions applied to some temporary migrants increase the risk of
abuse……
The dairy industry is an example where migrants on temporary work visas have become a
critical part of the workforce over the last decade, especially in the South Island with its larger
corporate farms. Dairy farm output and productivity grew strongly in the 25 years to 2015,
though they have now levelled off. An increasing share of the growing number of temporary
migrant workers in the dairy industry are employed in low-skilled (often entry-level) roles……
This report describes the role that migrants have recently been filling in the New Zealand labour market
(this chapter). Chapter 2 canvasses perspectives on the labour-market and productivity benefits and
harms of employing migrant workers. The report then looks at evidence on the impacts of immigration
on the labour market outcomes of New Zealanders (Chapter 3) and on productivity (Chapter 4).
Chapter 5 briefly describes the role of immigration in a few selected industries to fill out the picture
presented in the previous chapters. An Appendix sets out more detailed information on the distribution
of temporary and recent permanent immigrants across industries, and how this changed between 2012
and 2019, using data from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Migration
Employment Dataset……
Last night( July3rd) members of the New Zealand Fabian Society(Auckland Branch) met and discussed this very issue and I encourage people to watch the New Fabian Society’s video stream, or better still join the Society and contribute(New Voices on Austerity, Cut it Out!).
Salient points emerged; the necessity to link with people organising against Zionism, against climate change, for prison reform, against migrant exploitation, against austerity politics.
All these issues are linked to capitalism. We can only overthrow capitalism through a united opposition to it.
Another important point concerns blogs and bloggers such as the Daily Blog. We must use these to give the public an independent narrative.
The narrative of ‘ there is no alternative to free market capitalism,’ is controlled by commercial media and has been for years now. By its very nature commercial media must be pro-capitalist.
Independent state broadcasting is neutralised by underfunding and what amounts to censorship. A pale shadow of what it was in the past.
As the years roll by memory of a functioning welfare state that provided employment, housing and public health is fading. The unionism that once gave decent wages and working conditions is forgotten. Young people now are unaware that such things ever existed because employers and investors control historical narrative.
I invite readers suggestions as to how we can mobilise unified opposition.
RESTORE STATE SOCIALISM IN AOTEAROA! DEATH TO CAPITALISM!
Why Union!s, and why the demise, first old school, 30-40-50 and 60!s, unbelievable for their need, against in those times farm fence and farm fence Government control of our democracy and its ruthless control, of our care and wage productive manipulation in most basic control, of no workers rights.
Today, my son!s and their friends, most getting out of twenty, going to thirty years,and most if not all, untrained semi labour and other casual labour skilled asking what home buying, and even car buying, i said join the Union, they will help you, nonono get the sack for that. So we had a little Party, they listening to all their music vid!s and like, i asked them, ever heared of Fred Dagg, no!. So i played them the first Country Callender in colour it being Fred Dagg, and his sheep, Trev!s, maybe wrong about the first country colour farm fence show, yet better still my son!s and their friends, could not grasp, the understanding of the Trev!!!!!!s, well the Trev!!!!!S ARE JUST SHEEP. wHAT ABOUT THE union.
ApPendix, the TErve!s where the sheep dogs. OOPS.
Well Snark – Full marks for vehemence and enthusiasm.
Now about coherence……………………..
So your learning seeing Fred Dagg.
Find Engel.
Fred Dagg when he was being John Clarke was such a funny guy and looked so mischievous. He was a great loss to the world I think. And his imaginary family – the Bayliss’s was it and the Trev’s. And I have some gumboots that I am going to check and give a clean up wipe to so I can donate them, amongst other things to the Tasman clean-up cause. Got to have gumboots indeed where would you be – stuck in the mud up to your knee!
John, left, to Aussie, as most our stars , most musical, John not, his humour the oz loved as we really farm and political we did not, and only his return when need, did NOT fRED, ONLY JOHN, RETURN.
Eh! hyou how to wake up the care thought, find Engel.
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