The astroturf constellation of Taxpayers’ Union, Free Speech Union, The Campaign Company, Groundswell, Federated Farmers, The NZ Initiative, The Atlas Network, Business NZ etc etc etc are all having enormous success at pimping for corporate interests while distracting with culture war talking points.
Kiwis are having their petty bigotries manipulated by these astroturf organisations to advance corporate interests.
Take the recent local elections, Dr Bryce Edwards makes the following point…
…the issue isn’t that the right are using dark money to run influence campaigns and winning, the issue is why the hell can’t the Left counter that influence?
How does NZ Left beat influence of astroturf Taxpayers’ Union/NZ Initiative stable of clients?
The problem is that while the right all hate each other, they put that aside to work for their masters.
On the Left, we are far too focused on attacking each other.
On the Right they search for recruits, on the Left we search for traitors.
This has become a real issue for the Left because the next generation don”t see themselves as a class or as citizens, they see themselves as hashtag identities and the woke infiltration of many Left wing groups (as seen most tragically in 2021 when Auckland Students Against Climate Change cancelled themselves for being too racist) has ended up with a brittle dispirit group of Wellington based groups that are still on talking terms with each other.
The current ‘unity’ on the Left is like a threesome that goes bad.
Hilariously when you speak with Left Wing Generals in private, they all acknowledge that the woke cancel culture of 2016-2020 has left us decimated to the extremes of the reactionary anti-woke right.
I believe there is infrastructure within the NZ Left that could be harnessed in time for the election to act as a counter weight to the Right’s astroturf influencers, it is finding the will to make then Left work together.
We need to build a group of think tanks and support their work through amplification that goes beyond Action Stations list of approved Wellington friend group.
THINK TANKS
In this area, we desperately require real intellectual weight to argue for Left Universalism and capitalist critiques.
The Helen Clark Foundation – The amazing work Helen’s Foundation does and the issues they raise mark her Foundation as one of the best think tanks we have.
Dr Bryce Edwards – Bryce has probably had the best insights into the influence of the right wing astro turf organisations.
Greenpeace – Continue to be the best critic of the Government’s denial of climate change.
NZCTU – They have the money to fund research and step up as leaders.
AMPLIFIERS:
There has to be an acknowledgment that if we are to win the next election, it has to go beyond Action Stations rainbow of the approved Wellington friend group association.
Against the Current, Nick Rockell, Gerard Otto + BHN – All important voices on the Left that need to be patched into this flow of info from the think tanks for distribution online.
Māori Media – Waatea has built their Facebook page to 110 000, Māori media are doing better at building influence than most of the mainstream media.
Political Party social media – They need to step in here as well and promote wider content that isn’t just party based.
Spinoff – Scoop is dead, which is a problem because their press release section once mattered. The Spinoff has social media muscle and they should become the new place for all press releases for the Left.
WHO SHOULD LEAD THIS LEFT INFLUENCE INFRASTRUCTURE:
Max Harris is the obvious candidate to act as the bridge between all these groups.
If the Left doesn’t work to build a counter weight to the right wing astroturf organisations, we can’t win hearts and minds.
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