I believe the last election was decided by voters embittered post Covid who had gone from being the team of 5 million into a cult hating on Jacinda.
The disinformation, misinformation and naked misogyny that infected our debate still carries the scars today.
One of the reasons I was so vocal against using excessive force against the Dumb Lives Matter protests on Parliament’s lawns was because if you don’t allow disgruntled people their opportunity to speak, it turns into a dark treacle of hate and all those protestors we beat up went home with a terrible anger.
50% of those on Parliaments lawns voted Green and Labour, (a fact the middle class Wellington Woke never wanted to acknowledge), and we permanently lost 5% of the vote for the Left by refusing them their right to be heard.
We should have enabled immediate access to benefits for those who lost their jobs because of their refusal to take the vaccine rather than the 13 weeks stand down period and most importantly, Labour needed to thank and reward Auckland for holding the line as long as we did so that the rest of the country could get vaccinated.
Instead all Labour offered us was GST off fruit and vegetables which felt like a massive slap in the face to every Aucklander who sacrificed for the good of the nation.
But those issues aside, Jacinda saved this country from 20 000 needless deaths, admittedly most of those saved 20 000 were boomers who promptly rewarded her by spitefully voting for NZFirst.
No good deed goes unpunished.
The documentary Prime Minister is a powerful reminder of how bloody hard Jacinda worked to protect us all from a once in a century pandemic and reminds us just how well she did despite the tsunami of rage that swept her away…
New Zealand’s royal commission on lessons learned from the pandemic published its first report this summer and in comparison with the British Covid inquiry’s withering “too little, too late” verdict on the Johnson government’s handling of the pandemic, Ardern emerges practically glowing. Her “be strong and be kind” strategy, which involved sealing borders early to keep the virus at bay, was judged effective in public health terms, holding back infections until a vaccine was ready and allowing the country to spend less time in strict lockdowns than others around the world.
…we forget the successes of Jacinda’s handling of the pandemic by focussing on the mistakes and this myopic fury allowed voters to elect National, ACT and NZF without comprehending what those 3 Parties would do.
We now have a hard right anti-Māori, anti-Treaty, anti-disabled, anti-beneficiary, anti-worker, anti-renter and anti-environment Government who are strangling the common good for their donors interests.
We have allowed Crony Capitalism to replace the common ground between us as citizens all because hating Jacinda has become a cult on the right.
It’s heartbreaking that she will never be able to liven NZ with her family without security again because so many feral anti-vaxxers wish her harm.
She is hated for having the temerity to save 20 000 lives and for putting public health before private profit.
This is who we is, this is what we have become.
Hate is the new black.
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