ACT are so free market they support slavery
I think ACTs mask slipped last week.
The shock of seeing them for the foaming mouthed ideological storm troopers they really are by refusing to back anti-slavery legislation was surprising even for those of us attuned to watching their toxic culture war social media feeds.
Sure, they were insanely pro-zionist where no act of war crime by Israel was too great to be be justified and defended.
Yes they were race baiters who wondered aloud to their own candidates that they will cause civil war with the Treaty Principles Referendum.
Absolutely Brooke kneecapped 150 000 mainly woman workers and then had the gasp inducing audacity to complain that people were being mean to her for being a woman.
Of course they circumvented democracy by including a corporate vetting council to stop any law that puts human rights above their property rights.
But somehow the sight of watching National and Labour reach across the political divide to work together has made the spectacle of ACTs mask slipping more pronounced and more revolting.
ACT’s attempt at an argument is that smaller players in NZ won’t have to comply with the new slavery standards, which is true, but the top tier corporates should start, and then gradually those standards have to be implemented further down the market to ensure slavery is eradicated in our supply chain.
But to simply shrug and say it’s all too hard for those top tier corporates to even bother with the challenge is libertarianism apathy at its most limp.
Globally there are 50 million slaves producing quarter of a trillion in illegal profits and estimations are there are 8,000 slaves in NZ and we imported $8 billion worth of “risky goods” in 2022 that were sourced using slavery and that $8 billion represents around 10% of our imports in that year.
So this isn’t chump change, this is actually quite large loop holes that are allowing slave supply chains.
Shrugging and saying it’s too big a problem is what we are seeing the Political Right say about climate change and let’s look at how that denial is helping us.
Whenever the true social cost of a product is ever demanded, the Libertarians always claim it’s too hard.
It’s not just a pretend reluctance for the greater good they are promoting here, ACT are such wide eyed free market acolytes that they consider slavery as something the State shouldn’t interfere with!
How far right ideologically are ACT?
Refusing to crack down on slavery is kinda one of those entry points in a Modern Democracy that must be agreed to or you can’t participate.
If you refuse to make slavery illegal and won’t toughen regulations to prevent slavery, then you kinda don’t deserve to be part of the representative democratic process.
The intrinsic value inside every single individual must not, can not be enslaved and any legislation that helps prevent even one is worth the investment and promotion of!
Slavery is an ominous cthulla whose presence must be eradicated with all the fury of treating cancer.
This isn’t about cost, it is about the morality of the human spirit.
Opposing slavery is a little like rejecting political violence, it’s a necessary value to be allowed to participate.
If you run in elections while advocating political violence, you rule yourself out from participating.
Likewise slavery. If you aren’t prepared to make slavery illegal, you rule yourself out from participating.
That ACT refused to legislate against slavery is a scandal of immense proportions.
We all knew ACT were pretty extreme, their knee capping of pay parity, their race baiting Treaty Principles Referendum, their Atlas Network adjacent libertarianism and their acquiescence to Corporate power, but refusing to fight slavery is one of those things you can’t really ignore.
If you democratically support slavery, you are beneath our collective mana and deserve nothing but Intellectual contempt.
So say all of us.
