Political analysis and commentary shaping the progressive debate in Aotearoa New Zealand, focused on power, policy, and accountability.
In the past week, comments have surfaced from Francis Fukuyama – aka the man who propheceyed that the perceived ascendency of ‘liberalism’ in the late 80s and early 90s meant history was now ‘over’ – claiming Chinese system is a “real alternative” to ‘Western democracy’
Since Friday, 15 March, the Left has been dazzled by Jacinda’s light. So much so, that it has failed to understand that, far from defeating the Right’s darkness, the Prime Minister’s recent illuminations have only exposed the terrifying dimensions of its realm. Light speaks only to light. Political dark matter has always been, and always will be, profoundly deaf to everything except the soundless screaming energy of its black and inexhaustible rage.
Over the past couple of weeks New Zealand has had a widespread outbreak of us-ness. It has been great. I particularly like the story of the three young women, school students, who saw a bus driver close the doors on a woman wearing a hijab, talked to her, waited with her, accompanied her on the next bus and ensured a complaint was laid even though the counter staff said it could not happen. They are cultural heroes!
The media has had a lot to do with shaping negative attitudes towards Muslims. A recent University of Alabama study found terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists receive 357 percent more media coverage than attacks committed by non-Muslims.
We are a union of 7000 financial members. We estimate that up to one-quarter of our members could be on…
SO, WHAT DOES NZ First do now? The Goddess of History hasn’t just foot-tripped Winston Peters and his party, she’s hurled them bodily into a very deep hole. The Christchurch Mosque Shootings have disabled just about all of the “hot-button” election issues upon which New Zealand’s right-wing populist party has depended since its inception. Robbed of its ability to rouse conservative voters against “Maori Separatism”, the “Asian Invasion”, and “Islamic Extremism”; where does NZ First go? How does a right-wing populist party do populism without right-wing slogans?
Was it at all plausible that the Christchurch Shooter acted entirely alone? Is it possible that such a man could hide in plain sight – drawing absolutely no attention to himself for more than two years? How was he able to afford the extensive foreign travel he is known to have undertaken? The guy had no job – so who paid his rent? Could someone without extensive training in terrorist techniques have planned and executed so large and lethal an operation? If not, then who trained him and guided him under the authorities’ radar? Were the 15/3 attacks really a “lone-wolf” operation – or did the Christchurch Shooter have help?
There is an old 4 bed room house in Epsom I drive past that has been left to deteriorate, uninsulated, mouldy and damp, rusty roof and leaking gutters set in overgrown unkempt grounds. It was sold to an overseas owner five years ago it now belongs to another overseas owner who paid $500,000 more for it and has it in the hands of a letting agency. Rent has come down by $80 a week to $915 a week after it was empty for months. It is not alone, there are many other examples throughout Auckland.
Exclusive property for sale! Exclusive offer! Exclusive Brethren! Exclusive school! Wherever we look, the politics of exclusion dominates the physical and political landscape. And while it may be argued by some that ‘exclusive’ does not really mean ‘exclusion’, a quick look shows that it really, really does. It defines social hierarchies, enables bullying and corruption and strongly demarcates social class, gender and ethnic boundaries.
MARAMA DAVIDSON and Golriz Ghahraman would be well advised to take a break and read a little history. Not the history of colonial New Zealand: they seem very well-acquainted with that dismal narrative. No, the history they should familiarise themselves with, is the history of the Alliance in the weeks and months that followed the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.