The middle class woke Spinoff have just realised what TDB has been pointing out for over 3 years now, Jacinda’s cautious domestic agenda won’t be progressive at all.
Hilariously The Spinoff can only see things through the lens of identity politics so it doesn’t mention class anywhere in this opinion piece about progressive NZ politics which kinda highlights why Jacinda can get away with identity politics virtue signals rather than class based transformative change.
Jacinda and Grant are heroic when it comes to big calls in the midst of crisis, but when it comes to actual progressive reform, they are still peddling tinkering rather than transformative change.
The first baby steps of this new Government was to endorse a racist drug law, rule out a wealth tax, rule out lifting benefits before Christmas and refuse to mandate 10 sick days now.
Labour have bewilderingly locked us into a vast debt trap to fund trickle down economics by printing billions and instead of loaning it to the Government to rebuild our infrastructure, poorly funded public services and refund our welfare state, Labour have green lighted it going to corporate banks to fuel property speculators in the hope the newly inflated paper wealthy spend that false sense of prosperity in the real economy to help the little guy.
Once again Labour use free market mechanics to try and fix a housing market wrecked by neoliberalism. KiwiBuild has become KiwiSpeculate!
If only Labour’s NeoKindness could help beneficiaries, renters, prisoners, the working class, kids in poverty, first time home owners & cannabis users the way it helps property speculators.
Labour have spent so much time saving NZ from Covid they have had no transformative vision as to what to do next, luckily this isn’t the first time a Labour leader was forced to be transformative.
The left love Michael Joseph Savage. Every Labour MP who wishes to push their left wing credentials have photos of him hanging in every electorate office and Minister’s room.
Savage is lauded as the creator of the welfare state in the wake of the Great Depression.
He was swamped when he went into public as NZers gushed over how he had saved them all.
The most hilarious truth, provided by insights from John A Lee who served in Savage’s Cabinet and was the anti-Phil Twyford of his day, (in that he actually built Houses) paints a very different picture from the mythology the left have given Savage .
The truth is that Savage was incredibly centrist and not a radical at all. Backed up by the neoliberal Walter Nash and conservative manipulator Peter Fraser, Savage did all he could to stop transformative change, it was actually Savage’s Caucus who forced his hand repeatedly to be transformative.
The exact same dynamics are at play inside Jacinda’s Labour Government.
When there is a crisis, the Prime Minister shines, but when it comes to domestic policy, she is super cautious to the point of being timid.
Her decision to rule out revoking a racist drug law simply because 50.7% want to continue supporting the racist drug law is an example of this timidness.
Her decision to rule out a capital gains tax, a wealth tax and refusal to increase benefits are also evidence of it.
The counter argument is that she needs to hold the centre, but if you aren’t going to be transformative with an outright majority, when the hell are you going to be transformative?
The reality is there won’t be transformative change unless we the people demand it, or if the Caucus demands it, or if a crisis demands it.
Just as it was with Michael Joseph Savage.
Luckily for Labour the right is imploding.
National were seen to care more about the economy than the people during Covid and their insipid cowardice by turning on Simon Bridges to replace him with Muller has forever shown voters their venal self interest masquerading as right wing philosophy.
As National have floundered, ACT have looked stronger.
The problem is ACT are so right wing…
- Cut and freeze the Minimum wage
- Interest back on all student loans
- No Kiwsaver subsidy
- Cancel winter energy payment
- Dump all climate crisis legislation
- no more best start payments for families with new borns
- cut welfare payments
- no tax credits for research and development
- cuts to working for families
- $7b a year cut in public services
- Abolish Maori seats
- Abolish Human Rights Commission
…that the idea of them + National being the answer to 2023’s issues could only be true if we have been invaded by UFOs and they are demanding all members of the Government must be immediately handed over as human sacrifices to our new Alien overlords.
In THAT scenario, voting ACT + National in makes sense.
Outside that scenario, not so much.
Once left wing and centrist voters realise just how far right ACT really are, the fear of keeping them from Government will outweigh whatever sin Jacinda has committed over the previous 3 years.
ACT’s sudden and uncritical rise will hurt National and win Labour the 2023 election.
It’s easy to cry wolf when the wolf is a brain hungry zombie dog hunting for human flesh in a premature infants ward.
So Labour can continue to be timid and allow the polarisation on the Right to keep centrist voters sticking with Jacinda for 2023.
Peace ain’t coming because the problem with peace is that you can’t make no money from it.
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