liberation

The rise of the young fogies

Young people used to be in the forefront of demanding radical social change. This article, which I wrote in 1999 and needs updating, looks at why that is no longer the case. Instead, youth are increasingly conservative voters. Amongst explanations for the depoliticisation of youth, the dire state of the left plays a big part.

Political Wellington

Not only is Wellington the cultural and commercial centre of New Zealand, it is of course also the political capital. Ever since the seat of government was shifted to Wellington in 1865 politics have defined Wellington, making it a special New Zealand city. Not only does Parliament and Government carry out their business from here but also the head offices of government departments and many private companies are based here. Political party headquarters, political conferences, protesters and lobbyists also see this as the place to base themselves and air their concerns. As a result the world’s most southern capital city has some interesting sites of political and historic importance.

This lengthy blog post is actually an attempt I made a few years ago to put together a list and commentary on all the sites of political interest in the capital. One day I might do something more with this, so any feedback, corrections, and ideas are very welcome and sought.

Law & order – the new political battleground

Law and order issues are shaping up to be one of the main areas of political debate in New Zealand. Despite little differences between the parliamentary parties, increasingly they all stress how socially conservative they are on such issues. Labour in particular, is ditching any policies that smack of liberalism and has now begun to assert its socially conservative side in order to fend off National’s law and order campaigns. So today we see the Labour’s announcement of Tougher rules to smash gangs and Increased coercive powers for police. The reason for this resurgence of political conflict on these ‘social issues’ can be explained by the decline of economic differences in the parliamentary parties. [Read more below]

‘Class, race and sex; and of these the greatest is class’ – John Minto

John Minto recently spoke at the Workers Education Association (WEA) in Christchurch. Guest blogger Phillip Ferguson reports on the meeting, where Minto argued that the liberal left had let down the working class, and that life for workers and other oppressed groups had got worse under Labour and National governments. [Read more below]

Child abuse - a product of 23 years of neoliberalism

Amongst all the outrage of the moment about child abuse, there's at least two voices putting some sort of decent leftwing explanation forward: John Minto and Chris Trotter. Both columnists argue that child abuse in this country is an affect of 20+ years or Labour and National's neoliberalism. Minto's column in today's Christchurch Press calmly and rationally explains how prior to Labour's economic reforms 'Child-abuse deaths for Maori were on a par with the rest of New Zealand... [But] A few years later it spiralled out of control. For the period 1991 to 2000 the figures were 0.67 [per 100,000] for non-Maori but 2.40 for Maori' when Maori unemployment peaked at 26%. Unsurprisingly, the dysfunctional families that resulted produced dysfunctional behaviour such as child abuse. Trotter also discusses the anomie and alienation that resulted from a New Zealand that now lacks social solidarity. He says 'Locate on a map of New Zealand those communities where "Rogernomics" and "Ruthanasia" bit hardest, and you will discover an alarming correspondence with the communities experiencing domestic violence, child abuse, gang affiliations and crime at their worst.' Both Trotter and Minto advocate a change in economic priorities. Minto goes further, and suggests 'The statistics relating to child abuse should be carved into slabs of granite along with the names of those who drove these families into poverty' - namely Labour, National and all their fellow travellers.