Smile!
The extent and limits of current politics.
Economy
socialism
Radical Socialism
‘nother guest post by Nick Kelly (Upper Hutt boy in London)
States United.
On how states in conflict, have seemingly and nevertheless, managed to share in the likely or possible creation of one common goal.
The Herald thinks Jacinda Ardern is a Marxist
The Herald has equated Jacinda Ardern’s desire to temper the worst excesses of capitalism with the full embrace of marxist communism.
Catalonia
The predictable reactions of regional and world leaders.
A “Culture of Entitlement”?
With the current dialog about welfare, It is time to look at the people who are the real beneficiaries, of the welfare system.
Who use the educated and healthy workforce our system provides
The people who say “everyone should stand on their own two feet”, “you don’t work you don’t eat”, and “take personal responsibility”,
The business sector.
NACT
“Here’s a new idea for the Tories: Why not ask a simple question every time you propose a course of action: Is this morally just?”
A clear choice for voters
Herald editorial: “Credit where it is due. It takes courage to say that if elected, you will cancel a tax cut. … In doing so it has presented the voters with a clear choice which, for those without young families or earning above the income limits, will mean deciding whether to take the tax cut or give the benefit to children of the less well off.”
Labour’s Targeted Families Package
As covered by Vernon Small on Stuff: “Labour is promising to scrap National’s Budget tax cut plan. Instead it will funnel the cash into higher Working for Families payments and extra help for those with young children. It’s a package it says will deliver up to $48 a week extra to middle income families.”
A generous donation to Labour
Thank you Robert Smellie QC, I’m sure your donation will be put to great use. Smellie said: “I am a practising Anglican and as such I see socialism as being far closer to the Gospel than free enterprise.”
Free market efficiency in health – not
The idea of free market efficiency is not nearly as powerful or universal as its (often fanatical) proponents would have us believe. The sorry state of the USA’s health system is yet another compelling example of its limitations.
Spinning ‘social investment’
Bill English has co-opted the old term “social investment” to replace another old term “targeted welfare”. Simon Wilson (writing at The Spinoff) has bought into the spin and written a deeply confused piece about it.
The Lighthouse
The lighthouse is a piece of public art recently erected in downtown Auckland. It is to celebrate the institution of the State House and has been paid for by real estate barons.
Michael Moore: why blowing up the system and voting for Trump will feel good
Trump is the “human molotov cocktail” that many Americans have been waiting for.
Race, Class, Global Warming and Democracy.
Nothing and no-one is separate in this world. Nothing and no-one is more important than anything else or anyone else; no voice greater and no voice lesser.
Bregman: Socialism is a great product
Extracts from a long piece by Rutger Bregman in The Guardian. Plenty to disagree with perhaps, but plenty to ponder too.
Financial capital is crazy OP. Time to strip it back to basics.
Financial capital is way over powered in our current political economic system. Every aspect of our lives has been financialised and securitised, from our homes to our educations. From our drinking water to our power supply.
Simplicity
Good shit happening in France.
Corporate Saviours
oh, hallelujah…
What have the Unions ever done for us?
A video from the TUC in the UK explaining how important Unions are which is just as relevant for Aotearoa as it is for the UK.
So, how would you spend $1.2B per year?
A Kiwi Kids allowance for all under fives, with totally fee free public primary and secondary schools.
The great big list of John Key’s big fat lies (UPDATED)
How many more lies will John Key tell today in his so-called State of the Nation address? Virtual chocolate fish to whomever guesses the closest number.
Chris Trotter is on fire
“What differentiates the Left from the Right is the former’s fundamental rejection of the strongest human-beings’ proclivity to dominate, coerce and exploit the weakest. Without this proclivity, none of the economic and social systems elaborated by armed minorities throughout history could have endured.”
Indeed.
There is Hope.
Anarchism, past and present.
Does the left win by tacking to the centre or by being principled?
Jeremy Corbyn’s election provides a further opportunity to discuss if elections should be won by tacking to the centre or adopting a principled approach to politics.
The modern precariat and the Unconditional Basic Income
A UBI would allow ordinary people to shift their daily focus from doing paid jobs making money for others, to doing useful work of their own choice, under their own control.
Common People; Yanis Varoufakis is all Class.
The Greek Finance minister has unexpectedly quit. He had already said he would resign if the referendum was lost; nobody expected that he would go after such a stunning win. But it was the strategically correct thing to do. Why can’t some of the veterans in the NZ Labour Party take the hint?
An open letter to Andrew Little
A respectful open letter to Andrew Little with suggestions for how to win the next election!
Dear NZ Labour. Listen up.
For the sake of reference – Nye Bevan was a Labour mp and the architect of the British NHS. Michael Sheen’s speech was a defense of that institution, but the underpinning message is, well…
War HUH!
NZ is again being asked to go to war in Iraq. The Clark Labour Government said no a decade ago, but in 2015 there may be a compelling reason to join the fight; this time it’s the right thing to do. New Standard author te reo putake puts the case for NZ entering the battle against ISIS.
A calculated feeding of the beasts within
The social democracy of my youth has radically collapsed into our current culture of individualism, privatisation and personal greed.
The Socialist Pope
Pope Francis has created a stir recently. He has been instrumental in the ending by the United States of sanctions against Cuba, he has criticised the Curia for being inwardly focussed and not sufficiently concerned for the poor and he has reached out to Muslims. And to top things off he is intending to issue a Papal Encyclical on climate change and will be urging countries to enter into a meaningful agreement on climate change.
This is not business as usual. This is not some hippy over-reaction. This is serious shit!
New author Mandy Hager joins us with some reflections on having become a grandmother: “So that’s why I’m speaking out now, every opportunity I get. Not because I like the exposure (shudder), but because I love this tiny little person and I will fight for his future, come what may. It’s the right thing to do. …”
Re-writing 2nd Wave Women’s Movement: Pat Rosier – h/t Hand Mirror
A must read Hand Mirror post acknowledges the passing of Pat Rossier. She played a significant role in NZ’s 2nd wave Women’s Movement. Misinformation about feminism fails to represent its diversity & socialist underpinnings. A full chronicle of the NZ 2nd wave is needed.
“Hope and Wire”: Disaster & collaboration
Responses to TV3’s miniseries, Hope and Wire, based on the Christchurch quakes & aftermath, are mixed. The opening episodes set up some universal themes: of wealth-seeking individualism versus community solidarity and collaboration. Many in Christchurch are angry that their city, and it’s experiences, have been mis-represented.
Spying on the left: 20th century “dirt files”
Secret files have been released, that document the spying of Labour/left politicians in the early-to-mid 20th century: Savage, Fraser, Nash, Sutch, Sir Dove Meyer Robinson. The NZ establishment has a long history of treating the left as a threat. [Update: “Dunne over” by spy review]