The more that National publicly adopts “left wing” “socialist” party policies, such as “free” medical care for children under 13, keeping the retirement age as it is, and balancing the budget, the more they rise in the polls.
New Zealand was once considered one of the best places on earth to live. It could be again …
In post WWII UK, working class people were gaining a stronger voice in public life. Then came Thatcher and middle class capture of politics & the media. Something similar happened in NZ. How can those on low incomes and/or from the working classes gain a stronger voice in NZ politics?
Right wing, excuses reasons, for not doing anything about children in poverty.
Just when you begin to think Labour are looking like a Government, one of the has-beens from the Rogernomics era, again! shows that they have NFI how to get elected and they are still clinging desperately to the Neo-liberal paradigm.
Democrat Bill de Blasio is almost 40 points clear of his Republican rival in the race for Mayor of New York City. His parents were investigated for communist sympathies. An anti-apartheid poster hangs on his kitchen wall. He loves Europe’s social democrats, admires Latin American liberation theology and is poised to confound the conservative trend in US politics by sweeping to an improbable triumph as the next Mayor of New York in this week’s elections. There are some lessons from our local elections too.
The meme of “we cannot afford super, welfare seems to be very powerful. So powerful, that even those who know better have been taken in.
The concept of UBI has a long history in New Zealand.
Of course, we already have a UBI for those over 65. Which has been extremely successful at eliminating poverty amongst the elderly, at a very moderate cost by international standards.
There’s something to be said for Fairfax and Westpac’s launch of the Women of Influence NZ awards. Many women do not receive social recognition, or a fair financial reward, for their valuable contributions to society. The Fairfax-Westpac, right-leaning, individualistic awards foreground money, profits, leadership and business.
Many business people say that a country should be run like a business. Maybe they are right. It should be run like a SUCCESSFUL business. It is appropriate for Government to take lessons from business success, and the reverse. But when it comes down to details, right wing Neo-Liberal business do not want Government and country they govern to become too successful or democratic…
Blame beneficiaries, blame the young, blame the old, blame the boomers, blame Maori, blame Pakeha, blame granny, hell, why don’t we just blame […]
The Key government and its allies are playing the “red scare” gambit, the Greens get to the heart of the reason for NZ Power, Parker goes Third Way, while Bernard Hickey and Matt McCarten weigh in to support the (alleged) “socialist” NZ Power policy. Bomber Bradbury adds some words of caution. [updated title]
The current direction of Key’s government, and the challenging circumstances of the 21st century create a need for urgent attention to the form of a new left politics; one that embraces the working class, trade union solidarity, gender, diversity & the emerging “precariat”.
… for her major contribution to my political education: of the need to combat the extensive, destructive power of the “neoliberal” elites. I lived in London during the entire time Thatcher was prime minister. It was a time of major change; of political activism; of hope; of disillusionment.
Sugarbags are a symbol of self-help in the 1930s Depression. Foodbanks are a symbol of the failure of consumer capitalism. Should the left reclaim Labour’s original core values? What are those core values, and are they still relevant today?
Split Enz once sang, “History Never Repeats”… Or does it? Destructive prejudices separating ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor have been around a very long time. When the likes of Paula Bennett pander to such ill-informed vindictiveness with punitive social welfare reforms, they will damage large numbers of children – our future citizens.
Capitalism is good. Globalisation is good. It’s political orthodoxy. But is it matched by economic reality? Perhaps not. Recent pieces by Bernard Hickey and Gordon Campbell give us plenty to think about…
So, a government says that the people will have the say on its budget, and global markets plunge. Was there ever a clearer sign that the interests of the capitalist elite and the people are at odds, and the capitalists know it? It’s interesting that Papandreou has chosen to force a crisis and headed off a coup. Around the world, ordinary people want radical change.
According to John Key all New Zealanders have a socialist streak. But wait, there’s more…
Extracts from an article by Dr Campbell Jones (Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Auckland). Who creates wealth? Is wealth evidence of merit?
Democracy doesn’t suddenly magically appear as though from a conjurers hat. We know that, right? So why are revolutions seeking democracy D.O.A?
Bernard Hickey, one of the country’s leading economic commentators, was a hardline neo-liberal – ie. the market is god. Now, he’s changed his mind. He’s come to the realisation that there’s no invisible god’s hand directing capitalist markets. Instead they are directed by short-termist elites. We need to take back control.
While the Anglo – Saxon or English speaking left seems unable to shake a deep malaise that began afflicting it some thirty years ago, the left in the Spanish speaking world is making some remarkable strides forward.
The idea of The Chinese Century has been around for a long time now. But a couple of articles that caught my eye recently make me think that the start of that century is well and truly upon us.
Albert Einstein’s essay “Why Socialism?”, originally published in the first issue of Monthly Review (May 1949).
I thought Germany were going to power in to the finals – but Spain had other plans! Funny old game. According to football legend John Barnes the best football teams are socialist in nature. They play for each other, and individual brilliance is often subservient to the common good…
This hilarious stoush between Moore and CNN’s Wolf Blitzer is worth a look too. Hat tip: The kids at the Workers Party.
Goff is using Labour’s national conference to swallow some dead rats, distancing himself and the party from the social reform agenda of the […]
The capitalist doctrine sure has taken a beating lately. Not only have its raw excesses created a global crash which shows no signs […]
