tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post8870369205036692378..comments2024-03-29T17:12:19.648+13:00Comments on Bowalley Road: Conceding Nothing – To The Undemanding Non-Voter.Chris Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-7628709831791414672020-05-28T22:26:20.892+12:002020-05-28T22:26:20.892+12:00The next 3 years isn't enough to save our comf...The next 3 years isn't enough to save our comfort. The 'art of the possible' delivers us short. Reality matters more than ever. Your late address of climate change says a lot. It's not a laid-on lunch. <br /><br />The computer prick in charge at 'The Standard' somehow stops me commenting without banning me, though that's just an unenforcable accusation.<br /><br />Do you disagree, this is 1939? Ask and we will send money for our NZ truth.<br /><br /> sumsuchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133092096534660472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-36030222684286442662020-05-23T21:36:57.585+12:002020-05-23T21:36:57.585+12:00So, the 'art of the possible' isn't en...So, the 'art of the possible' isn't enough. Ifitsa a mounting slope to a cliff rather than to manageable valleys. <br /><br />But you know the reality. Thisahere concept doesna 'fit' these times.sumsuchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133092096534660472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-86174161366075689802020-05-21T22:55:08.661+12:002020-05-21T22:55:08.661+12:00Enjoy your poetically expressed true comments Geof...Enjoy your poetically expressed true comments Geoff Fischer. Big ups to the majestically proud Whanau a Apanui. Love that completely open but unprotected beachside Anglican Church -- something about the beach is intrinsically augmenting, particularly via a church.<br /><br />This-a-here economic/industrial/ creative boom from 1750 on was magnificent/ devastating but the fuel runs out and also destroys us.<br /><br />Between the 30s and the so well recorded end of the Roman Republic we don't need to be imaginative, insightful about this time -- all laid out like a children's book.sumsuchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133092096534660472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-90075138498469058422020-05-21T22:27:16.189+12:002020-05-21T22:27:16.189+12:00You cut to the Left, you cut to the Right , accord...You cut to the Left, you cut to the Right , according to ...? I really must take this statement as your real opinion. The columnists you criticised spoke our truth. As you point out, rightly probably, untactical. Both right, but hard to really speak for us, as you do so movingly, Chris, after this. Ramsay Mcdonald? Or my ancestor who got socialism passed as the official programme of British Labour at the 1908/9 conference only to be struck down by Mcdonald as unconstitutional, and in 1935 NZ wasn't allowed on the Legislative Council for being too confrontational for public view? <br /><br />You do realise this is 1939 100 times over? Agree or disagree? Climate change and resource finitude make poverty pale into nothing. <br /><br /> sumsuchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133092096534660472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-69856738176473535292020-05-21T21:23:51.425+12:002020-05-21T21:23:51.425+12:00I thought you were the 'radical Left'. Exc...I thought you were the 'radical Left'. Except you called it the cause of 'old New Zealand'. Strawman anyway. Don't think any of us believe in a million voters coming back. If you have something to say about your present political views? Are you now aligned with the '84ist Labour turd on the RNZ Monday morning politics segment? <br /><br />Thanks to the 'possible' offered by the new polls I will not be voting for any of the present govt parties unless they commit to enacting the main recommendations of the poverty group as a deal-breaker in their next coalition talks.<br /><br />If there was one free talker of enough respect and force to the left of this govt (not difficult on the left point) it would be decimated for 'focus grouping' the most desperate out of relief during this economic and health crisis. The perversity of 'Savage's' Labour! Now lets look at the '84 freemarket revolution during this time of understanding that the health and well-being of others is our health and wellbeing too. Among many things, by leaving the neediest behind it amounted to a War on Maori! These pudgy unclothed targets pass before our 'Old NZ' other-directed artillery. Another rhetorical attack point is where neglecting the neediest leads ... the end of the world, or America. The 'Queen' is learning on the job, she can look after her hometown Murupara now (stop there every NZer or lose your passport). <br /><br />All it would require is for the active 'old NZers' to fishhook an MP into parliament to talk for the old NZ, shaming, and never going into a, Left govt. We lack a talking pulpit above everything. sumsuchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133092096534660472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-16533135421206554162020-05-21T15:18:04.790+12:002020-05-21T15:18:04.790+12:00To Chris @ 20 May 2020 at 10:56
You are right Chr...To Chris @ 20 May 2020 at 10:56<br /><br />You are right Chris, patience is a virtue. Everything shakes out in the end, but through struggle and contradictions being resolved, not passivity. The main victory of neo liberalism has been the psychological effect, both on individuals and institutions. But reality does intrude eventually on all of us if survival matters, it doesn’t seem soon enough when you are in the present.<br /><br />I recall in the 80s going to a performance of Renee’s play on the ’51 Waterfront Lockout–“Pass it On”, off Galatos St in Auckland. Rob Campbell accompanied myself and GH Andersen. At intermission over beers, Campbell remarked jokingly “They should go back to work”…Bill laughed, but I just looked at Rob, it suddenly struck me, he was not joking! As later events and his life long trajectory working largely for finance capital have shown.<br /><br />My point being, philosophy is a strong force in people’s lives whether they can articulate it or not. Tiger Mountainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-40596858489758179372020-05-21T12:33:07.759+12:002020-05-21T12:33:07.759+12:00When colonialist political leaders lose their hold...When colonialist political leaders lose their hold on power and the popular imagination they descend into ignominy (Robert Muldoon) or irrelevance (John Key and Helen Clark).<br />So it will be with Jacinda Ardern. If people's lives begin to fall apart they will blame her where they once thanked her. There will be no sanctuary of principle to which they can retreat in loyal fellowship with her. Nothing but the barren social landscape left in the wake of political pragmatism and the cult of personality.<br />There is another young woman like Jacinda Ardern who also delivered a child to the world while leading her people through momentous times. The difference between Pania Newton and Jacinda Ardern is that Pania is loved for her devotion to principle and her personal sacrifice in pursuit of those principles. Whatever happens in her life from here on, her commitment and her sacrifice will not be forgotten. Even if her battle for Ihumaatao were to be lost, she would be honoured and remembered as a true leader.<br />That is just one more point of difference between rangatiratanga and colonialism. <br />The problem for John Minto et al is that within the colonialist political system they are like fish out of water. They really don't belong there. A point that you yourself have made quite well Chris.Geoff Fischerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00509885628971898371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-19920734227873693512020-05-21T12:32:33.149+12:002020-05-21T12:32:33.149+12:00What makes a leader?
What makes a leader popular? ...What makes a leader?<br />What makes a leader popular? <br />The answer to the two questions will not necessarily be the same, and both questions have to be answered within a particular socio-political context.<br />We know that in a modern mediated liberal democracy appearance counts at the ballot box. It is better to be tall and good looking, to have a ready smile and a touch of humour. A good speaking voice is crucially important, as is the ability to project oneself in front of the camera. <br />These are all qualities that bespeak popularity rather than leadership of the old-fashioned kind, but in a mediated democracy to be a leader is to be popular and to be popular is to be a leader.<br />John Key was a popular leader. Jacinda Ardern is a popular leader. <br />When a leader assumes power in a mediated democracy their popularity rating increases literally overnight, because power and success are attractive in and of themselves and because many ordinary folk want to be on the winning side regardless of how they themselves voted. They don't want to be outsiders, and therefore they cleave to a leader who might not have been their first choice.<br />Principles are not that important. John Key's lack of principle, the whiff of corruption and malfeasance about his person, never dented his popularity. Hardly anyone among her supporters (or opponents) minds that Jacinda Ardern came to power pledging an end to capitalism and its inequities and now has taken dramatic steps to entrench and ossify capitalism with all its former inequities intact. No one is too worried that she has actually put in place a form of capitalism shorn of its redeeming virtues.<br />Jacinda's last year in power has been marked by four traumatic events. A massacre of innocents, a lethal volcanic eruption, an unprecedented drought and now an epidemic. Her popularity has soared because while those events have keenly registered in the consciousness of most New Zealanders, the actual effect on the lives of the vast majority has been very slight. It is the dysjunction between the perceived enormity of these events and their insubstantial impact on the daily lives of most of us that has taken Jacinda's popularity to great heights. There is a strange yet natural perception that Jacinda has saved the country from a multitude of dangers.<br />If we were to start digging into why these events occurred (three out of four appear to be "acts of God", but that is only half the story) and how either the events or their consequences might have been averted, then our assessment of Ms Ardern's performance might be less benign. But "we" don't go there, and neither will I at this point. It has worked to her advantage for the time being, and will continue to do so unless or until the lives of the majority of ordinary voters are thrown into serious turmoil.<br />Geoff Fischerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00509885628971898371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-34991043959211372462020-05-21T12:12:57.971+12:002020-05-21T12:12:57.971+12:00Oh dear, I've been trying so hard to be polite...Oh dear, I've been trying so hard to be polite and then here you go saying "shriek" which I have never done in my life. But to be honest I had a bit of your form to go on let's face it. And blow me down when I did finally get round to looking at the man I was shown to be correct. But if you going to start with the trolley she insults like "shriek" or "liberal luvvies" or "Chardonnay socialists" any of the other insults that seem to come so easily to conservative brain – I shall have to refer you to rule 1.Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-88280566967688541752020-05-21T10:19:12.456+12:002020-05-21T10:19:12.456+12:00Thanks Guerilla,
I have already read those (excep...Thanks Guerilla, <br />I have already read those (except the Mad in America one which I've just finished) and, unlike some, didn't shriek "bullshit" before I did so.David Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04883628159193125307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-30793890874539706132020-05-21T08:19:05.085+12:002020-05-21T08:19:05.085+12:00Kiwi Dave – a few things for you. I might turn to ...<br />Kiwi Dave – a few things for you. I might turn to your link when you can assure me you've read mine.<br /><br />https://www.thestar.com/amp/opinion/2018/05/25/i-was-jordan-petersons-strongest-supporter-now-i-think-hes-dangerous.html<br /><br />https://merionwest.com/2018/06/03/a-critique-of-jordan-peterson/<br /><br />https://www.madinamerica.com/2020/05/jordan-peterson-corporal-punishment-a-critique/<br /><br />https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/conversations/2018/6/6/17409144/jordan-peterson-12-rules-for-life-feminism-philosophyGuerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-30740391150100049072020-05-21T08:11:37.345+12:002020-05-21T08:11:37.345+12:00You've done it again Guerilla; instead of read...You've done it again Guerilla; instead of reading and considering a POV on it's merits and how it relates to your own observations you've trawled through the net to find something, anything, that refutes it; that confirms your existing beliefs. You have to bare in mind that criticism is so often founded in belief, not reality, and that folk are often surprisingly willing (and increasingly so) to attempt to distort reality in favour of belief. <br /><br />There is usually no single right answer to the issues that beset humanity, I guess the answer to "What would change my mind" is, if it didn't chime with what I can plainly see, I'd back my own observations. Unfortunately you will usually discover an ideological belief colouring most criticism you find and it's difficult to untangle oneself from that. We should, at least, try.<br /><br />I can see, and believe, that the problems (as per the examples above) of meaninglessness are directly related to responsibility; responsibility for oneself, family and community and for the future. The comfortable, childless couple on their voyage to luxurious extinction just as much as the poor and resentful.<br /><br />“We must each adopt as much responsibility as possible for individual life, society and the world. We must each tell the truth and repair what is in disrepair and break down and recreate what is old and outdated. It is in this manner that we can and must reduce the suffering that poisons the world. It’s asking a lot. It’s asking for everything.”<br />― Jordan B. Peterson, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos<br /> David Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04883628159193125307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-62772371765197681602020-05-21T00:23:10.359+12:002020-05-21T00:23:10.359+12:00@ Wayne Mapp
How do you view the state of ...@ Wayne Mapp<br /> How do you view the state of neoliberalism? Would you accept the definition of the term as in common speech as being capitalism with a minimum of interference from the State, and market forces determining the flow of goods and services , and remuneration , and the survival of efficient enterprises and failure of unprofitable enterprises?<br /> If you accept that definition , how can you claim that neoliberalism still exists? The most successful organisations are those that have grown to be the largest. And over the last decade, and accelerating now, those large organisations are only able to survive by dint of the State infusing vast quantities of money into them to prop them up. It has become a welfare state but the welfare provided by the state is for the major companies and the banks instead of the people . Surely the model of a successful economy enthusiastically implemented by Roger Douglas is the complete inverse of how the economy actually runs now.<br /> Do you have a significantly different concept from my definition, apart from disliking the term. It's hard to get away from the term as it is used so universally to describe the market led capitalism the Western world has lived in for the past 35 years. But use another if it helps to describe the status quo by all means. <br /> I find it difficult to understand how anyone interested and informed can regard the way the economy was run for the 25 years before the GFC and especially now , as being the same as it has been run since.<br /> Cheers D J SDavid Stonenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-58226674540822807822020-05-20T18:04:04.119+12:002020-05-20T18:04:04.119+12:00Nice story Kiwi Dave. But you couldn't even an...Nice story Kiwi Dave. But you couldn't even answer my question "what would change your mind?" If you can't answer that you are a true believer. And now that I've had a chance to have a quick look on the academic databases not only has your man been taken to task by sociologists about his study on Italian people and selfishness, but a couple of economists – not usually communists – set up an experiment that proved him absolutely incorrect. So no need to change my mind – yet. But I still have in mind what evidence would get me to change it – unlike you.<br /><br />Incidentally, it's a pity the kid was told that, but there is a certain amount of bitterness amongst people in the provinces who have been abandoned by governments – to the point where looking for a job is regarded as relatively futile. So unlike you I wouldn't blame her necessarily.<br /><br />Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-1536663900081380602020-05-20T18:02:37.972+12:002020-05-20T18:02:37.972+12:00To Kiwi Dave @ 13.24
I can see why you had t...To Kiwi Dave @ 13.24<br /> I can see why you had to turn away. The alternative was a nasty argument with your customer, but I think that kid will break the mould. <br /> You could still have asked him if he would like to come around and help after school though. I bet he would have and i also bet his mom would have been pleased underneath. Too many dashed hopes in her life.<br /><br /> D J SDavid Stonenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-19625154404537936312020-05-20T14:30:03.813+12:002020-05-20T14:30:03.813+12:00From kiwidave at 8.33 -
What can you say about a c...From kiwidave at 8.33 -<br /><i>What can you say about a community that doesn't give a stuff if granny's house (and her along with it) goes up in flames. Or one that can't even be bothered to turn out and vote. Pretending they have a political problem is expedient nonsense; the deflection of responsibility ultimately destructive and dangerous. </i><br /><br />Here's your turn Jens M. You can come along and legitimately make your claim that people who have a share in the pie, who own something, will be more likely to be very involved in the community - if only to ensure that there will be a fire brigade in their area to put out their fire.<br /><br />They may still not get out and vote though. Because that shows a commitment to a system that should show a commitment to everyone, and if they don't feel that they are part of 'everyone' (having somehow dropped through the cracks), they could decide to give it the fingers. <br /><br />It's all a bit like being Boxer the cart horse in Animal Farm who keeps on toiling to assist with providing buildings for the farm, willing to sweat to help the community. And then, against an understanding of relaxed retirement, gets loaded on a truck. told some untrue destination, and driven away to be killed for horse meat and glue. <br /><br />Many people in NZ in the lower orders of course, after decades of waiting for the golden future that everyone heard Douglas and his illk spouting about, are noticing that the trend is towards a type of knackers yard, and a poorly run one too.greywarblernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-40157307498929077602020-05-20T13:24:56.740+12:002020-05-20T13:24:56.740+12:00Here's a short wee clip for you GS: inequality...Here's a short wee clip for you GS: inequality, universal basic income, ethics and some solutions.<br /><br />https://youtu.be/v7gKGq_MYpUDavid Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04883628159193125307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-14516376209880220802020-05-20T13:15:34.177+12:002020-05-20T13:15:34.177+12:00Thank you for your comment Brendan.
Guerrilla Sur... Thank you for your comment Brendan.<br /><br />Guerrilla Surgeon, all I can say, in my defense, is that I read widely but came to change my point of view from what I could see in the world around me. It's not pleasant to throw away your beliefs, they tend to become part of you; I can understand your trepidation.<br /><br />I had something of an epiphany; lots of things, like the volunteer fire service story above. Another I clearly recall.<br /><br />I'm a watchmaker and had done a small job for a woman, she had a boy with her (her son I presumed), bright eyed, about ten or eleven. He asked me what I did so I told him a little of my trade; he was genuinely interested. I asked him what he would like to do when he grew up. The "mother" quickly interjected; "there'll be nothing for him, he'll be on the benefit like the rest of us"! <br /><br />That poor wee chap, his hopes, his entire future dismissed as nothing. <br />I should have said something but I had to turn away. I saw what Banfield saw. <br />David Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04883628159193125307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-23440906796425924422020-05-20T12:31:11.887+12:002020-05-20T12:31:11.887+12:00@Wayne Mapp
We New Zealanders are in the main a v...@Wayne Mapp<br /><br />We New Zealanders are in the main a very compliant lot, the past few months have shown that. New Zealanders are not up for political coup d'état and over the years have accepted various govts policies because they have been deemed to be best for the country. However since Rogernomics it has become increasingly clear that certain policies no longer work and must be changed for the good of all New Zealanders and not just those "contented" from the middle up. <br /><br />The last couple of months have opened a few eyes out there in the electorate Wayne. There is now acceptance that the PM and her finance minister have the skill and focus to sort the social and economic disparities that exist and make New Zealand a better place for all. If that means a steady as we go dismantling of rampant neo liberalism to take the majority along then so be it. I suggest you embrace the new direction.<br /><br /> Katnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-33066176801202397922020-05-20T12:06:06.847+12:002020-05-20T12:06:06.847+12:00"The ruling classes of the West launched a re..."The ruling classes of the West launched a remarkable ideological counter-offensive in the 1970s and 80s which provided them with a quarter-century-long breathing space from the hitherto unrelenting encroachment of the subordinate classes, genders and races."<br /><br />Interesting analysis Chris. Personally I think that the 1950s to the 70s gave us a 25 year break from the unrelenting advance of neoliberal capitalism. Maybe I'm a glass half empty type person.:)<br /><br />Someone on another blog put it far better than I could – as Marx predicted:<br /><br />"Galloping inequality. Concentration of wealth. Spread of capitalism all over the world. Increasing division of society into antagonistic classes of a tiny minority of wealthy capitalists and a huge majority of propertyless workers. Perennial instability of capitalist economies, periods of growth and technological development punctuated by increasingly severe crashes. A permanent reserve army of the unemployed. Lengthening of the working day and increasingly intense exploitation of labor. Even, four, or five generations after Marx’s death, workers and other subordinate classes becoming revolutionary. It’s an astoundingly good record for any social theorist."<br /><br />Those posts war years were something of a spluttering candle. It's interesting that neoliberals keep saying that people are better off with fewer taxes and regulations and so on, but in the US at least and I suspect New Zealand, wages and conditions were far better when people were taxed more, and the social welfare system was worthy of its name. And to those who keep glorifying the neoliberal paradigm I suggest you take a careful look at the USA.<br />Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-17280699716065961982020-05-20T11:59:37.859+12:002020-05-20T11:59:37.859+12:00To Len Richards:
I always think it is very mislea...To Len Richards:<br /><br />I always think it is very misleading to propose that humanity will go extinct if we don't embrace eco-socialism! Humanity will have to work very hard to go extinct. The worst that would happen is we might be set back to some more primitive ways of living, but extinction is absolute rubbish! Humans can and will always adapt to niches in the world until an external force brings it all to an end. I feel extremely sorry for the young children today who are exposed to such nonsense from the climate change brigade etc. as they suffer anxieties that are completely unfounded. Even in the worst case scenario the world will not end due to climate change - simply conditions may be less favourable for certain communities. Note in particular that environmental outcomes are best in wealthy countries not poor ones who have embraced some form of extreme socialism.Philiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04020323020858687577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-52687168313179606872020-05-20T10:56:05.668+12:002020-05-20T10:56:05.668+12:00To: Tiger Mountain.
I share your frustration, Tig...To: Tiger Mountain.<br /><br />I share your frustration, Tiger, but there is some consolation in taking the longer view.<br /><br />The ruling classes of the West launched a remarkable ideological counter-offensive in the 1970s and 80s which provided them with a quarter-century-long breathing space from the hitherto unrelenting encroachment of the subordinate classes, genders and races.<br /><br />Unfortunately for these 1 percenters, the social and ecological costs of securing that 25-year hiatus have mounted to the point where a general crisis of legitimacy threatens to undo all their efforts. This multifaceted crisis is composed inter-alia of financial instability, rising inequality, climate change and, now, a global pandemic caused by the dangerous extension of the capitalist economy into the world's biological "hot zones".<br /><br />As Martin Luther King so eloquently put it, Tiger:<br /><br />"The arc of history is long - but it bends towards justice."<br /><br />Hang on in there, comrade. Theirs has been the winter, but ours shall be the spring!Chris Trotterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-40159682698134118252020-05-20T10:42:42.958+12:002020-05-20T10:42:42.958+12:00To: Wayne Mapp.
You're focusing on the contra...To: Wayne Mapp.<br /><br />You're focusing on the contradictions, Wayne, when you should be looking for the synthesis.<br /><br />Labour recognises the immediate general preferences of the participating electorate in the present crisis and is responding to them.<br /><br />It also recognises - as, I believe, does a solid majority of New Zealanders - that the neoliberal model no longer offers a useful vehicle for New Zealand's long-term recovery and well-being.<br /><br />Jacinda's and Grant's work in responding to the former should clinch them a solid election victory in September. Their acceptance of the latter raises hopes of many more to come.<br /><br />Ain't dialectical materialism grand!Chris Trotterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-5994631756962947932020-05-20T10:33:20.882+12:002020-05-20T10:33:20.882+12:00Does not the observation that in normally balanc...Does not the observation that in normally balanced times government elections are determined most of the time(?) by the floating vote between "Left" and 'Right" indicate, that the most stable and lasting political future is along the "Third Way", upwards for all ?<br />That means, the Right has to move slightly towards the Left, and vice versa.<br /><br />And according to that line of thought, does not the "Ownership Society" concept actually satisfy and meet the basic aspirations of the Left and Right by:<br />1.- abolishing poverty, and -<br />2.- extending at least a minimally meaningful (or higher) level of personal property ownership (potential) to all citizens eventually?<br /><br />Up to now, even the discussion of this proposition and the pros and cons of it has been rejected or evaded by both the libertarian Right and socialistic Left.<br /><br />Is there a justifying reason for that ? Jens Mederhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17304734497662325275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-64259428697519490502020-05-19T23:04:29.707+12:002020-05-19T23:04:29.707+12:00If the social analysis provided by Kiwidave was be...If the social analysis provided by Kiwidave was better understood by our political decission makers, then we might have avoided the dysfunction he describes; one in which a growing number of Kiwis presently exist.<br /><br />My sense is that we are beyond political solutions for this group who are a product of our own stupidy. We ought to have known that it's easier to make slaves of free people than it is to make free people from intergenerational welfare slaves.<br /><br />Politicians in all Western democracies of all dispositions are ideologically committed to 'doing good' rather than simply 'doing no harm'. The latter would have been sustainable, the former is not, as we will eventually discover.Brendan McNeillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02741263914308842497noreply@blogger.com