You really can’t square the circle

Written By: - Date published: 11:37 pm, December 12th, 2010 - 18 comments
Categories: brand key, foreshore and seabed - Tags:

One of the central tenets of Brand Key is that he can do what ‘normal’ politicians can’t. With his boundless optimism and those mysterious trader skills, he can solve problems no-one else can. For a while, some believed he can satisfied both Maori and the Rednecks on the foreshore. Of course, really, he had just done a cheap rebrand of the existing law.

The same is true of capital-labour relations. Key got the unions along to the Jobs Summit and we were meant to believe he had overcome the old divide – he, and he alone, could satisfy capital and labour – huzzah! Of course, it was all show. In reality, Key has pursued a labour relations policy that is, in many respects, more extreme than the 1990s National Government. Even those bastards didn’t take away our work rights for the first 90 days at a new job.

The Blue-Green agenda was always a sick joke. But some got swept up in the idea that it would be possible to champion unbridled capitalism and protect the environment at the same time. The mining agenda, the offshore oil drilling, and the disgraceful behaviour of National ministers at the climate change talks revealed the truth – the Nats haven’t changed, the green talk was all show.

These ideas really are anathema, oil and water. No-one can actually satisfy political objectives that are diametrically opposite to each other, and Key is no different. The pretense that he could do otherwise was just that.

18 comments on “You really can’t square the circle ”

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  1. Colonial Viper 1
    12 December 2010 at 11:53 pm

    Key had both the mandate and the political capital to really tackle change and bipartisanship for a better NZ’er for all. The fact that he has gone for the show pony PR role demonstrates that he doesn’t have the guts or the vision.

  2. Jeremy Harris 2
    13 December 2010 at 12:13 am

    People who think politicians will live up to their promises are like those who regularly go to fortune tellers – suckers repeatedly being fooled…

    • Colonial Viper 2.1
      13 December 2010 at 12:26 am

      are like those who regularly go to fortune tellers – suckers repeatedly being fooled…

      or like those who regularly go to economists 😀

    • felix 2.2
      13 December 2010 at 9:33 am

      Jeremy it’s not good enough to write off every instance of deceit by this govt as an issue all politicians need to answer for. You were doing exactly the same thing over on the “urgency” thread.

      It’s bullshit. These guys are in power, they’re the ones to be held to account.

      • Lanthanide 2.2.1
        13 December 2010 at 10:01 am

        Someone else pointed it out in a comment thread a while ago, might’ve been you even.

        Labour stuff up: shame on Labour. National stuff up: shame on politicians.

      • Jeremy Harris 2.2.2
        13 December 2010 at 5:39 pm

        Felix you’ll find I’ll do the same when Labour is next in power, breaking promises and eroding democracy for power’s sake…

  3. Draco T Bastard 3
    13 December 2010 at 1:01 am

    Even those bastards didn’t take away our work rights for the first 90 days at a new job.

    Pretty sure that most of them happen to be the same bastards.

    The Blue-Green agenda was always a sick joke.

    Blue-green algae is decidedly poisonous and so are blue-green politicians.

    These ideas really are anathema, oil and water.

    The other idea that they can’t square is the idea that capitalism, a means of maintaining dictatorial control, is compatible with democracy.

  4. Robert Atack 4
    13 December 2010 at 7:35 am

    Come on guys as far as the environment goes the red – green agenda was a flop also.. and they had 9 years.
    All we got was a savings scam that will never payout, at least for those under 63.

    • bbfloyd 4.1
      13 December 2010 at 7:55 am

      earth to robert… the savings scheme was designed for exactly that.. so that our children and grandchildren and their families shouldn’t be forced to go through hardship in order to pay for our retirement… scam?, you really need to understand the difference between real governance and party political propaganda…

      • Robert Atack 4.1.1
        13 December 2010 at 8:11 am

        Listen my anonymous friend, for KS to payout in 47 years (for the 18yo) we will need breathable air, a livable environment, and an economy that has had constant growth or at least heading that way, that equals more roads, more people, more destruction of the environment …. we are 30 – thirty – years behind the damage we have already done, the greeds should know this, therefor the age of growth is over, we peaked in 2007-8, that was it, the planet well not see 9 billion people, read page A6 Saturdays Dom = no more growth = no more retirement funds, and next to no more grandchildren celebrating there retirement)
        ring me if that didn’t explaine it for you
        [deleted]

        [lprent: We don’t allow personal contact details to be published onsite. Apart from other issues it makes this site a target for even more bots trying to harvest e-mails and phone numbers. If you want to get people to contact you, put a link to your details on another site. ]

        • Colonial Viper 4.1.1.1
          13 December 2010 at 8:52 am

          Shouldn’t have a real live no. on here methinks

          • Lanthanide 4.1.1.1.1
            13 December 2010 at 10:03 am

            Yes. Lynn, you should redact Robert’s cell phone number out of his post.

            [lprent: Thanks – missed that this morning. (bleary eyes after late night coding and writing a long comment on The Hand Mirror, plus the coffee supply ran out at home). ]

        • bbfloyd 4.1.1.2
          13 December 2010 at 10:29 am

          don’t be silly robert, if you assume that we won’t have a livable environment in the timeframe you quote, then anything we do now is pointless.. so as the logic goes, we may as well carry on as usual…

          one small point…. the major problem with superannuation costs at present is the fact that the crisis will have arrived in less than ten years. that is when a disproportionate number of our population will be retired. in 47 years our numbers of retired, assuming we can still breathe, will be much lower, as you point out. the answer is to deal with it now, so that if we are still breeding in forty years, then we won’t still have the burden to carry for a generation long dead.

          i agree wholeheartedly on the stupidity of where we are headed if we can’t change our thinking on what constitutes sensible economic thinking… i have long considered the “greed is good” approach to be ultimately self defeating..

          i do have a problem with assumptions being put forward as hard facts though. the “fact” that we have stopped expanding our populations is an assumption at best.. i would agree with anyone who were to say that we need to find credible ways of reducing the human population on earth, as continued growth in that area will inevitably hasten our own extinction. to say that you can put a time limit, or predict accurately when the collapse will arrive is disingenuous. … adopting an “it’s all a waste of time so don’t bother
          ‘ approach would qualify as a self fulfilling prophecy..

  5. Robert Atack 5
    13 December 2010 at 6:44 pm

    if you assume that we won’t have a livable environment in the timeframe you quote, then anything we do now is pointless.
    Yes ……….
    That includes chucking babies at the problem, I am not against kids, lucky not to have any, but seeing a new born just makes me want to cry, and shoot the parents 😉 .
    But what the hell, I’m just giving myself ulcers, I have to learn to turn off, as nothing I’ve done has stopped the insanity.

    Contact details @ http://oilcrash.com/contact.htm .. no media

  6. randal 6
    14 December 2010 at 12:54 pm

    the thing about key is he will disappear just as fast as he arrived.
    his essential premise is that everything is sale and while that may be true the price is not the true cost and when the electorate finds that out then bye bye johnny key.

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