Angry Old White Man Party to attack young people

Written By: - Date published: 12:19 pm, August 25th, 2011 - 42 comments
Categories: class war, minimum wage, tax - Tags:

Angry Old White Man Party (ACT) Leader Don Brash is to launch another attack on young people. It’s strange that this once significant and principled party has sent its dying days picking the on the young. The latest stupid idea is to remove the minimum wage for under 20s altogether and cut spending to cut taxes that the rich pay.

He said abolishing the minimum wage for those under 20 could see more people in work for lower wages, rather than fewer people working for higher wages.

So, rather than concentrate on creating high wage work, ACT’s vision is everyone hustling for a pittance. What do you call a country where there everyone has to work long hours in low productivity jobs to make a subsistence wage while a small elite enjoy low taxes? A third world country.

“Let’s say there’s someone straight out of school with no qualifications, and maybe he’s had a brush with the law a year ago, and an employer says he’ll hire him for $8 an hour.

“If you mandate a minimum of $9 an hour, that guy has to go back home and watch TV at $4.50 an hour [on a benefit]. You’ve got to ask yourself if that is a sensible thing to do.”

Dr Brash might remember there is a concept in economics called opportunity cost. What is the opportunity cost of creating the possibility for Brash’s made-up kid to get a $8 an hour job? Well, it’s paying the 103,000 15-19 years who have a job at least $13 an hour. Is it worth cutting the wages of 103,000 people, and the flow-on effects of that, just because Brash has a hunch that there might be some lower wage jobs created?

And what about the displacement of older workers? If you can pay a 22 year old the minimum wage to be a cleaner of a 19 year old $7 an hour, which are you going to do? Rather than creating more jobs, Brash’s plan would take jobs off older people.

While the Right uses productivity and wages like a carrot held in front of a donkey – become more productive and we’ll pay you more – it actually works the other way round. Productivity is really in the hands of the boss who provides the capital, the work structures, and the training. Decent wages provide an incentive for bosses to improve productivity, low wages don’t. By setting a minimum wage of $13 an hour, the government is saying, first, that this is the lowest amount a person needs to be compensated for their time and labour and, second, that a job that doesn’t create even $13 an hour of value isn’t something we want as part of building a wealthier future.

It’s sad, but not unexpected, that after 50 years in the field, the best idea Brash has is to make working people poorer based on an unevidenced assumption that this would create a few more low wage jobs, and tax cuts for the rich. Where’s the plan to grow the economy? There isn’t one, this is vampire economics at its worst.

– Bright Red

42 comments on “Angry Old White Man Party to attack young people ”

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  1. toad 1
    25 August 2011 at 12:30 pm

    “AOWM Party” has a ring to it.

  2. Anne 2
    25 August 2011 at 12:41 pm

    this once significant and principled party

    That was because there were two factions fron Day One.
    The first: economically dry but socially liberal.
    The second: conservative fiscal and social reactionaries.

    The second faction won the day.

  3. Rijab 3
    25 August 2011 at 12:44 pm

    We must protect our future generation from this ideological crap. They deserve the ability to survive in society just like the rest of us. We need to avoid raising another generation of selfish bastards like Dr Brash, and we urgently need to act to avoid the impending destruction of our social cohesion caused by these arrogant arseholes.

  4. KJT 4
    25 August 2011 at 1:01 pm

    As a real angry old white man.

    Who is angry at the devastation caused by the likes of Brash and his puppet masters.

    I object to being lumped in with proponents of greedy voodoo economics.

    Brash, National and their puppet masters should be all given a one way ticket to a real , no tax, free market paradise. Somalia is good.

    • Draco T Bastard 4.1
      25 August 2011 at 1:52 pm

      Well, apparently the libertarians do have a plan to leave. We should give them more encouragement.

      • Vicky32 4.1.1
        25 August 2011 at 4:54 pm

        I wrote a science fiction story about this back in 1984, although my ‘libertarian colony’ was in outer space. My protagonists visited 100+ years later, and saw the fruits of it, and ended up having to fight off attacks, and attempts to sabotage their space craft to stop them reporting the state of debt-peonage that had resulted from the libertarian way of life… 😀
        Back in 1984, this story was the result of reading ‘Atlas Shrugged‘. I never for a moment thought that anyone would ever seriously suggest doing it! (Founding a libertarian ‘country’)

      • McFlock 4.1.2
        25 August 2011 at 5:07 pm

        way to encourage inbreeding. Atlas Shagged his second cousin.

      • KJT 4.1.3
        25 August 2011 at 8:53 pm

        A collection of selfish, self interested Rand-its. Like to take bets on how long they will last before killing each other or introducing a radical new idea, Cooperative community!

        Like Rand deciding socialism was a good idea when it was her health and survival in question

      • Frank Macskasy 4.1.4
        26 August 2011 at 9:04 am

        I fully support founding such a colony. In fact, I’ll donate $100 for a (one way) ticket for Brash to migrate there.

        I’ve suggested – on several occassions – that neo-liberals who want to live in a free-market, minimalist government, zero-tax, user-pays society have just such a country to migrate to: Somalia.

        Somalia is perfect and meets their criteria in every respect.

        Of course, as part of user-pays, they would have to pay for their own security; their own private police force. And why shouldn’t they? After all, why should other taxpayers pay for protection of someone elses’ property, in a User Pays nirvana?

        Strangely enough, as far as I’m aware, no neo-lib has ever taken up my offer.

        And stranger even still, neo-libs seem to prefer living in New Zealand; a country built on collective efforts by it’s citizens to build up every aspect of present day society; electricity sector, education, railways, health, roading, police, bridges, libraries, etc. Even telecommunications, airlines, and television started off as tax-payer funded services. All paid by our taxes.

        Private enterprise was focused on providing citizens with supermarkets, clothing, shoes (once upon a time), and other consumer goods. It was a good balance.

        Mr Thiel and his colleagues say their ocean state would have no welfare, looser building codes, no minimum wage, and few restrictions on weapons.

        No minimum wage? But… who would clean their toilets?

        No building codes? On a free-standing oceanic city? Oh, I can see that working… not.

        Few restrictions on weapons. I can see gun nuts loving that. Including gentlemen like Anders Behring Breivik.

        Call me cynical, but I doubt if Peter Thiel’s ‘Seasteading’ project will succeed. For one thing, human nature is involved – and as we all know, human nature can be a bugger of a thing to deal with.

        Secondly, what happens if Thiel’s ‘island’ gets in trouble? Perhaps struck by a hurricane? Will the Seasteaders expect rescue from the international community? And will they be willing to PAY for assistance? (User pays, of course.)

        The article further states,

        “The Seasteading Institute says it will ‘give people the freedom to choose the government they want instead of being stuck with the government they get’.”

        Uh oh. That sounds perilously close to that pesky concept popularly know as “de-mo-cra-cy”. Damned dangerous, that “de-mo-cra-cy”. What happens if, in time, the population of ‘Seastead’ elect a government that is more interventionist?

        Will Thiel then build another libertarian community? To get away from the first ‘Seastead’, taken over over “leftists”?

        Personally, I think Somalia would be a cheaper option.

        • mik e 4.1.4.1
          26 August 2011 at 9:30 pm

          He would probably survive their as he only eats corned beef and mushy peas.Since he’s given up being a devout Christian , He now could become a Muslim and keep all his wives and support them

  5. Jim Nald 5
    25 August 2011 at 1:40 pm

    Don Brash gives the senior members of our community a really very bad name.

    We should aspire to growing old gracefully and gain deeper respect from society but he sets a disgraceful example.

  6. AAMC 6
    25 August 2011 at 1:43 pm

    “What do you call a country where there everyone has to work long hours in low productivity jobs to make a subsistence wage while a small elite enjoy low taxes?”

    New Zealand

  7. ianmac 7
    25 August 2011 at 2:49 pm

    How come every daft utterance from Brash gets this MSM mileage (kilometreage?) when Left ideas are buried in personality politics and distractions. Brash represents (?) less than 2% of the people whereas Goff represents at least 30% of the people. Huh?

    • Blue 7.1
      25 August 2011 at 7:32 pm

      Because those 2% are the NZ Herald’s subscriber base.

      • mik e 7.1.1
        25 August 2011 at 9:56 pm

        They pay for the adds in the herald so they get as much time as they can to whistle up a few dogs that will mr nice look moderate

        • Jum 7.1.1.1
          25 August 2011 at 10:10 pm

          Mik e,

          It will come down, this year, to just how fair and intelligent the people of New Zealand really are – how much they want an egalitarian country back again, or a pile of cash that they’ve trod on their neighbours to steal.

          The rightwing strongholds will be responsible for stealing the assets which belong to all of us, and splitting the proceeds amongst themselves.

          How many of those electorates are there? How many people in each electorate will vote for a rightwing candidate that will be responsible for selling off our assets?

          • the pink postman 7.1.1.1.1
            27 August 2011 at 2:08 pm

            Well that’s what I thought in the 1970s/80s but they still voted for the terrible Muldoon. Funny thing is now days nobody admits to voting for that tyrant .

  8. dave brown 8
    25 August 2011 at 3:32 pm

    There is a logic to Brash’s apparent atavistic brain storms. He represents the old guard of fiscal rectitude (as opposed to speculative brats like Jonkey) who know that the system is in a state of collapse. The main enemy of the system is young people who are both educated and deprived and are not yet intimidated by power plays. Key knows that to keep the system on life support he must cut off young peoples capacity to know and overthrow. Hence as part of his proto-fascist mission to divide and destroy the working class, he demonises youth, along with Maori, and if he can get away with it, women. It is not a subtle logic but it still gets past a lot of people who think he’s just a stupid old white man. Incidentally Brash is both a social conservative and economic liberal (as in neo) tho in both cases he is like all of them a hypocrite.

    • Draco T Bastard 8.1
      25 August 2011 at 4:33 pm

      Incidentally Brash is both a social conservative and economic liberal…

      Other wise known as a Right Wing Authoritarian.

    • HC 8.2
      26 August 2011 at 4:41 pm

      “He represents the old guard of fiscal rectitude”

      Well, it is more like “fiscal rectum policies”, is it not?

      The Aged Candidate Troop (ACT) dreams of resuming the failed policies that were slowly being abandoned by National led governments in the mid to late 1990s, and that were certainly largely laid to rest by Labour led governments in the first decade of the millenium.

      Hence they have “resounding” support by about 2 % of the total electorate.

  9. alex 9
    25 August 2011 at 3:51 pm

    Yeah I got a flier from ACT the other day, had a good old laugh at their graphs and claims. I have friends and siblings who are youths, and would get a lower wage under ACT. They work, and work hard. They would also be furious if someone came along and cut their pay for no good reason, though their bosses would love it.

  10. Oligarkey 10
    25 August 2011 at 8:28 pm

    The Association of Corpses and Tories strikes again. Great.

    • Colonial Viper 10.1
      25 August 2011 at 10:09 pm

      Association of Corpse-like Tories is better I think.

      Thing is, I know a few actual corpses who would be embarrassed to be seen with the likes of Brash and Banks.

    • mik e 10.2
      26 August 2011 at 9:35 pm

      Otherwise known as Association of Con artists and Tricksters

  11. robertguyton 11
    25 August 2011 at 8:44 pm

    ““AOWM” that’s the sound Brash makes when he gets up in the morning”

    You reckon he still does Blighty?

  12. Jum 12
    25 August 2011 at 10:01 pm

    When I attack the NActMU government over the next few months, I will remove the ‘M’.

    On Maori TV, on Sunday 28 August, at 8.30 pm we will be able to watch The Hollow Men, which shows the plotting of Brash and Key (let’s not even try to deny Key wasn’t in the loop) to steal government in 2005. The most interesting lines of course are at the end where Key takes over and continues the plotting.

    Thank you Maori TV.

    Thinking New Zealanders have already watched it, although thinking New Zealanders having to work 3 jobs or try to find one are too busy to worry about whether they can trust their government or not (we know already we can’t trust this one) so will have missed it.

    If every voting New Zealander doesn’t watch this film they are denying themselves the eye-opening chance to see how vulnerable they really are to manipulation by any party with the money, the power and the lack of ethics.

    New Zealanders – do try to see the difference between America’s man John Key who puts on any mask he is told to and Phil Goff one of a government that Douglas had complete control over (like he does now over National/Act), that’s right, Phil Goff, who has admitted he got it wrong in pushing his controller’s sell off mantra. Not that you have much control over people like Roger Douglas and his backers, and Key and his neo-conservative backers.

    It’s extremely refreshing to see that Goff wants to keep what’s left of our assets that Douglas, Richardson, Douglas Hide and Key have sold off or intend to.

    Thank you Phil Goff and Labour/Progressives/Greens.

  13. Steve Withers 13
    25 August 2011 at 10:05 pm

    The lack of empathy evidenced by most ACT party members I’ve seen or met over the years makes me think they should be referred to as the ACT-spergers Party.

    That’s probably in bad taste…and unfair to people with aspergers….at least those not in the ACT Party.

    I should stop now.

  14. Drakula 14
    25 August 2011 at 10:33 pm

    “Once significant and principled party.”?

    When in the history of human kind were the ACT party ever principled?

    Not that I disagree with your article but it seems to me that you never lived through the eighties before the ACT party was even thought of.

    The founding members Roger Douglas and Richard Prebble were in the labour Party under false pretences of promoting Labour socialist policies when in fact they sold off NZ Post and NZ railways under the pretext of digging the government out of debt caused by Muldoon’s think big policies.

    Come the creation of ACT and no pretext was needed to privatise state owned assets, it was simply standard practice!!!!!!!

    How devious is that?

  15. hrrrumph 15
    26 August 2011 at 4:51 am

    what’s angry got to do with it?

    A Bunch of Old Intergenerational Crooks is closer. Can’t really see what they’ve got to be angry with!

  16. Jenny 16
    26 August 2011 at 6:02 am

    The sick twisted logic of Don Brash.

    Brash said waiving interest on student loans had been an “outrageously extravagant” election bribe by the previous Labour government.

    “It is entirely unclear to me why the average wage-earner in Otara should be paying most of the cost of educating the children of those on high incomes to be doctors and lawyers,” he said.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5504687/ACT-releases-core-election-policies

    Brash just accepts as the natural order of things, “that the average wage earner in Otara” wouldn’t have their children at university.

    • Jum 16.1
      26 August 2011 at 10:51 am

      ‘Blue-collar workers’ do help pay for the professions, but two points put Brash, Key, Douglas, Hide and Joyce into the sick twisted zone. (We have to mention all of this cabal because Brash won’t be doing this all on his owny-own.)

      1. There was once, in egalitarian times, an unwritten promise by those who became doctors and lawyers, professors and scientists to repay the blue-collar subsidies by giving their time and their expertise to helping New Zealanders at a lower price and with honour.

      Then, the interest-bearing loans were forced on those students who then retaliated by going overseas and not paying or in this present financial climate unable to get a job and unable to pay back debt. Then the greed and the selfishness started to breed in this unholy alliance that New Zealand had joined with international business rotundtable and Ashcroft neo-conservatives.

      The original onus on students to pass their exams for the subsidy to take effect was a good system.

      2. He is racist. Because of the greedy policies of him and his other bloodsuckers there are all sorts of people who once had money to feed and educate themselves no longer can. They don’t just live in Otara and they ain’t just brown; don’t let’s pretend he was including whites here.

      Although there is ‘poor white trailer trash’ that he wouldn’t stick on life support if he could avoid it. We even have superannuitants now that budgeted beautifully until just recently but are forced to go to food banks because of his government’s theft of New Zealanders’ futures.

      Why isn’t Brash in America; that is so his sort of place. So piss off Brash and take America’s men Jkeyll and Hide, Douglas and Joyce with you.

      Epsom voters might like to consider Colin Craig who is equally unpalatable to me but at least he said his party would not sell our assets. (We must read the fine print of that policy). But, Craig will also want adults to have the freedom to hit children again though. That’s a downside for humanity.

      Voting for the Greens is a much better choice and would show this government that even the affluent and powerful don’t like getting quite this much blood on their hands. Unless they want to build gates around their paradises ready for when the ‘great unwashed’ come for them 5 or 10 years down the track.

      Of course Key will have returned to America; their system is already geared to control of the downtrodden.

      • Frank Macskasy 16.1.1
        26 August 2011 at 4:33 pm

        Student loans were introduced in 1992.

        Can folks confirm that teriary fees were introduced at the same time, or earlier? Any links to a source would be appreciated.

        This issue refers to recent tax avoiders, Dr Gary Hooper and Dr Ian Penny.

        • mik e 16.1.1.1
          26 August 2011 at 9:42 pm

          Frank tertiary fees have been around for a very long time they were fairly minimal until the economic irrationalists ruined the education system.

  17. HC 17
    26 August 2011 at 4:55 pm

    When you are 18 years of age you are entitled to vote and do many other things that “adults” are entitled to do.

    Yet WINZ does treat beneficiaries as “youth” until they are 20 or 21 years old.

    We have now a zero alcohol policy for any drivers under the age of 20. There are some that want to put the drinking age back to 21.

    Don Brash thinks that you are not an “adult” until you are 20 years old.

    NZ is a country with many back ward minded politicians and Don Brash is one of the best examples.

    If you are old enough at age 18 to vote and do many other things adults can do, why are there all these legal exemptions to the rule.

    Also why does National want to enforce payment cards on ALL beneficiaries (the few there are) aged 16 and 17, and parents aged 18? This is purely collective punishment and discrimination, because only case by case considerations should enforce such cards only on persons that have proved they cannot budget or have serious issues like addiction diseases.

    Talk about “nanny state”, these are certainly hypocritical “nanny state” and “big brother state” policies.

    • Frank Macskasy 17.1
      28 August 2011 at 11:30 pm

      16 and 17 year olds also cannot legally buy liquor and ciggies. So a Bene Card designed to prevent such purchases seems a bit redundant – they shouldn’t be sold those products regardless of whether they are beneficiaries, or have $1,000,000 in their bank accounts…

      I think that’s pretty much proof-positive that this is nothing but bene-bashing by the Nats. But we knew that already, of course.

      It’s the middle classes out there who nod approvingly at such authoritarian measures – without actually considering what National is feeding them…