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Politics & Pleasure: TV 2012

Written By: - Date published: 5:00 pm, December 31st, 2012 - 32 comments

We tend to rework reality, included political knowledge and understanding, into a basic (fictionalised) story structure, with villains, heroes, and values absorbed from pleasurable forms of fiction, including TV.  This is a look at the political values embedded in some popular TV dramas.

Is more people the answer for NZ?

Written By: - Date published: 9:12 am, November 5th, 2012 - 71 comments

The estimated population of New Zealand reached 4,444,444 on the 1st of November 2012. Nothing special other than a rare moment of symmetry in an otherwise random and chaotic world. It is an opportunity to ask a pretty basic question: what is the ideal population for New Zealand? We can’t keep growing our population forever, nor would it make us richer if we did so. When is enough enough?

Social Democratic Economy: Part 2

Written By: - Date published: 4:25 pm, September 27th, 2012 - 32 comments

Draco gives his long awaited second part on his views on a social democratic economy.

..the present socio-economic system that we use, namely Free Market Capitalism, is a failure. When thinking about the economy and how it works I realised I had to go back to basics as almost everything that’s taught about economics in the mainstream theories is bollocks – most of its assumptions aren’t even close to being realistic.

 

We are all beneficiaries

Written By: - Date published: 9:04 am, August 23rd, 2012 - 85 comments

Deborah Russell’s piece in the Dominion Post sets out some constructive thoughts on welfare.

Advice to Labour: Fair, inclusive, positive

Written By: - Date published: 10:09 am, August 18th, 2012 - 69 comments

Hey Labour – here’s three words for you. Fair, inclusive, positive. You’ll win the next election, and the two after that.

Why I’m In – a response to the disillusioned

Written By: - Date published: 7:39 am, August 10th, 2012 - 143 comments

A somewhat meandering and personal response to the disillusioned, prompted by Scott Yorke’s recent “Why I’m Out”.

The Political Scientist: Underneath the ‘underclass’

Written By: - Date published: 1:13 pm, July 31st, 2012 - 7 comments

Many of those who participate in the comments here at The Standard also run their own excellent blogs. We regularly feature No Right Turn and Imperator Fish Today we’re reposting (with permission) pieces from two other blogs that attracted some attention in Open mike recently. Here’s the second one, from The Political Scientist…

The end of growth

Written By: - Date published: 9:13 am, June 14th, 2012 - 26 comments

Five to fifteen years of economic turmoil. Peak oil. Climate change. For “Western” / OECD countries it’s time to start creating a world based on a different kind of growth.

Do Economists have the answers?

Written By: - Date published: 7:40 am, June 9th, 2012 - 372 comments

Austerity: another great idea brought to you by the same people who got us into this mess. But some economists are able to think outside the orthodoxy: There Are Real Alternatives. See you at The Voyage.

Greens going mainstream

Written By: - Date published: 11:57 am, June 4th, 2012 - 73 comments

The Greens have singled out Key and Bennett for scathing personal criticism. Another sign that The Greens are becoming a mainstream political party? Can’t argue with the results, but I must admit that I find it all faintly depressing.

Sunday reading

Written By: - Date published: 10:39 am, June 3rd, 2012 - 12 comments

Last week I put up some Sunday reading – longer, thoughtful pieces I’d found.  I liked that other people also put up their links, with some very interesting topics.  So I thought I might make it a regular feature.  I’d put up a couple of interesting things that I’d come across in the week, and other people could share their links.

Clean, Green & Clever: NZ Institute’s last prescription

Written By: - Date published: 2:33 pm, May 9th, 2012 - 34 comments

Ever since I went to his Fabian lecture in February, I’ve been meaning to write about Rick Boven’s last major work before leaving the NZ Institute to its Business Roundtable merger. It’s a major piece of thinking, and a piece he can be proud of signing off with. He charts an uncertain future – one […]

Give the future a vote

Written By: - Date published: 1:32 pm, May 5th, 2012 - 93 comments

How to we improve the consideration of long term issues in the political process? How do we build in incentives to take these issues seriously?

Dumbing down search

Written By: - Date published: 11:15 am, April 24th, 2012 - 18 comments

Do we really want search results tailored to our mood and intelligence? Are we going to take the most powerful aggregate of information ever assembled by humanity and bend it to our cognitive biases?

Hubris in pink

Written By: - Date published: 9:35 pm, March 27th, 2012 - 23 comments

“Crusher Collins up close”  headlines a two-page article by Andrea Vance in the Saturday March 10 DomPost. It’s not on the Stuff website but deserves a wider audience. John Key might have been unwise to have stayed away on holiday this week – he should remember what happened to Jim Bolger.

Priorities

Written By: - Date published: 10:33 am, December 19th, 2011 - 25 comments

Trillions have been plowed into bailing out banks, investors, and whole countries during the economic crisis. The cost easily exceeds total investment in tackling climate change. Is it, as George Monbiot argues, that elites just look out for themselves, or are humans just incapable of perceiving the danger of large, slowly-building problems?

All the 1s

Written By: - Date published: 11:11 am, November 11th, 2011 - 34 comments

Eleven seconds after this goes up, it will be 11:11.11 11/11/11. Arbitrary but still pretty cool I guess. Once in a century event, having all the same numeral. Interesting to reflect on how much has changed since 11:11.11 11/11/1911. And how little. Wonder what it will be like at 11:11.11 11/11/2111. Better – is all we can hope.

Free market quake

Written By: - Date published: 9:43 am, August 3rd, 2011 - 52 comments

The “free market” exists to make profit.  It does have some advantages when everything is running smoothly. But the free market is hopeless in tough times. It never wants to pay out or clean up the mess.

Monbiot on the left

Written By: - Date published: 8:53 am, May 8th, 2011 - 62 comments

George Monbiot on the psychology of political debate (and why we’re all screwed).

What is important to voters?

Written By: - Date published: 8:17 am, April 23rd, 2011 - 52 comments

DPF reckons “that issues of policy are less important to voters than issues of competence”.  What an impoverished view of democracy!  Perhaps he should look a little deeper than last week’s poll…

It couldn’t happen here?

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 9th, 2011 - 17 comments

When I went to China on a private visit in 2008, Helen Clark sent me a text message telling me on no account to leave my cellphone or computer unattended. Over the last few years I noticed baskets in Ministers’ offices for visitors and officials to deposit their cellphones before they went in to see […]

Begging the question

Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, March 25th, 2011 - 43 comments

Yesterday, John Armstrong wrote “Goff’s management of the crisis has already begged a major question.” Apart from making me wonder if the question was ‘is it OK for the Minister of Police to leak stories about ongoing police investigations for political gain’, Armstrong’s misuse of ‘begging the question’ reminded me of this song.

Cometh the Hour

Written By: - Date published: 9:19 pm, March 7th, 2011 - 53 comments

ChrisH submitted this incredibly knowledgeable and well-researched post on the rebuilding of Christchurch a few days ago. The announcement that large parts now lower-lying eastern suburbs will be abandoned lends more strength to his call for a visionary urban plan for the new, more resilient Christchurch. And Phil Goff has the history to present it.

Re-imagining Danyl’s special theory of Key

Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, February 19th, 2011 - 45 comments

Over at Dimpost, Danyl wrote an interesting piece after seeing the video of John Key in the House saying that if Kiwi families find themselves needing to go to foodbanks it is their fault. That nasty moment, Danyl thought, explained the disconnect between how the political Left and the general public perceives Key. Actually, it’s just the surface.

Why Revolutions Stumble and Fall

Written By: - Date published: 12:28 pm, February 15th, 2011 - 28 comments

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?

“Rich”

Written By: - Date published: 12:17 pm, January 23rd, 2011 - 259 comments

We have a national myth that everyone is in essence equal, yet we have a disparity of wealth where 10% own more than the other 90% put together and 50% have no net assets. How does one square away occupying a position of extreme privilege in a democratic society? Often, by convincing yourself that your privilege doesn’t exist.

Rationality vs Electability

Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, January 11th, 2011 - 38 comments

The Left have too long accepted the Right’s turf to fight their battles on. Instead of appealing to individualism, the Left need to make community the norm. But whilst avoiding their turf, we do need to use the Right’s preferred weapon – emotion. We must counter their offer of individual wealth for a few with collective happiness for all.

Democracy is bad at hard problems

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, December 8th, 2010 - 72 comments

Democracy can be very bad at dealing with hard problems.  Case in point, the Nats’ appalling handling of the issue of our ageing population.  The Nats are stuck, so the country is stuck, rabbit in the headlights, while the size of the problem continues to grow…

When I’m 64

Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, December 5th, 2010 - 14 comments

There seems to have been a reasonable breakthrough in research to reverse ageing.  Is it a good thing?  If you think the world has resource and environmental problems now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.  If you think we have social injustice and insane inequities in wealth now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Managing Addiction

Written By: - Date published: 2:16 pm, November 6th, 2010 - 32 comments

We’ve had numerous prescriptions claiming to tackle ever growing numbers of social ills, but the elephant in the room; the underlying cause for our problems as a society is always, assiduously ignored.  And that means that many of our resources are being wasted (perhaps deliberately) on illusory problems.

Democratising capital

Written By: - Date published: 10:18 am, October 30th, 2010 - 85 comments

After the Hobbit debacle, no-one can fail to understand the power that those who control capital exercise in a capitalist economy. The system is set up for them, hence the name, and their power is never stronger than during recessions. While capital is unaccountable, we cannot have true democracy and freedom. How can we democratise capital?

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