In the documentary based on Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine, Klein stated:
We are witnessing a transfer of wealth of unfathomable size. It is a transfer of wealth from the public hands, from the hands of government collected from regular people in the form of taxes, into the hands of the wealthiest corporations and individuals in the world. Needless to say the very individuals and corporations that created this crisis.
Yesterday, in my post, Shocking the people into submission, I explained how the powerful elites opportunistically use the disorienting impact of disasters and economic shocks to further their “neoliberal” agenda. This contributes to the massive shifting of wealth to the already rich and powerful, continually increasing the gap between rich and poor. The poor become marginalised, increasingly powerless and demonised by John Key’s NAct government.
The following are some images of what this means in NZ in the second decade of the 21st century:
Image from NZ child poverty documentary 2011
Let’s feed the kids, Otara breakfast courtesy of Mana Party
Peter Jackson’s New York penthouse for sale
Jackson’s New York penthouses for sale May 2013
State Houses demolished in Hastings, as reported October 2012
Some recent links on poverty and inequalities in NZ, and National’s disgrace:
Press release yesterday from Green co-leader MetIria Turei:
The National Government has trivialised child poverty, and the needs of a quarter of kiwi kids, by ignoring most recommendations from the Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty, the Green Party said today.
“The National Government is in denial, both about the extent of child poverty in New Zealand and about the power it has to do something about it,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said.
“The Government’s official response to the Commissioner’s report yesterday is an insult to children and to the team of experts who delivered a comprehensive and doable plan to tackle child poverty
Opinion piece from a couple of days ago by Nikki Turner, associate professor at Auckland University’s faculty of medical and health sciences, and the health spokeswoman for the Child Poverty Action Group, BEGINS:
New Zealand continues to grapple with a poor track record for child poverty and particularly the rising inequality affecting our poorest children.
Press release yesterday from UN Human Rights Commissioner:
“Participation is a fundamental human right, not a simple policy option that policymakers can choose not to implement,” United Nations Special Rapporteur Magdalena Sepúlveda said today, presenting her annual report* to the Human Rights Council.
The independent expert on extreme poverty and human rights urged world governments to enable persons living in poverty to participate in decisions that affect their lives. “States must make sustained and proactive efforts to ensure that the voices of people living in poverty can be heard in public debate and policy making,” she stressed.
Tuesday’s press release from Hone Harawira:
Government had the opportunity to do something today about seriously reducing poverty” said Hone Harawira, Leader of MANA and MP for Te Tai Tokerau “and they choked.”
In 2012 the Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty released a report showing that 270,000 children in New Zealand were living below the poverty line and recommended a comprehensive government-funded food in schools programme for low-decile schools.
“And the Prime Minister’s solution?” asked Harawira “A 5 year commitment of less than $2 million a year.”
Knowledge, the sharing of it, and collective action is power.
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