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notices and features - Date published:
6:00 am, December 6th, 2020 - 34 comments
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The current rise of populism challenges the way we think about people’s relationship to the economy.We seem to be entering an era of populism, in which leadership in a democracy is based on preferences of the population which do not seem entirely rational nor serving their longer interests. ...
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This company has certainly got a lot of publicity out of this stupid stunt!
Man hospitalised in Auckland after The Safety Warehouse's '$100k cash drop' turns violent and 'fake money' handed out – NZ Herald
Seems they did drop $100K in real money, and $40K worth of discounts. Sadly, the street wasn't really paved in gold so the crowd resorted to mob violence and attacked a worker. Fuck ém.
/
I think the company are a bunch of dickheads, but I still can't get over how stupid some people are. That guy Wayne Lynch drove for approximately six hours from Palmerston, spent $120 on petrol. And then he lets the media interview him……….if that is true then he's basically just outed himself as the most stupid person in NZ.
The widespread acceptance of casual violence is at the root of family harm, bullying, thuggery, drunken violence and shit like this. And we should call it for what it is; an inter-generational blight that plagues our society.
Leave the precariat alone. These people have been suffering badly for decades from poverty and lack of opportunities and a place of security to live in, with standards of living and working conditions far below those commonly regarded as the norm. They have been treated roughly by the government, they have coped by hardening up.
So seizing opportunity being ready to give things a go, travelling to the site of the stunt in anticipation many find that once again they have been conned and lashed out which is their normal behaviour.
Don't say fuck'em, say: Don't turn people into scrabbling animals fighting over a bone. It's inhuman the way that the poor have been treated in NZ and on a left-leaning blog your approach, and the similar others, shows as much understanding as David Shearer's snide remark about beneficiaries, implying that they are likely skivers. The neolib vicious know how to bring the worst out in people, that knowledge is embedded in their creed, such as that nobody does anything for others out of kindness of heart, it is done for a buzz of personal satisfaction; this was done as a publicity stunt. The owner activated the neolib core in people to a level he didn't understand or expect. So I think this quote from him about his employee's health also applies to him.
And: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/432215/fake-cash-drop-marketers-should-apologise-professor
To look at it kindly, Mr Lynch just did what many do nowadays- got his five minutes of fame.
As for the stupidity? Drunk drivers, drug-impaired drivers, gamblers, Lotto ticket buyers, betting on horses, unprotected sex, voting National, avoiding vaccinations, speeding, dangerous overtaking, drinking DB………. have I missed anyone yet?
As a wise ancient once said, "Let he who is without sin…."
Our ethnologists wrote of the cargo cult as an aberration; I wonder what they said about the cultists who climbed Mt Herbert on Banks Peninsula for The Rapture a few years ago.
Then there are the people who comment on blogs.
Then there are the people who read them…….
Mac1 – good one.
And for people who read blogs I haven't read this one from Chris Trotter yet but the image shows a lot of people out in the streets about something – it might have something worthwhile to add to the diss-course.
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2020/12/the-last-thing-working-class-new.html
the trotter piece is worth the read..
richard prebble sez that 'nz has elected a conservative government'..
hard to argue with that..
and prebble-haters could view it as prebble having a stopped-clock-right-once-every-24hrs-moment..
if that helps..?
Phillip U – lol
Every once in a while Chris Trotter "hits the nail right on the head".
His nail-hitting to thumb-hitting ratio is pretty dismal though
i would think he had his thumb amputated long ago.
I cant believe it was allowed to go ahead tbh, the entire premise was a recipe for disaster…. soumds lile quire a few nasty injuries
I can't believe that people could be so stupid and gullible.
or desperate
Yup, and FOMO, just like house buyers, especially first-home buyers. To call them stupid and gullible is just lazy labelling and patronising, IMHO.
"I can't believe that people could be so stupid and gullible."
I can, look at the election result, 57.9% were
edit
What was that belch about Westykev. Are you a real westie? We are talking about poor people's hopes not being met after a large business promotion. Nothing else at the moment.
Don’t think there would have been many wearied there mate. Bullshit meter was off the scale.
um- why was the "Safety" Warehouse having staff work "20 hours straight"?
Let alone the surprise that a promise to drop $100k in cash might result in a riot. So much for risk assessment.
Letter to RNZ this morning…
What has happen to RNZ National?
Once considered the gold standard in NZ news and current affairs by most critical thinkers, but now only a shadow of its former self..and to make matters worse it has become overtly racist and classist during it slow spiral downward.
Sure RNZ National has better ratings than ever..but then The Daily Mail is the most widely read English speaking news source in the World so I am not sure you would want to read into those statistics too deeply.
The producers at RNZ have it seems, become completely captured by what can only be described as a fully immersed and quite overt text book form of Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky's 'Manufacturing Consent" a book and thesis that I am sure you are all well aware of.
However as the old saying goes 'Knowledge is no defense'…and this sadly looks to be the case within the staff rooms of RNZ.
I will just observe one case to illustrate my point, though I could go on infinitum if I desired with RNZ Nationals almost daily, either omissions of information or distortions of information, which is ironic as it is RNZ who have been one of the most vocal in their (rightful) attacks on fake news..however RNZ themselves are at worst guilty of doing exactly that, and at best regularly feeding out (or commonly not feeding out) news (especially international) in way that either distorts and/or diminishes the very news it is meant to be unbiasedly disseminating.
Why is it that RNZ has not covered the huge strikes and protests in India where up to 250 million farm workers and farmers participated in a general strike in what is looking be the largest workers strike in history?
Now one could reasonably assume that this would warrant at least a small amount of coverage and follow up, especially as many Kiwis are farm and horticultural workers themselves so would easily be able to relate to the plight of these workers, there are also quarter of a million Indians in New Zealand, I am sure this news would be of interest to some of them..but no, not on RNZ.
I will leave it to the reader to unpack to reasons why the (possibly) largest workers strike in human history, carried out by brown people against neo liberal labour reforms doesn't meet the standard of worthy news in the offices of RNZ.
Best
Adrian Thornton
Hawkes Bay
"Why is it that RNZ has not covered the huge strikes and protests in India where up to 250 million farm workers and farmers participated in a general strike in what is looking be the largest workers strike in history?"
Tbf. I hadn't heard of this so did a bit of googling.
No main stream ones seem to be covering it apart from a a few far Lefty sites.
Which without knowing the in and outs, means to me at least, she is either over exaggerated in the numbers, or a massive global conspiracy theory.
Am guessing the first, but happy to be shown otherwise.
I'm guessing there's been a mistranslation of lakh (100,000). In reports that appear to be coming directly from India, the size of the protests is reported as approximately 2 lakh (200,000).
eg https://www.newsclick.in/Explained-Why-Workers-Going-Strike-Farmers-Protesting
The few articles that make it into the western media outlets that are interested in presenting checked facts rather than hysterical hyperbole are also reporting approximately 250,000.
eg https://www.vox.com/2020/12/2/21726648/india-farmer-protests-strike-action-new-delhi
Does seem a bit odd it is glaringly missing though. Still big numbers
Are you aware it was a nation wide strike?
Most reports use the term "crore", not lakh
https://www.firstpost.com/india/25-cr-workers-join-nationwide-strike-against-centres-laws-farmers-face-teargas-water-cannons-on-march-to-delhi-9055781.html
http://www.industriall-union.org/over-250-million-workers-join-national-strike-in-india
https://www.bloombergquint.com/politics/nationwide-strike-affects-normal-life-in-kerala-odisha-other-states-over-25-cr-workers-join-agitation-trade-unions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Indian_general_strike
Adrian is right
Stuff publishes very lucid articles by Gwynne Dyer who is a Canadian journalist. In his recent item he talks about populist leaders, naming India's Modi as done.
He also ponders on whether Trump's accession fuelled many another bombastic irresponsible (my words) person to follow in his footsteps. If Trump can be bribed to leave if he is allowed to keep his whoopee cushion, will the others follow suit?
https://www.thetelegram.com/opinion/local-perspectives/gwynne-dyer-oh-those-reckless-populists-527161/
(The Telegram says it is a foremost publisher on the Canadian Eastern coast. FYI)
The claims of 25 crore out on strike are all attributed to union sources. There is a notable absence of reports of disruptions from nationwide general striking in other industries, outside of the union claims. The only independent (non-union) reports of disruptions are attributed to farmers blocking roads and farmers doing other protest activity. Those reports are consistent with around a quarter million people protesting with farm equipment, like the frenchies regularly do.
The unions have an obvious interest in Trumpian-level exaggeration, so the lack of corroboration from other sources makes it look like that kind of exaggeration from untrustworthy sources is indeed happening.
2020 Indian general strike
An estimated 250 million (25 crore) people took part in the strike,[4][5] which Jacobin estimated as the largest in history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Indian_general_strike
2020 Indian general strike
An estimated 250 million (25 crore) people took part in the strike,[4][5] which Jacobin estimated as the largest in history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Indian_general_strike
Has been quite a bit of coverage on Al Jazeera
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/crowd-gathers-at-aucklands-aotea-square-to-protest-against-indias-new-agriculture-laws/J7WYBTKXF3ZRWHMF7JRJHG5QRU/
It;s strange that the Herald piece doesn't mention the astronomical numbers involved in the strike that is going on in India…very strange…
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/nationwide-strike-affects-normal-life-in-kerala-odisha-other-states-over-25-crore-workers-join-agitation-trade-unions-176123
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Indian_general_strike
https://unionaid.org.nz/
Adrian, it is evident to many, but often just put in the too hard basket. Good on you for bringing this up.