On Newsroom Dame Anne Salmond writes:
Dame Anne Salmond: It’s the end of an era
In New Zealand at present, a seismic shift is under way. Despite all the hype, this election is not really a contest between left and right. Instead, the tectonic plates between the generations are shifting.
Since the 1980s, New Zealanders have been gripped by neo-liberal doctrines. Here, life is understood as a competitive struggle among individuals. In this Darwinian contest, each seeks to minimise their costs and maximise their benefits, with individual success as the ultimate goal.
…
After more than thirty years of this kind of hyper-individualism, however, a young, smart generation is stepping up, who think very differently.They focus on the long term future, and the quality of our relations with each other and the planet – Gen Zero on climate change, for instance; Marnie Prickett and Lan Pham in the debate over freshwater; Max Harris with his book The New Zealand Project; David Hall and his Policy Observatory website; or Dan Hikuroa on our relations with the ocean, among others.
These millennials are astute and free-thinking, with a refreshing optimism and generosity of spirit. Jacinda Ardern is one of this new breed of Kiwis. They make the neo-liberal die-hards seem moribund, stuck in an ideological morass.
…
‘Jacindamania’ is not just about an individual politician, however caring and attractive. It marks a changing of the guard between generations, and a time to try out new ideas.
Well worth reading the whole piece on Newsroom.
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress