What if all New Zealanders had enough to live on?

Written By: - Date published: 6:10 am, August 6th, 2021 - 97 comments
Categories: benefits, economy, employment, unemployment, wages, welfare - Tags: , ,

Yesterday Micky put up a post about the good changes happening with employment rates and wage increases: Aotearoa New Zealand approaches full employment.

There are important points in the post and comments, about managing the economy, the EMA’s position of wanting 5% unemployment to help suppress wages, that full employment used to be 2% and few casual jobs, the problems in employment being measured as 1 hour of work per week.

So Labour doing what Labour do well within centre left governance, making important gains, and also leaving some significant gaps.

Then vto said this,

i find it astounding

that so few

give thought

to those 4% required

to be unemployed

shouldnt they be on the average wage?

For perspective, Micky reports that average weekly earnings are now $1,360. Unemployment benefit is $290 (gross, single person, no kids) plus whatever accommodation supplement can be gleaned.

Much of the mainstream sees the 4% as collateral damage, the price we pay for neoliberalism’s gifts I guess. What interests me here is how vto’s comment cuts through all that and opens a door to imagining how it could be different.

What if decided that everyone in New Zealand should have a certain standard of living?

Ad also laid out this vision,

I’m looking forward to an economy in which we never need seasonal workers for orchards (and massive investment in automation has happened), or imported labour for infrastructure projects, or imported fishermen, or imported nurses …

… where it gets so hard to find people to work that we start emptying our jails, even gangs find it hard to recruit to a life of crime…

… where the government and business have to pay so much per hour that arguments over a minimum or living wage become immaterial …

… where it’s so hard to get good people that companies invest thousands to put their prospects through Drivers License courses, Heavy Truck tickets, heavy electrical tickets, supervisor tickets…

… and we start to bring down the long-term unemployed numbers, those coming off ACC, the otherwise damaged and bereft and marginalised.

Maybe start to really lift this country.

And I added,

… where the government no longer feels the need to punish or take a stick to be beneficiaries over working and they remove the abatement process from wages while on a benefit, which frees up a large number of disabled and other people to work part time and flexi time.

To me the issue here isn’t how to manage the economy, but is more fundamentally about values. Do we want to accept the collateral damage, which is significant with its flow on effects into health, child poverty and welfare, the justice system, community resiliency and functionality, climate action? Do we want to consign a chunk of New Zealand to the underclass, a bigger than 4% chunk because we have to also acknowledge the people on 1 hour a week?

Or do we want something different, and what might that be? Here I’m not talking about whether Labour can change how it juggles the economy and the repressive forces in society within a neoliberal system. I”m talking about the values in New Zealand society, and whether we can imagine something better.

What would that look like? And how would a shift in values impact the political landscape?

97 comments on “What if all New Zealanders had enough to live on? ”

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  1. Tiger Mountain 1
    6 August 2021 at 8:12 am

    Values are tricky in a country still dealing with post colonial fall out, and almost 40 years of neo liberal hegemony for both the state and individuals.

    No one should be hungry or homeless in this land of obvious plenty. Fare free public transport, free Wifi nationwide, a basic income paid to all citizens via IRD, with a new special needs agency for disabled etc. could all be done right now. But it will not be done for some rather obvious ideological reasons.

    With a monetarist regime the thinking is not just “me me me”–it is also “why should they get that…” or last place aversion as US studies have called it. Lower paid workers sometimes do not support increasing the minimum wage! People perversely, apparently like to have someone beneath them.

    The Deputy PMs “Implementation Unit” is not worker friendly so far, but certainly acknowledges some within Govt. do feel snookered by the fifth columnists in the public service. With upward pressure on wages now, maybe some changes can be made. But, they will have to be organised for and fought for by the working class and allies.

  2. Incognito 2
    6 August 2021 at 8:48 am

    Good post.

    Values are a fickle beast and whose values are we talking about? Values are a bit like vows: you make them with all the conviction you have, with the best intentions, and convinced that you (and your partner) will stick to and with them, at least for some time. But over time, they tend to slip away in the mundanity and banality of (daily) life, they get rusty and dusty, and they lose their meaning and impact. Same applies to friendships, BTW. Do I need to say more?

    • Tiger Mountain 2.1
      6 August 2021 at 9:11 am

      …except the Reserve Bank Act, State Sector Act, Cabinet Manual, and fiscal responsibility are neither rusty nor dusty–they are well oiled processes still assisting finance capital in particular to keep its foot on the throat of the NZ working class.

      • Incognito 2.1.1
        6 August 2021 at 9:25 am

        Are we letting our lives be dictated by ‘well-oiled processes’ even when the outcomes and impacts are inconsistent with our values?

        • arkie 2.1.1.1
          6 August 2021 at 9:33 am

          For those without power (or capital); how much agency over these processes do we have? Aren't the outcomes and impacts of these processes consistently hitting us hardest regardless of our individual values?

          • weka 2.1.1.1.1
            6 August 2021 at 10:56 am

            it doesn't explain what's going on with those that do have agency and wealth.

            • arkie 2.1.1.1.1.1
              6 August 2021 at 11:51 am

              Perhaps not, however there is much that has been written about our aptitude for self-delusion and knack for rationalising. There is also an inaccurate societal perception of the power of individual and collective action that pervades our thinking and informs our values. Also I think it's evidently possible for people to state their values and at the same time act counter to them, passively or otherwise.

          • Incognito 2.1.1.1.2
            6 August 2021 at 6:09 pm

            For argument’s sake, we all have some power and we all have some agency, but we still haven’t figured out how to use it in a mutually beneficial way, how to reach our individual let alone our collective potential (whatever that is), rather the opposite, it seems. Think of it as being a child, young, naïve, inexperienced, but unencumbered, full of dreams, wonder, imagination, etc., but when growing up you gain in the former areas but seemingly at the expense [no pun] of the latter attributes, especially imagination, and many of us become a tad (!) cynical and jaded. In any case, there’s strength in numbers; united we stand, divided we fall. Thatcher was wrong.

  3. Sabine 3
    6 August 2021 at 8:50 am

    We have been saying that for years now, that the income for beneficiaries and unemployed should be at least min wage. IF that is not possible, they – according to their abilities – should be allowed to find work and top their starvation benefit up to min wage before any reduction in other benefits.

    I guess even that Labour in 2016 was elected on these issues. But that was 2016 and now is 2021 and things have changed forever.

    The beneficiaries should count themselves lucky if they got 7NZD or 15 NZD of the last trickle down from government.

    • Incognito 3.1
      6 August 2021 at 9:21 am

      2017

    • arkie 3.2
      6 August 2021 at 9:21 am

      100%. What is a 'minimum wage' if not the smallest income that we as a society can countenance? Raising the benefit is ruled out because it may 'disincentivise' working, perhaps we should be framing it as an 'incentive' for employers offer more/better working conditions. Then, at very least we would actually be living up to the values of the 'minimum wage' concept.

  4. pat 4
    6 August 2021 at 9:14 am

    Redistribution is vital, but to redistribute you need to ensure there is something to distribute to begin with.

    • weka 4.1
      6 August 2021 at 10:06 am

      we're not a poor country. This is why I'm asking about values. How do we redistribute what we've got more fairly? Or do we really believe collateral damage is necessary?

      • Tiger Mountain 4.1.1
        6 August 2021 at 10:19 am

        Increasingly younger and browner is how much of the country is going regarding reconciling colonial history. Small acts of kindness happen all over, little take what you need community food stalls, community gardens, papakainga housing, all sorts of volunteer and NGO agencies.

        But, economically Rogernomics still runs deep because it is embedded in the state sector and legislation and finance capital institutions. Contracting out, managerialism, transactional models, and to be frank–a moralistic ‘war on the poor’ still have much influence on our daily life.

      • pat 4.1.2
        6 August 2021 at 10:41 am

        Why are we not a 'poor' country?

        It may seem obvious but to feed, house, educate and provide health care for the 5 or so million who live here requires work…..that is the basis, not money, so the question is who does it and how is it incentivised/implemented?

        Like the world the resources are limited so it is a question of priorities and as we know everyones priorities are different….whos priorities take precedence?

        As RL on TS noted this morning is everyone was offered a comfortable existence without working how many would choose to work?….isnt that what rentiers do?

        Any society can, no matter the system, provide for a percentage of non productive members but that number is limited by what the productive members can provide.

        • weka 4.1.2.1
          6 August 2021 at 10:55 am

          It's cruel to say to 5 – 10% of the population: you have to live in poverty, some of you permanently, because we believe that humans are inherently work shy and have to be forced into jobs and we think having a chunk of people live sub par lives is the best way to do that.

          Of course, under neoliberalism this has some truth, because we have so many jobs that are not good for people, they system had to force someone to do them.

          I'm not really interested today in rehashing what to do within neoliberalism. I'm more interested in look at the values at play and seeing where that leads.

          If we start from the premise that everyone deserves and should have a decent standard of living, how might we achieve that?

          • pat 4.1.2.1.1
            6 August 2021 at 11:11 am

            Then dont rehash 'neoliberalism' because I didnt mention it.

            I pointed out that work is the basis of what we can provide society…..money is an obfuscation.

            I also stated that redistribution is vital and posed the question who's priorities take precedence?….the workload has to be distributed in the most effective manner possible and until priorities are established that will not occur.

            If the problem is examined with the correct lens then the answer is apparent….for those with insufficient to have sufficient then those with more than sufficient need to provide it……cue politics.

            And all this assumes that sufficient can be provided for all which is (increasingly) by no means a given…..cue conflict.

            • weka 4.1.2.1.1.1
              6 August 2021 at 11:29 am

              you posited that to have an economy that gives everyone a certain standard of living, people have to be incentivised to work. I'm suggesting that examining the values in that is useful (before we get to what might or might not be possible).

              How do we know that people won't work without someone standing over them with a stick?

              • pat …
                6 August 2021 at 11:45 am

                How do we know?….why do so many invest (particularly in property), why do we have pay disparity, why do we have retirement,

                It is not that people wont work without a stick, its that not ENOUGH will work without the incentive to provide the security of output needed….the Amish are one of the few examples I can think of that perhaps succeed in the attempt..how many Amish do you know?..and is that the society you would seek to replicate?

                • weka …
                  6 August 2021 at 12:30 pm

                  "It is not that people wont work without a stick, its that not ENOUGH will work without the incentive to provide the security of output needed"

                  How are you measuring the security of output needed?

                  We can look at non-industrialised societies to see that people worked for the common good eg Māori pre-colonisation.

                    • pat …
                      7 August 2021 at 10:38 am

                      I recommend you read the linked paper (systems economics)….it covers what I seek to convey with (i think) greater clarity.

                      https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800919310067

                      "One barrel of crude oil can perform about 1700 kW h of work. A human laborer can perform about 0.6 kW h in one workday (IIER, 2011). Simple arithmetic reveals it takes over 11 years of human labor to do the same work potential in a barrel of oil. Even if humans are 2.5x more efficient at converting energy to work, the energy in one barrel of oil substitutes approximately 4.5 years of physical human labor."

                      This example lays bare the challenge we face.

                    • RedLogix …
                      7 August 2021 at 11:57 am

                      While we've crossed many times before, I do want to underline this comment. Energy – in particular the ability to concentrate it in high quality, high density forms – lies at the root of all human progress. It's not the whole story, there are many layers of technical, social and political innovation that are part of the whole structure, but the energy story is the prerequisite.

                      Hunter gather humans could rely only on the modest surplus found in the natural world – fruits, nuts, seeds and meat for the most part. For millions of years the total human population barely exceeded 10m.

                      Then about 10,000 yrs ago we learned how to concentrate photosynthesis energy using agriculture, and by around 1800 we had plateaued at around 800m. However the inherently diffuse and intermittent nature of sunshine, and the deeply seasonal nature of agriculture meant that in order to survive all societies were in a constant contest over land, rainfall and slaves. It was essentially an age of empire – driven by the inescapable limits of the energy source available to them.

                      Then we discovered how to burn coal in high temperature boilers, and for the first time we had access to concentrated, reliable high quality energy. On this foundation we transformed the world – and now sustain over 7b humans with a food surplus. And I would argue at least since the end of WW2 the prior form of empire based on overt conquest, occupation and extraction has become largely unecessary – the vast majority of nations able to exist and thrive without the constant pressure to expand their territory.

                      Of course our opportunity to exploit fossil carbon always had a timeline on it – but it enabled us to massively progress our science and technology to the point where we can now move beyond it if we choose. My argument is simply this – we stand at a cross-roads – either we choose to embrace the next stage of our social evolution as enabled by concentrated, reliable, clean and cheap energy OR we revert back to pre-Industrial conditions and ultimately an uncertain path toward virtual extinction.

                      This of course does not preclude the idea that the current phase of human population growth has ended, and along with it the much of the excesses of the past 200 yrs. Stable and ageing populations if they are able to continue to progress toward developed world standards of living will almost certainly tend to consume much less exuberantly. We've transitioned from a species that typically had many children but had short lives, to one with longer lives and fewer children – this being an astonishing change we're still coming to terms with. But maintaining this is critically dependent on pulling all of humanity globally through this transition.

                      Takeaway the energy foundation – as your barrel of oil example very clearly shows – and I personally believe that all of the economic and social changes of the past few hundred years will be undermined and eventually unraveled.

                    • pat …
                      7 August 2021 at 12:25 pm

                      @ RedLogix

                      I recommend you also read the attached article (in its entirety) and you will discover that approximate 200 year long exploitation of a one off resource hasn't just enabled a (unsustainable) population explosion, it has concurrently depleted the other resources…..resources also crucial to alternative energy conversion.

                      There is going to be no 'technological' breakthrough that enables this planet to sustain its current population and whatever population equilibrium that eventuates will have a greatly reduced output per capita.

                      So again the question…."And ultimately what do you do if those 100 people cannot provide all of those requirements for 100 people?"

                    • Andre …
                      7 August 2021 at 2:10 pm

                      @pat: When the highlighted quote contains such a glaring and simple error as "One barrel of crude oil can perform about 1700 kW h of work.", it makes me wonder what other massive errors they've made.

                      One barrel of crude oil can deliver about 1700kWhr of heat, not work. At very very best, if it's converted to work in some sort of engine, it will deliver about 850kWhr of work. And more likely much much less.

                    • RedLogix …
                      7 August 2021 at 2:16 pm

                      While technically correct it scarcely changes the point pat was making. Besides heat in it's own right is used directly in many processes without conversion to work – eg steel and cement making.

                    • pat …
                      7 August 2021 at 2:28 pm

                      @Andre

                      I barrel of crude produces 1700kWh of energy…it is an error of description somewhat mitigated by the following qualification… "Even if humans are 2.5x more efficient at converting energy to work, the energy in one barrel of oil substitutes approximately 4.5 years of physical human labor."

                    • weka …
                      7 August 2021 at 2:35 pm

                      I recommend you read the linked paper (systems economics)….it covers what I seek to convey with (i think) greater clarity.

                      https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800919310067

                      "One barrel of crude oil can perform about 1700 kW h of work. A human laborer can perform about 0.6 kW h in one workday (IIER, 2011). Simple arithmetic reveals it takes over 11 years of human labor to do the same work potential in a barrel of oil. Even if humans are 2.5x more efficient at converting energy to work, the energy in one barrel of oil substitutes approximately 4.5 years of physical human labor."

                      This example lays bare the challenge we face.

                      I'm not sure what your point is here exactly Pat.

                      Yes, oil is an incredibly dense energy source. Those millennia of sunlight compacted into a very powerful form. We can't keep using it.

                      I'm sceptical of the maths above. Does it take into account what the synergy that happens when people work together? Does it use something like permaculture design which inherently finds more efficient ways of doing this with less energy? (permaculture was invented in part because of the dilemma I think you are pointing to). Does it accept that we can live functional, meaningful, healthy lives by lowering demand from the systems around us? Or is it counting reductionist and isolated energy in humans outside of context and in support of BAU?

                      I can't see much point in comparing human power to ff power as a starting point unless one is wanting BAU.

                      From a sustainability pov, I'd start with the landscape (specifically, an actual watershed), audit that, see how many people can live there post-carbon and what work/energy is needed to sustain that. Sustain as in actual sustainability (mostly closed loops).

                    • pat …
                      7 August 2021 at 2:48 pm

                      "I'm not sure what your point is here exactly Pat."

                      What is the question posed in your OP?

                      "What if all New Zealanders had enough to live on?"

                      The ability to produce outputs in needed quantities is fundamental to that question. Dismissing (or ignoring) the role energy plays in our ability to do that is aptly described in the article……energy blindness.

                      “Ecological economics acknowledges that real economies are completely dependent on energy. However, orthodox economic theory remains blind to this reality. As a result, so do our institutions and our citizenry. The disconnect has massive implications for our future. This is so critical it deserves reiteration.”

                    • weka …
                      7 August 2021 at 5:23 pm

                      @Pat

                      "I'm not sure what your point is here exactly Pat."

                      What is the question posed in your OP?

                      "What if all New Zealanders had enough to live on?"

                      Well, that's the title of the post, the post was about the values underpinning that question.

                      The ability to produce outputs in needed quantities is fundamental to that question. Dismissing (or ignoring) the role energy plays in our ability to do that is aptly described in the article……energy blindness.

                      I haven't ignored or dismissed the role energy plays in our ability to make sure everyone has enough, I've said that if you count it in a reductionist way you will miss the important solutions. So I agree with you about the important of energy, and I disagree with you about how to assess that.

                    • pat …
                      7 August 2021 at 5:59 pm

                      What happens to values in a triage situation? There are no absolutes.

                      Attempting to seperate values from the environment is reductionist from where i'm sitting.

                    • weka …
                      7 August 2021 at 7:55 pm

                      again, I'm not separating values from the environment. I'm saying let's have a conversation about values in context.

                  • pat …
                    6 August 2021 at 1:08 pm

                    and non industrialised societies were exactly that….and considerably smaller because of that fact.

                    And I may add they still had hierarchies and slavery.

                    • weka …
                      6 August 2021 at 8:50 pm

                      We have hierarchies and slavery too, not sure what your point is.

                      I gave an example of where humans aren't inherently work shy.

                    • pat …
                      6 August 2021 at 9:00 pm

                      "We can look at non-industrialised societies to see that people worked for the common good eg Māori pre-colonisation."

                      Not all had a choice about the level of contribution/reward is the point….the non industrialised societies faced the same issues and used similar mechanisms to address them.

                      They are hardly utopian or even necessarily superior in that respect.

                    • weka …
                      7 August 2021 at 2:29 pm

                      I'm not talking about utopia though. I'm talking about whether humans are inherently work shy. I don't think they are. If you expect people to do wage slavery in a neoliberal economy then you will get patterns of people not wanting to do that because it's soul destroying and dehumanising. But if we created a different kind of economy, that valued people and looked at how to utilise their skills, then they're more likely to want to take part in the collective needs to get some specific jobs done.

                  • pat …
                    6 August 2021 at 2:36 pm

                    How to measure security of output needed

                    Establish what is required

                    Distribute your resources in order to meet those requirements

                    E.g.

                    You have a population of 100

                    You have a potential 100 strong workforce

                    How many are going to be responsible for food production?

                    How many will take care of the ill and elderly?

                    How many will build/maintain the infrastructure?

                    How many will teach/care for the children?

                    How many will organise/administer?

                    And ultimately what do you do if those 100 people cannot provide all of those requirements for 100 people?

                    There is no money/recompense involved in the equation.

          • Tiger Mountain 4.1.2.1.2
            6 August 2021 at 11:18 am

            Well it is highly unlikely that those who have managed to accumulate more material wealth than they need for their immediate (or lifetime) needs will agree to share voluntarily! Look at the squeals when a CGT was talked about for multiple property owners.

            So we have an NZ where 50% of the people own 2% of the wealth. Where there is an abrasive split between owners and renters.

            ACT types say state tax is theft (from individuals), marxists say capitalist ownership and appropriation of surplus value is theft (from wider society). That is the major value clash right there. The social democrats like Savage and Kirk’s Labour used to lean to the working class, whereas Douglas/Clark/Ardern Labour were captured by the employing class (cough, market).

            Values not fought for remain aspirations.

            • pat 4.1.2.1.2.1
              6 August 2021 at 11:26 am

              How is that wealth disparity measured though?….it is measured by money, not work.

              Owning shitloads of property does nothing to resolve the issue of food production/distribution, nor does it build shelter or staff EDs, or teach future generations the skills they need to continue a functioning society…..as said money is a poor proxy.

      • Populuxe1 4.1.3
        6 August 2021 at 11:04 am

        Who says we're not a poor country? The pre-1973 golden age was a very long time ago now, several of our OECD rankings are looking none to flash and economically we're probably comparable to some of the smaller agricultural EU economies without the benefit of a massive trade bloc.

  5. Byd0nz 5
    6 August 2021 at 10:25 am

    Nationalise everything then call it Aotearoa inc, dump the money system, we can all then work as we are, but for the wellbeing of the country and inhabitants' needs. Needs then is the question. What do we need for ALL to live in modest comfort.

    • Janet 5.1
      6 August 2021 at 11:20 am

      We need UBI.

      We need education to be free and unrestricted again.

      Eg: I know of a 16 yr old , who won,t return to school, who would do well in a trade but can,t get underway because he doesn’t have a school “qualification “ to start to become qualified at something. This is one way we are creating a pool of “poor” people. Then we bring in people from overseas to do the jobs that people like this one could have been trained to do.

  6. Nic the NZer 6
    6 August 2021 at 11:43 am

    The political issue is the abandonment of full employment as a political goal. In the absense of a government employer of last resort there will from time to time be insufficient jobs to employ at least some (called involuntary unemployment).

    In theory (but obviously not in practice) the RBNZ can always set an interest rate which achieves full employment and price stability. The assumption they are doing so is the justification for accepting 4 or 5% unemployment and claiming further employment would lead to unbearable inflation. This invariably leaves some at the margins dependent on low level incomes on the welfare system.

  7. vto 7
    6 August 2021 at 11:57 am

    fwiw, when looking at the bigger picture things like this I like to think of society as a small village of 100 people living in an isolated place, so they have to get along to survive.

    I find when looking at it like this those values become paramount. For example, John Key in his obscene mansion on the hill above the village wouldn't last long while the bottom 20 villagers are sleeping on dirt floors. And those lazy ones would be given a kick up the butt and not be allowed to slack. And everyone would be given a task – a task useful to the village's survival. And everyone feels valued and useful. And the village survives. Otherwise the village fails – like our world today, where all these values are discounted and lost.

    The isolated village of 100 people quickly highlights the required parameters and values imo

    • weka 7.1
      6 August 2021 at 12:34 pm

      we could add to that too that it's likely that at least some of the time in some places, humans have lived in situations like that and not had to work themselves to death, that the working together gives an efficiency that allows free time from which innovation and culture evolve.

      • vto 7.1.1
        6 August 2021 at 6:26 pm

        Yep. I think the small village thing actually went on all over the place through most of human history. The requirement to simply have to get on and support one another by sheer proximity means there is no escape if one is up to no good, and it means the health of the village and all of its people is top of list all the time. It makes for a most healthy community

        I think all government and other policies should be put through the small village test. If the proposed policy would be rejected by that small village then it should be dumped.

        Maybe I'll send Wellington a note…

    • pat 7.2
      6 August 2021 at 1:10 pm

      And that is the benefit of small scale

      • vto 7.2.1
        6 August 2021 at 6:27 pm

        it is far more than just that pat

        • pat 7.2.1.1
          6 August 2021 at 6:46 pm

          "The isolated village of 100 people quickly highlights the required parameters and values imo"

          As I said the other day, theres nowhere to hide in a small community….the scale and overcomplexity of modern large mobile modern population groups facilitates the inequality

          • vto 7.2.1.1.1
            6 August 2021 at 6:55 pm

            Yes of course, that is one factor. Another is that the expanded scale has also allowed the dregs and the nasty to find a gap to slither through and peddle their evil wares.

    • Janet 7.3
      6 August 2021 at 2:00 pm

      Multitaskers – as the 3 old tradesmen brothers from Wyndham who featured on Seven Sharp earlier this week are – would largely replace undue specialisation in smaller communities and that 16 yr old I mentioned before would find rewarding pathways.

    • Molly 7.4
      6 August 2021 at 2:50 pm

      Bigger scale but village concept, real world example:

      Mondragón –

      "The town is best known as the birthplace of the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation (MCC), the world's largest worker cooperative, whose foundation was inspired in the 1940s by the Catholic priest José María Arizmendiarrieta. In 2002 the MCC contributed 3.7% to the total GDP of the Basque Country and 7.6% to the industrial GDP.

      The valley of the High Deba where the town is located enjoyed a high level of employment in the 1980s while the rest of the Basque industrial areas suffered from the steel crisis.

      Noted poverty expert and sociology professor Barbara J. Peters of Southampton College, Long Island University, has studied the incorporated and entirely resident-owned town of Mondragón. "In Mondragón, I saw no signs of poverty. I saw no signs of extreme wealth," Peters said. "I saw people looking out for each other…..It's a caring form of capitalism.""

      • vto 7.4.1
        6 August 2021 at 6:48 pm

        Thanks for that Molly – makes total sense.

        This last line is interesting though "It's a caring form of capitalism". Capitalism isn't a form of society. There is only one form of society and that is a socialist society.

        Humans are nothing but social. People come together to achieve an end. It is the only thing we humans do. We achieve nothing, absolutely nothing, without others. All we do is undertake socialist activity. Being on here is social, going to a party is socialism, rugby is a socialist undertaking, it just goes on and on and grabs at every single thing we do. Going to school, raising a family.. and get this… all business is a socialist undertaking too – shareholders coming together to achieve a goal is socialism, owners of farms coming together to supply fertilisier (Ravensdown e.g.) is socialism, New Zealand's two biggest businesses (Fonterra and Foodstuffs) are cooperatives ffs, Federated Farmers is a socialist organisation.

        The only activity humans undertake is socialist activity. There is no other.

        Capitalism is not an equivalent form of structure. Capitalism is merely a bunch of cold hard tools which limpet onto the great mound of socialist human activity, and suck it dry (sound of milking machine…).

        Capitalists are laughing all the way to the bank with this great swindle… latching their milking machine capitalist tools onto our socialist butts and sucking away until we are dry…. all the while taking full advantage of the whole of the socialist structure of the world… it is the world's biggest hypocrisy…

        This understanding must form the basis of everything. But it doesn't. And here we are. So says my 2c..

  8. Patricia Bremner 8
    6 August 2021 at 1:22 pm

    I may be wrong, but I feel our values have begun to shift back to more community thinking.

    One thing this pandemic has highlighted among many, is our need to cooperate. Those societies who value cooperative efforts have fared better.

    Individual efforts gain praise if they assist the herd goals, those seeking personal betterment at the expense of others are now viewed with disdain.

    The Maori values of 'he tangata he tangata he tangata' (the people the people the people) and the ecological values of working with natural cycles rather than against them appear to be gathering a following.

    In our agricultural sector, in spite of those who feel pressured enough to protest with tractors, regenerative and organic farming is on the increase, as the customers want less pesticides nitrates and ploughing.

    Many in agriculture are facing unexpected scrutiny, which has rocked their fiefdoms and made them aware their cheap labour practices are not in favour.

    Many employers during the pandemic in Aotearoa NZ have reassessed their relationships with employees and customers and government, with a greater scrutiny of safety and fairness.

    Our values come from our experiences and beliefs. Some as we have discovered, push mistaken beliefs in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence to their detriment or demise.

    On a personal level, a greater appreciation of face to face contact in person and via technology.

    A greater appreciation of the complexity of the interrelated decisions cabinet have to face to keep us on an even keel.

    Realisation of how tenuous our safety is in a virus ridden world.

    We really do need to work together for better lives for those who are struggling in any way, and live good human values.

    We need to do our best and above all be kind. That is a fundamental to good human relations.

    • Janet 8.1
      6 August 2021 at 2:34 pm

      "I may be wrong, but I feel our values have begun to shift back to more community thinking."

      Maybe there is a shift . People shifting away from the cities ? The tide that emptied out the rural townships may have turned.

      Centralisation of so many services to the larger towns and cities of NZ has been very detrimental. Starting with schools. Schools were the core of the rural communities I have lived in.

      • Descendant Of Smith 8.1.1
        7 August 2021 at 4:15 pm

        Nah I expect capitalism to fight even harder to maintain the status quo. As soon as things look like switching they dig in deeper with more destruction.

        Think about that CEO who gave up his salary to pay his staff much more – boycotted by business people, lost contracts and so on.

        Think about Obama relaxing the rules on trade and travel with Cuba – bang Trump puts them back on. (I've never understood how people can say communism or socialism doesn't work when it is continually attacked by capitalism) I mean what did the Russians ever do for us for instance (cardiopulmonary bypass technique, first human vaccine, first artificial heart, multi-stage rockets, mobile phones in 1963, nuclear power plants, LED's, underwater welding, microwave ovens, cornea transplants, first programmable computer ……).

        Think Helen Clark's government moving things forward a little – bang John Key with punitive actions against the unwell and sole parents in particular.

        Those with power don't give it up easily and they know time is on their side. They tend to destroy – think railway buildings and workshops pulled down, hospital wards pulled down, state housing pulled down – anything to make it more costly to put back.

  9. Ad 9
    6 August 2021 at 3:03 pm

    New Zealand is now one of the most unequal societies in the world.

    Our wealth distribution is shocking, our wages are terrible, and our social welfare system is miserable.

    Even at 4% headline unemployed it will take several years to get people out of hard core disability and dependency and into autonomy for their lives.

    This state is reflective of our nationally-held values, because it's what we've enabled to develop over decades from one large majority to the next.

    It makes New Zealand great for about 5% of us, but otherwise we need to face that we are a mean, poor, hard little country for the great majority.

    • Patricia Bremner 9.1
      6 August 2021 at 3:54 pm

      So Ad, after that negative blast, what are the values we could foster? What would help? We know great damage has been done by our past errors, but which values will shift the dial?

      • Ad 9.1.1
        6 August 2021 at 5:47 pm

        This is as good as it gets.

        We have the most socially liberal leadership we have ever had, or are likely to ever have.

        We have the most interventionist government we have had in 40 years.

        We are, right now, about as proud as we can be, and as united as a common community.

        We have the least unemployment and most assured welfare system we've had in 30 years.

        Values have shifted as far as they are going to go for some time.

        And with all of that, these are the results we have.

        • Patricia Bremner 9.1.1.1
          6 August 2021 at 10:05 pm

          Ad, are you saying "that's all there is"? I feel they have just started. I hope for two more terms to lock things in.

          Perhaps some of us could pay locals to carry out jobs or services, as those 4% are allowed to earn more now. ($160 per week before tax before it affects the benefit)

          We have a lady who lost her job, who does the heavier house work for us, a lawn guy, a handyman painter and a hairdresser, most changed from other work or had to find additional pieces of employment.

          At 80 we feel this keeps us connected to those working in joined up patchwork jobs, and we feel we are contributing to their welfare by paying above the going rate. We are part of their community and have found other clients for them.

          Many in this position want trust and an opportunity. It has always worked for us and I wish more who could would do this.

          Perhaps we need to alter the systems to allow people to flourish. Really free health care and education, and provide some workplaces with housing? Value people above profit?

        • RedLogix 9.1.1.2
          7 August 2021 at 3:06 pm

          The idealist in me posted at 14.0 below – but the realist acknowledges your comment here Ad.

    • Nic the NZer 9.2
      6 August 2021 at 4:44 pm

      If we leave employment ultimately up to the market then the last percentages of people will never come off the benefit, let alone disability. To correct this the government needs to guarantee enough jobs are available to employ everyone who wants one. Ultimately this allows near universal access to the longer term benefits of employment, those which come in addition to wages, such as career development, positive self perception, sense of belonging and a social network. In the absense of this we have decades of experience to show these outcomes simply won't occur.

  10. Janet 10
    6 August 2021 at 4:40 pm

    The value of the ability to preceive NEED over the things you think you need. (remember Dr Seuss's The Lorax " )

    The value of getting to know thy neighbour – love thy neighbour, being inclusive not exclusive ….

  11. McFlock 11
    6 August 2021 at 5:14 pm

    I tend to think we're slowly improving, but our regard for long-term unemployed is still pretty low.

    I think a large chunk of the country hasn't moved on from the idea of people choosing to be poor, and there are others who view it as some sort of Darwinian selection.

    But another reason people bring up why the poor should be punished is that they jealously hate the thought of someone else having a nice life for free. I reckon that's them projecting. Most people want to work, contribute, participate. I know people who would make the world a considerably better place if left to their own devices. Some of them contribute here. Helping some corporate boost sales by 0.3% is regarded as more valuable than advocacy or cleaning up waterways, unfortunately.

    • RP Mcmurphy 11.1
      6 August 2021 at 6:12 pm

      most people in NZ do have enough money but they all want more. look at the disposable income wasted on overseas travel and unlimited toys for the bombidyboms.

      and besides they resent anybody who needs a handup.

  12. Adrian Thornton 12
    7 August 2021 at 12:37 pm

    The first step towards a having country where real world 'values' are just a normal part of the fabric of everyday life, is to somehow extract ourselves from the Free Market Neo-Liberal duopoly (National/Labour) that controls our trajectory at this moment…keeping in mind that the Centrist Free Market Liberal political parties that keep us locked single mindedly on this path of endless growth and consumerism in the face of of the Climate disaster that is closing in on us right now, because they (Ardern, Robinson, Collins, Seymour etc) are extremists fundamentalists who are the real defenders at any cost of their pointless, destructive economic ideology, and are in-fact nothing more than leaders of a death cult at this stage.

    No, we need new ways of higher thinking about our economy, our country, our environment, ourselves and our neighbors…like this….

    Manfred Max Neef, Barefoot Economics

    "we need cultured economists again, who know the history, where they come from, how the ideas originated and so on. Second, we need an economics now that understands itself very clearly as a subsystem of a larger system that is finite, the biosphere. Hence economic growth is an impossibility. And third, a system that understands that it cannot function without the seriousness of ecosystems. And economists know nothing about ecosystems. They don’t know anything about thermodynamics, anything about biodiversity. In addition, we must bring consumption closer to production. If you bring consumption closer to production, you will eat better, and you will have better food. You will know where it comes from. You may even know the person who produces it. You humanize this thing. But the way the economists practice today is totally dehumanized."

    https://olbios.org/barefoot-economics/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBLDh0Rug14

    • Tiger Mountain 12.1
      8 August 2021 at 11:06 am

      Well said Adrian.

      Structurally embedded neo liberalism in the NZ Parliament, State and finance capital, has to be rolled back as a prerequisite to making any real progress for the working class people, of whom 50% of the population own just 2% of the wealth!

      It will happen and the 2023 and 2026 elections will give an indication I guess of how soon.

  13. RP Mcmurphy 13
    7 August 2021 at 1:03 pm

    some people here believe in the tooth fairy. a friend of mine was in Ethiopia during operation hope. people would be given supplies which they ate on the spot and then destroyed the rest that they could not carry. the millenium is not round the corner when all men are brothers just yet.

    • Adrian Thornton 13.1
      7 August 2021 at 1:20 pm

      "some people here believe in the tooth fairy" and then goes on the describe some sort of negative human interaction that some friend told them about…you sound like a person who has never has an original thought cross through their cranium during their entire life, so obviously no one will be coming to you for any new or interesting ways of thinking about the dire mess humans have made of our countries and the planet…thanks for clarifying that for everyone.

    • weka 13.2
      7 August 2021 at 2:02 pm

      "a friend of mine was in Ethiopia during operation hope. people would be given supplies which they ate on the spot and then destroyed the rest that they could not carry"

      Shouldn't be too hard for you to find something online to support that. Otherwise I'm going to take it as out of context rhetoric.

      The post is about values. What are your values here?

      • joe90 13.2.1
        7 August 2021 at 2:29 pm

        In a region with long standing religious/clan/ethic tensions and rivalries, anecdotes of refugees destroying food lest others prosper are entirely credible.

        • weka 13.2.1.1
          7 August 2021 at 2:38 pm

          Yes, I'm sure. This is what I meant about context. It's not something we can extrapolate to humans generally. War and starvation turn humans societies into something else.

          But even so, the post was about values. What does it say about us if we believe that humans are inherently selfish and work shy? How does that impact on our politics? On how we expect our government to manage the country's resources?

  14. RedLogix 14
    7 August 2021 at 2:57 pm

    My sense is that NZ by itself scarcely stand alone in the world. The primary idea I constantly lean on is the unity and solidarity of the human race – regardless of colour, culture or condition. We've moved past the pre-agricultural age of tribe, through the age of empire and are now on the cusp of a highly connected global civilisation – with both common values and purposes.

    The second idea is that each of us is unique, individual and has the right to seek truth independently. In this manner the diversity the human race enables the greatest possible range of talent and capacity to be brought to bear on our future.

    Thirdly uniting of both the material, the philosophic and the spiritual dimensions of our experience in this world. As a species we have an immense legacy in all three of these categories, through science, literature, art and religion – and that ultimately these do not conflict. It is my view that there is but one reality, and while science sees one facet of it – we also know there are many other ways to experience life in all its fullness and mystery. That these ways of looking at reality seem to contradict each other is only the result of our currently limited understanding and vision.

    One of the great moments of our recent history was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – an achievement that deserves revisiting far more often than we do. Within the scope of this declaration are important elements such universal access to education, health care and legal rights and protections. The ability to communicate globally with a common language (and retain of course your cultural one of choice), combined with unfettered communication across all regions of the world must be valued and protected.

    Our long evolutionary history imprints on us echoes of our tribal, communal and nationalistic loyalties, and while these do have a place in our life – all too readily in our past these have been inflamed into irrational prejudice and conflict. A unified global humanity will slowly let these ancient passions go. We will learn to look past the outward and largely immutable characteristics we all have – and value much more the inner capacity, character and potential that we too often lack the insight to see clearly.

    And finally it's my sense that the economic challenge of inequality – as much as we might measure them in material terms – is at root a moral and ethical challenge. The unexamined assumption behind many a debate here is the question of the true nature of human welfare and progress. It clearly has a material dimension, the provision of sufficient food, shelter and access to the basic dignity of life is a bare minimum for all. But equally we are psychological creatures as well, with a deep need for social connection, respect and reciprocity. Nor should we lightly discard our extraordinary capacity for faith, hope and our collective capacity to believe in something much greater than our very limited selves.

    In a post squarely intended to be about values – I trust this is considered relevant. cool

  15. georgecom 15
    7 August 2021 at 6:05 pm

    "To me the issue here isn’t how to manage the economy, but is more fundamentally about values."

    • pat 15.1
      7 August 2021 at 6:34 pm

      Our values are reflected in our political economy, not the rhetoric.

      Collectively they are on display….we can make all the individual declarations we like.

    • georgecom 15.2
      7 August 2021 at 6:39 pm

      whoops, the rest of my post got lost here. For me any discussion about values, when linked to income and work and equality, implicitly includes how we manage the economy. it is of course more than the economy, it is also about the norms and mores we expect and impose within society. It's society and the economy, the political economy.

      "Here I’m not talking about whether Labour can change how it juggles the economy and the repressive forces in society within a neoliberal system. I”m talking about the values in New Zealand society, and whether we can imagine something better."

      "What if decided that everyone in New Zealand should have a certain standard of living?"

      We of course did have a situation like that within the living memory of many. We had it for roughly 40 years – 1945 to 1985 – and it was well formed and served us well for 2 decades or more – roughly 1950 to 1973 or so. You can place a number of labels on that period, depending on what frame you apply – the Long Boom, Golden Age of Capitalism, the Fordist era, The historic Class Compromise, era of Corporatism, era of Keynesian economics etc. It was essentially a period where the needs of Labour and the needs of Capital were more or less balanced to yield a time of prosperity and a certain standard of living for all. Or at least, pakeha and some extent maori and particularly males.

      If you chart a history of this development you will see that it was not constructed like one might construct a house or something from lego blocks. There was not a grand plan from the outset that was simply enacted to yield a final result. It was as much the result of contestation of ideas, seizing opportunities, broad visions and intentions and a degree of luck.

      Industrial Relations for example, you can trace some of the strands back to the 1890s and the introduction of awards and the Conciliation & Arbitration Act. That Act more or less formed the basis of the postwar Industrial Awards system. The Labour government of the 1930s added the idea of a 40 hour week and compulsory unionism. Efforts by both Capital and Labour over decades to shape or break the system ultimately concluded with the 1951 water front dispute and the ascendancy of the corporatist wing of the union movement over the radical wing which still retained ideas of claiming the means of production. Within the system was the notion of a 'family wage' premised on a male wage being sufficient to sustain a wife and 2-3 children and a fairly complex set of wage relativities.

      Alongside this was a strong social wage which was consolidated and expanded by the first Labour government. A commitment to full employment, free public education, a public health system and public housing. Means tested social welfare benefits introduced in the 1930s were replaced with a universal family benefit post war which from the late 195os could be 'cashed in' to provide a deposit on a state built home and a state mortgage. More of less a 'wage earners welfare state' as Fred Castles described it.

      Work was seen as the means to prosperity and well being. This is an adage often trotted out by neoliberals over the past 30 years and it was recently expressed by national party mp Louise Upston and reported in a post on this website. What underpinned that economic pathway to ‘well being’ was of course quite different to what Upston and others would construct.

      • Descendant Of Smith 15.2.1
        7 August 2021 at 7:03 pm

        Yeah the notion of being able to raise a family on one income was strong.

        In the banking industry where I worked people with families to support got an extra allowance, over and above their salary, until their salary reached a certain level. It wasn't left to the state alone to support people who had children.

        As a single person at the time I along with my colleagues had no problem with this at all. It was seen as normal.

        Then rogernomics came along……

      • georgecom 15.2.2
        7 August 2021 at 7:08 pm

        All of this of course had to be paid for and our economic settings allowed this to be achieved. We were Britains farm and had preferential access for agricultural exports. Full employment and the countrys balance of payments account was achieved through regulation and controls. The provision of consumers goods was subject to import licenses and later tarrifs. The way around both of these was to base manufacturing of consumer goods within new zealand, domestic and foreign capital could establish manufacturing or final assembly plants within NZ and were given exemptions for placing in regional areas where employment was needs. As examples we had vehicle assembly in places like Thames, Wanganui and Nelson and Pye radios and tv's made in Waihi. The government also embarked on a process of post war import substitution industrialisation with the likes of steel, pulp and paper, aluminium and oil refining. some may also remember the difficulties in taking currency in and out of the country.

        • Descendant Of Smith 15.2.2.1
          7 August 2021 at 7:26 pm

          The point though was that we accepted that employers should pay people supporting families a sufficient amount to support their family. I never once heard a word against this.

          In some ways it was probably also representative of what was seen as a patriarchal responsibility but it is easy enough to supplant that with parent.

          The value of raising a family was seen as important for the countries future.

          Today's attitude is much more selfish and more along the lines of "don't have children if you can't afford them" which ironically, and not surprisingly given the rise of the conservative religious right, is much more representative of a patriarchal plus class system that treats poor women as whores who can't keep their legs closed.

          • georgecom 15.2.2.1.1
            7 August 2021 at 11:44 pm

            A point of contrast I have spent some time looking at is Cuba. It has it's own political economy, it's own values but their are common strands. Castro's revolution triumphed in the late 1950s and took a handful of years to reveal its socialist nature. The earlier rhetoric of Castro spoke of a return to fairness and democracy, Cuban for the Cubans, left and nationalistic. Nothing much implied a socialist agenda. Not too long after coming to power Castro decided to nationalise various strands of the Cuban economy which of course upset the US and was met with a ban of cuban sugar imports, their biggest export. A wee matter of an failed invasion and other events lead to the 'socialist aspect' of the revolution being revealed and strong ties with the USSR being formed.

            Over the next 30 years the USSR became the main trading partner with Cuba. The soviets poured 10 of billions of rubles into Cuba, sugar and other agricultural products were exchanged for oil, consumer goods and military supplies. The soviets also contributed significantly to the updating of cuban industry and infrastructure. The economic deal was highly favourable and slanted in Cubas favour, at the peak the soviets pay 10 times the global market price for cuban sugar.

            The generous economic largesse of the USSR provided Cuba with the golden decades of the 1970/80s. Standards of living rose and employment guaranteed, social service were expanded even whilst monthly wages remained relatively low by international standards and quite uniform. A doctor would not be paid excessively more than a labourer of factory worker. A strong social wage substituted for relative low wages.

            The project to create a 'socialist new man' , as I understand it, reached it's zenith during this time. The economic largesse of the USSR underpinned living standards and consolidation of values of collectivism and socialismo. This all started to unravel with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the Special Period in a time of peace and a decade or more of tough economic and social conditions for Cuba. Foreign trade and exchange dropped 80% within the space of months and living standards plummeted. The ability of the cuban state to deliver it's social programme was tied intimately to it's economic fortunes.

            • Tiger Mountain 15.2.2.1.1.1
              8 August 2021 at 11:03 am

              To this day Cuba exports teachers, doctors and paramedics to other nations, rather than imperialism one way or another like many larger blocs and US Imperialism in particular do. Cuba has an effective medical research sector which is developing its own COVID vaccines, and various leading edge cancer treatments.

              What I take from your comment is Cuban socialism had to subsidised? Which it clearly was by the USSR. What needs to be taken into account is the US blockade and trade embargo. Cuba was strangled from birth by US Imperialism and whatever supporters it could organise. So it was never a genuine environment for Cuban socialism to prosper or otherwise.

              • Descendant Of Smith …
                8 August 2021 at 2:00 pm

                Aye capitalism fears that socialism works and reveals that capitalism has indeed no clothes.

                • RedLogix …
                  8 August 2021 at 2:42 pm

                  What is this capitalism that you hate so much? In my view it's much less a political philosophy (although the neo-libs of the 80's attempted fatally to do this) – and rather a set of economic tools that have evolved over time. It's really based on a handful of simple ideas, fractional reserve lending, private property, sanctity of contract, the formalism of double entry bookkeeping, rule of law and the pricing efficiency that arises from competitive markets when applied in the right context.

                  Capitalism never stood on it's own as system, it only ever worked in the context of a wider society. The libertarians and neo-libs who turned this simple set of tools into an ideology were every bit as wrong as the marxists who attempted to turn natural human ideas of reciprocity and solidarity into a totalitarian system.

                  Put quite simply, the system we have at present – while clearly far from what we might imagine as ideal – has nonetheless delivered an unprecedented level of human development and welfare globally. And like all evolved things it's patchwork mix of markets and non-market mechanisms, of innovation and conservation, of personal liberty and collective responses. It’s my sense we should be a lot more cautious about ‘smashing the system’ before we understand what we might replace it with.

                  The challenge I'm thinking about isn't about relitigating the stale battles of the past century. Right now the human race is on the cusp of a demographic tide toward ageing and relatively stable populations. Up to this point in our history we've tried capitalism, socialism and fascism with mixed degrees of success – but crucially it's not at all clear any of these are applicable in this new demography. Re-framing the debate in this light opens up a far more interesting discussion.

                  • Descendant Of Smith …
                    8 August 2021 at 3:19 pm

                    I think we should have a mixed economy with the best aspects of both.

                    The poorer aspects of capitalism are that wealth disproportionately remains and/or moves to the top, that it produces significant excess, builds in obsolescence unnecessarily, and consumes resources exploitatively.

                    Been arguing the demographic changes for a while suggesting that as the baby boomers retire spending will reduce and businesses will notice that. The era of no kids, no mortgage and double income that many of them have enjoyed for the last 30 years are, if not coming to an end, are certainly slowing. The growth off the back of the baby boomers simply won't be there. Have seen very few people talk about housing being freed up as the baby boom population dies off – something I would have thought is more easily forecastable than most things.

                    In NZ capitalism as practiced by the holders of capital is incredibly racist and that is one of New Zealand's big challenges. How to transition the knowledge and skills from an older European workforce to the future Maori work force.

                    Internationally I suspect the biggest challenge will be climate induced dislocation – both internal movement as in Syria as rural crops failed, and external as movement away from war zones and changed climate occurs.

                    The problems with capitalism are not going away any time soon. I see them continuing to bed down – just look at the escalation in house prices that continues.

                    • RedLogix …
                      8 August 2021 at 3:35 pm

                      Yup – that's a considered response. Appreciated.

                      Two small points occur to me; one is that capitalism really isn't a white thing, Maori have demonstrated a perfectly good facility with it too.

                      The other is to underline how the ground is shifting under us on multiple fronts. Not just the demographic shift, or even the impacts of climate change. In addition we face a destabilisation of the global rules based trade order as the US pulls back from it's security engagement of the past 70 odd years, and the shifting of supply chains back into configurations that are more localised and defendable.

                      Since the end of WW2 we've lived in a world where virtually every nation could trade with any other – some with more success than others – and everyone had the opportunity to lift their prosperity as a result. What I'm seeing is a reversion to something that looks a lot like the era of empire before the two great wars – siloed trade blocks dominated by a central nation that sets the rules to suit itself. And worse the treatment of competitors as an existential enemy. This is massive step backward in my view.

                      But I still return to my last para above – what might evolve from this position? It won't be just a doubling down on capitalism, socialism or fascism. There needs to be a fresh insight and I'm genuinely curious about this.

                  • Tiger Mountain …
                    8 August 2021 at 5:14 pm

                    Is being a tailgunner for capitalist swine everywhere really necessary on the Standard blog given its stated focus? If you support minority ownership and control and private appropriation of socially produced wealth–just say so, please…

                    Capitalism is part of historic development of human society–it is not the end game–though it is getting close with Climate Disaster and tipping points.

              • georgecom …
                8 August 2021 at 8:31 pm

                yup seemingly 3 effective covid vaccines to date, or 2 if you consider Soberana plus as the third dose of Soberana 2, although it was developed apparently as a booster for those who had caught the virus. And yes Cuba sent a large number of medical staff off shore. Hugo Chavez built a health system off the back of this, Cuba got valuable guaranteed oil imports in exchange. That kept the country afloat through the mid 2000's and 2010's. Never replaced the patronage of the Soviets however. Living standards never recovered to pre 1990 levels. So very much Cuban state socialism depended on Soviet largesse. Cuban socialism did prosper, but due to it's integration into the Soviet bloc. Post USSR it has struggled. It did seek to retain vestiges of its social wage, by example the food ration 'libreta' was continued but over time items were gradually whittled away. In more recent years Cuba has focused more attention on liberating some small business/sole traders and freeing up assets for worker run/collective enterprises. It remains to be seen how successful that will be.

  16. Stuart Munro 16
    7 August 2021 at 8:22 pm

    It's pretty achievable I should think, and our third rate economic shamans have fallen down on the job as usual.

    The 5% unemployment figure is a shibboleth – a number conjured up ad hoc by a bunch of charlatans left unsupervised for too long – so they ceased to check or validate their assertions. They might as easily have chosen 3%, or 10%, and having arbitrarily impoverished a large number of the people they are so massively overpaid to enrich, it really is time they sought more productive employment, commensurate with their skills – dairy farming has plenty of room for entry level workers.

    But I don't see this government doing anything so sensible, unhappily. I have a trade, a post graduate degree, and I'm on the living wage & living in a motor camp. Time was Labour stood for the working people, the strivers. But they cuddled up to the reptilians, swallowed Rogergnomics, and we've been paying the price ever since. Hate speech laws aren’t going to make life better.

    The only reform that would begin to set things right would be to strip the neoliberals out of the public service. They will achieve nothing worthwhile until they do. If they don't understand the consequences of leaving them in place, they need only consider the decline of RNZ – a couple of far-right hacks are wrecking the whole institution.

  17. Michael 17
    7 August 2021 at 10:57 pm

    It will never happen under a Labour government wedded to neoliberalism. Therefore, I am almost certain it will never happen at all.

  18. RP Mcmurphy 18
    8 August 2021 at 2:47 pm

    look at the obesity in New Zealands lower socio economic strata and tell me people dont have enough to eat.

    • RedLogix 18.1
      8 August 2021 at 2:56 pm

      Poverty isn't narrowly defined as 'not enough to eat'. NZ really doesn't have any meaningful level of absolute poverty, except perhaps in a few isolated rural areas or the homeless.

      It's relative poverty that's the challenge we've got. Too many people living hand to mouth, insecure jobs, homes and unstable family lives – people who struggle to stand up and participate in society because the rug keeps getting pulled out from under them.

      Addressing your comment – obesity isn't the result of 'too much food' – it's mostly a question of 'too much bad food' that's cheap and addictive, combined with chronic social stress that causes metabolic imbalances.

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    The suppression of individual thought in our universities spills over into society, threatening free speech everywhere. Elizabeth Rata writes –  Indigenising New Zealand’s universities is well underway, presumably with the agreement of University Councils and despite the absence of public discussion. Indigenising, under the broader umbrella of decolonisation, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the skewed media coverage of Gaza
    Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website. If he did, Peters would find MFAT celebrating the 25th anniversary of how New Zealand alerted the rest of the world to the genocide developing in Rwanda. Quote: New Zealand played an important role ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    2 days ago

  • “Your Circus, Your Clowns.”
    It must have been a hard first couple of weeks for National voters, since the coalition was announced. Seeing their party make so many concessions to New Zealand First and ACT that there seems little remains of their own policies, other than the dwindling dream of tax cuts and the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 8-December-2023
    It’s Friday again and Christmas is fast approaching. Here’s some of the stories that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered some of the recent talk around the costs, benefits and challenges with the City Rail Link. On Thursday Matt looked at how ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago

  • End-of-week escapism
    Amsterdam to Hong Kong William McCartney16,000 kilometres41 days18 trains13 countries11 currencies6 long-distance taxis4 taxi apps4 buses3 sim cards2 ferries1 tram0 medical events (surprisingly)Episode 4Whether the Sofia-Istanbul Express really qualifies to be called an express is debatable, but it’s another one of those likeably old and slow trains tha… ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 8
    Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro arrives for the State Opening of Parliament (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)TL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:New Finance Minister Nicola Willis set herself a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • New Zealand’s Witchcraft Laws: 1840/1858-1961/1962
    Sometimes one gets morbidly curious about the oddities of one’s own legal system. Sometimes one writes entire essays on New Zealand’s experience with Blasphemous Libel: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/blasphemous-libel-new-zealand-politics/ And sometimes one follows up the exact historical status of witchcraft law in New Zealand. As one does, of course. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    2 days ago

  • No surprises
    Don’t expect any fiscal shocks or surprises when the books are opened on December 20 with the unveiling of the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU). That was the message yesterday from Westpac in an economic commentary. But the bank’s analysis did not include any changes to capital ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #49 2023
    113 articles in 48 journals by 674 contributing authors Physical science of climate change, effects Diversity of Lagged Relationships in Global Means of Surface Temperatures and Radiative Budgets for CMIP6 piControl Simulations, Tsuchida et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0045.1 Do abrupt cryosphere events in High Mountain Asia indicate earlier tipping ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Phone calls at Kia Kaha primary
    It is quiet reading time in Room 13! It is so quiet you can hear the Tui outside. It is so quiet you can hear the Fulton Hogan crew.It is so quiet you can hear old Mr Grant and old Mr Bradbury standing by the roadworks and counting the conesand going on ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • A question of confidence is raised by the Minister of Police, but he had to be questioned by RNZ to ...
    It looks like the new ministerial press secretaries have quickly learned the art of camouflaging exactly what their ministers are saying – or, at least, of keeping the hard news  out of the headlines and/or the opening sentences of the statements they post on the home page of the governments ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Xmas  good  cheer  for the dairy industry  as Fonterra lifts its forecast
    The big dairy co-op Fonterra  had  some Christmas  cheer to offer  its farmers this week, increasing its forecast farmgate milk price and earnings guidance for  the year after what it calls a strong start to the year. The forecast  midpoint for the 2023/24 season is up 25cs to $7.50 per ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: Modern Maori myths
    Michael Bassett writes – Many of the comments about the Coalition’s determination to wind back the dramatic Maorification of New Zealand of the last three years would have you believe the new government is engaged in a full-scale attack on Maori. In reality, all that is happening ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Dreams of eternal sunshine at a spotless COP28
    Mary Robinson asked Al Jaber a series of very simple, direct and highly pertinent questions and he responded with a high-octane public meltdown. Photos: Getty Images / montage: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR The hygiene effects of direct sunshine are making some inroads, perhaps for the very first time, on the normalised ‘deficit ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Oh, the irony
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Appointed by new Labour PM Jacinda Ardern in 2018, Cindy Kiro headed the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) tasked with reviewing and recommending reforms to the welfare system. Kiro had been Children’s Commissioner during Helen Clark’s Labour government but returned to academia subsequently. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Transport Agencies don’t want Harbour Tunnels
    It seems even our transport agencies don’t want Labour’s harbour crossing plans. In August the previous government and Waka Kotahi announced their absurd preferred option the new harbour crossing that at the time was estimated to cost $35-45 billion. It included both road tunnels and a wiggly light rail tunnel ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Webworm Presents: Jurassic Park on 35mm
    Hi,Paying Webworm members such as yourself keep this thing running, so as 2023 draws to close, I wanted to do two things to say a giant, loud “THANKS”. Firstly — I’m giving away 10 Mister Organ blu-rays in New Zealand, and another 10 in America. More details down below.Secondly — ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago

  • The Prime Minister's Dream.
    Yesterday saw the State Opening of Parliament, the Speech from the Throne, and then Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dream for Aotearoa in his first address. But first the pomp and ceremony, the arrival of the Governor General.Dame Cindy Kiro arrived on the forecourt outside of parliament to a Māori welcome. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • National’s new MP; the proud part-Maori boy raised in a state house
    Probably not since 1975 have we seen a government take office up against such a wall of protest and complaint. That was highlighted yesterday, the day that the new Parliament was sworn in, with news that King Tuheitia has called a national hui for late January to develop a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth – How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago

  • They do not speak for us, and they do not speak for the future
    These dire woeful and intolerant people have been so determinedly going about their small and petulant business, it’s hard to keep up. At the end of the new government’s first woeful week, Audrey Young took the time to count off its various acts of denigration of Te Ao Māori:Review the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Another attack on te reo
    The new white supremacist government made attacking te reo a key part of its platform, promising to rename government agencies and force them to "communicate primarily in English" (which they already do). But today they've gone further, by trying to cut the pay of public servants who speak te reo: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • For the record, the Beehive buzz can now be regarded as “official”
    Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the government’s official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came  from  Education Minister  Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change: Failed again
    There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Assault On Maori
    This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • Rising costs hit farmers hard, but  there’s more  positive news  for  them this  week 
    New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has  been under  pressure  from rising  costs. Down on the  farm, this  has  been  hitting  hard. But there  was more positive news this week,  first   from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where  prices  rose,  and  then from  a  report ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    3 days ago

  • ROB MacCULLOCH:  Newshub and NZ Herald report misleading garbage about ACT’s van Veldon not follo...
    Rob MacCulloch writes –  In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Top 10 for Wednesday, December 6
    Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Eleven years of work.
    Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
    A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • How Did We Get Here?
    Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normal column of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago

  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    4 days ago

  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Pushback
    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 days ago

  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago

  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    Bowalley Road
    5 days ago

  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes – The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    6 days ago

  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    6 days ago

  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    6 days ago

  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    6 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #48
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Nov 26, 2023 thru Dec 2, 2023. Story of the Week CO2 readings from Mauna Loa show failure to combat climate change Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Affirmative Action.
    Affirmative Action was a key theme at this election, although I don’t recall anyone using those particular words during the campaign.They’re positive words, and the way the topic was talked about was anything but. It certainly wasn’t a campaign of saying that Affirmative Action was a good thing, but that, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • 100 days of something
    It was at the end of the Foxton straights, at the end of 1978, at 100km/h, that someone tried to grab me from behind on my Yamaha.They seemed to be yanking my backpack. My first thought was outrage. My second was: but how? Where have they come from? And my ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • Look who’s stepped up to champion Winston
    There’s no news to be gleaned from the government’s official website today  – it contains nothing more than the message about the site being under maintenance. The time this maintenance job is taking and the costs being incurred have us musing on the government’s commitment to an assault on inflation. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • What's The Story?
    Don’t you sometimes wish they’d just tell the truth? No matter how abhorrent or ugly, just straight up tell us the truth?C’mon guys, what you’re doing is bad enough anyway, pretending you’re not is only adding insult to injury.Instead of all this bollocks about the Smokefree changes being to do ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • The longest of weeks
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Friday Under New Management Week in review, quiz style1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • Suggested sessions of EGU24 to submit abstracts to
    Like earlier this year, members from our team will be involved with next year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The conference will take place on premise in Vienna as well as online from April 14 to 19, 2024. The session catalog has been available since November 1 ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Under New Management
    1. Which of these best describes Aotearoa?a. Progressive nation, proud of its egalitarian spirit and belief in a fair go b. Best little country on the planet c. Under New Management 2. Which of these best describes the 100 days of action announced this week by the new government?a. Petulantb. Simplistic and wrongheaded c. ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • While we wait patiently, our new Minister of Education is up and going with a 100-day action plan
    Sorry to say, the government’s official website is still out of action. When Point of Order paid its daily visit, the message was the same as it has been for the past week: Site under maintenance Beehive.govt.nz is currently under maintenance. We will be back shortly. Thank you for your ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • Ministers visit Hawke’s Bay to grasp recovery needs
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, to meet leaders of cyclone and flood-affected regions in the Hawke’s Bay. The visit reinforced the coalition Government’s commitment to support the region and better understand its ongoing requirements, Mr Mitchell says.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • New Zealand condemns malicious cyber activity
    New Zealand has joined the UK and other partners in condemning malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau Judith Collins says. The statement follows the UK’s attribution today of malicious cyber activity impacting its domestic democratic institutions and processes, as well ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Disestablishment of Te Pūkenga begins
    The Government has begun the process of disestablishing Te Pūkenga as part of its 100-day plan, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds says.  “I have started putting that plan into action and have met with the chair and chief Executive of Te Pūkenga to advise them of my ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Climate Change Minister to attend COP28 in Dubai
    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will be leaving for Dubai today to attend COP28, the 28th annual UN climate summit, this week. Simon Watts says he will push for accelerated action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, deliver New Zealand’s national statement and connect with partner countries, private sector leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • New Zealand to host 2024 Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins yesterday announced New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM). “Having just returned from this year’s meeting in Nouméa, I witnessed first-hand the value of meeting with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security and defence matters. I welcome the opportunity to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Study shows need to remove distractions in class
    The Government is committed to lifting school achievement in the basics and that starts with removing distractions so young people can focus on their learning, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.   The 2022 PISA results released this week found that Kiwi kids ranked 5th in the world for being distracted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Post-Cabinet press conference
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  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
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