Posts by Kumara Republic
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Tom S:
For example, i think it is prudent to discuss how much - if any - Muslim migration we want here BEFORE we have a huge Muslim minority, not after. We need to have a national discussion about what values and assumptions we want to shape out immigration policy. And just because some people might find that debate uncomfortable or distateful doesn't mean we don't need to have it.
That's why we, and nations like Canada, have a points system. The recent immigration furore in Holland is in large part a result of not having one.
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Speaking in my capacity as a Chiwi...
In a way, NZ was late to the party on immigration, and for lack of a better analogy, it's effectively had to pressure-cook its way to multiculturalism. We've had to do in just over 20 years what Australia has done in about twice that, and North America even longer. So our most recent arrivals haven't been given time to blend in yet.
It's drawing a long bow to imply that Shearer sleepwalked to victory just because he's a WASP. I theorise that Ms Lee was shoulder-tapped by Mr Key, not so much as a multiculturalist candidate, but rather as a "Model Minority" candidate - there's a world of difference between the two. And racial tensions aren't always a white-vs-ethnic thing - remember Ms Lee's comments on the Waterview tunnel and crime? And the mother of all riots in L.A. was largely a black-vs-yellow-vs-brown affair that put the blowtorch to the Model Minority stereotype.
From my own experiences, the stereotype has turned out to be a heap of stinking bullshit. In America, it has been used as a handy excuse to undermine affirmative action policies, and doesn't seem far removed from the Fortress McMansion mentality. If you want to see a film that utterly deconstructs Model Minoritarianism, Justin Lin's "Better Luck Tomorrow" is a good start.
What I do agree on, is that NZ up till recently was a metropolis locked up in a heavily subsidised & tariffed farmshed.
As an aside, Dunedin has Peter Chin for Mayor, and Sukhi Turner came before him. Meng Foon is Mayor, of all places, Napier.
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Joe:
There's been a myth abroad for some time that free-market policies somehow raise the general IQ, and the needs of the vulnerable can be wished away. Much of the present bloated jail population is due to this cynical nonsense.
Kerry:
You're quite right, it is due to that cynical nonsense. We are reaping the inevitable harvest that comes from economic policies that are not grounded in reality nor rank human values above theory.
Two words: Social Darwinism. Apparently Darwin himself felt that if his trademark theory was applied to humanity, it would be vulnerable to power abuses of the worst kind. The global eugenics programmes of the early 20th century were just one example of it.
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When the citizenry feel threatened and afraid, they're much more likely to agree to, or at least not resist, intrusive, limiting measures "for your own good".
At what point would law and order politics jump the shark? Maybe if there was another 1981, or if we had our equivalent of Mark Ciavarella?
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It seems that the acid test of multiculturalism would probably be the state of relations between the 'voluntary minorities' and the 'involuntary minorities'.
For further enlightenment:
Jyotsna Pattnaik - Learning about the "other": Building a case for intercultural understanding among minority children -
Part of ensuring a Randian Nirvana is to convince people the government and democratic institutions are part the problem, not part the solution.
Somalia, anybody? No government or red tape to speak of, which is all well and good. Until the local warlord starts demanding his cut, of course. And when the bodyguards start asking when their next pay day is, well, you get the picture.
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Our isolation can be a plus - lifestyle, as others have said.
NZ could easily market itself as a digital Swiss bank - all it needs is an extra Southern Cross cable or two or three.
We need a coherent vision, with a strategy, that says This is what New Zealand will look like in 2050: Let's get cracking. Real leadership sells the vision. Are we to be merely a Mega Dairy Farm with tour services?
And we can't just wait for Henry Waxman & Edward Markey to force our hand.
A few less real estate speculators and a few more entrepreneurs are a large part of the solution. Why can we still see new homes being built on spec on new subdivisions? Because NZers are in love with bricks and mortar for good reasons. In boom times one gets capital growth, and pay no tax on this.
I've mentioned it before, but a "McMansion tax" would be more workable than an across-the-board CGT.
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I'm curious how many people up and arms about this happily buy vitamin-fortified cereals? And wasn't "and folic acid for reproduction" a selling point once upon a time?
That was the ad campaign for Complan maybe 15-20 years ago.
Given that a lot of "nanny-state" measures like eco-bulbs had connections with global treaties such as NZFSA & Kyoto, I'm not the only one to foresee a brewing shitfight between "free-choice" nationalism and "nanny-state" internationalism. Especially if NZ finds itself at the receiving end of America's Waxman-Markey Act.
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Our workplace can boast at least one kiddy-porn trader behind bars - about 3½ years ago, we got him busted after he took in his PC to get fixed. We rang the cops, who then rang DIA, who sent along a couple of their agents to get the details. Apparently we still have the offender's power supply in our museum cabinet.
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That SST photo of Blubber is hilarious. Tucking his hands inside his arms to try make them look all strong instead of flabby, just like a pubescent teen would. Poor insecure bastard.
If anything, he comes across as a Clayton's Rambo in that photo. With friends like him, who needs enemies?