Posts by WH
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Coz who's got all the solutions?
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I am a little disappointed that "unbundled" was the word of the year - does anything related to Telecom really deserve to win any prizes. I mean, come on, Richard.
OTOH, i think w00t!, with the proper marketing, could win every year:
The Democrats retook Congress - w00t! (2006)
W00t! - the All Blacks finally won the World Cup! (2007)
Al Gore for President, Woot.
i spend too much time on the internet, woot!So what if strictly speaking this is not proper usage. I just think it better captures our nation's vibrant essence and optimism. I would, like, totally clean up in advertising and PR i reckon.
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claiming universally applicable 'New Zealand' ethnicity is avoiding the hard realities of why it is important or necessary to collect data on ethnicity to start with. You know - racism. You can't just wish away ethnic inequalities by refusing to officially admit to being white, in a blaze of glorious utopian nationalism
I think this is right. But people can opt out of narratives that load their identity with unwelcome political or ideological consequences. Whether or not there is a "New Zealand" ethnicity with which some people identify (and clearly some do define themselves this way) I think others are declining to participate in a categorisation exercise that has connotations they are uncomfortable with.
Maybe similar considerations were in play when the question of who is "indigenous" was discussed earlier. If x, then y - the "New Zealander" census phenomenon isn't just about the x, its also about the y.
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We probably need a generic and not-very-descriptive catch-all term. One that ignores the substantial cultural and ethnic differences between, say, people from Tatooine and people from Alderaan, and can be used as a pejorative if necessary.
<chuckles quietly in agreement>
Keith's description of the Hong Kong elections was very interesting. I am curious to see how China refashions its political and economic structures.
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Newtown Ghetto Anger always raises intruiging issues. Does "Jedi" count as both an occupation and a religion for census purposes? What do you put as your ethnicity if you are from a galaxy far, far away?
Perhaps Deborah Coddington could start a "Hikoi Veterans for Truth" action committee. I bet she could give you statistics noone ever thought existed.
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Indigeniety "has been co-opted politically by the descendants of settlers who lay claim to an 'indigenous' identity through their occupation and settlement of land over several generations or simply through being born there...
Their [settlers] linguistic and cultural homelend is somewhere else, their cultural loyalty is to some other place. Their power, their privelege, their history are all vested in their legacy as colonizers."
Manukura, you are playing with fire.
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I'm glad you asked Andrew. Firstly, there are the compelling physical similarities. Look at these images of Key and Commodore Frank Bainimarama:
http://media.apn.co.nz/webcontent/image/jpg/8DonBrash.jpg
http://media.apn.co.nz/webcontent/image/jpg/ACFFFAYvaG3r.JPGI have decided not to pursue the fact that they both came to power as a result of a leadership coup, so this is all I have at the moment. Still, I think the evidence is pretty strong.
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3. What is meant by the expression "This is all looking very Fijian"
I heard something similar to this on a Magnus Benrow ad recently.
I hate Magnus Benrow ads. I'll tell you what else looks very Fijian - John Key. You might think this is absurd but in reality the analogy is apt.
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Rather it would seem that 'mainstream' New Zealand demands an idealised conformity on immigrants.
My point was that Suu Kyi and Mandela became symbols of virtue that dramatically altered prevailing popular attitudes. Martin Luther King was the focal point for a similar social metamorphosis in the US. Some stereotypes, like the one DC was trying to foment, prey on our primal fears and suspicions. I think that there certain ideas that can overwhelm such suspicions, just as there are forces that can deepen them. Like it or not, when Pita Sharples was interviewed on Close Up about the Kahui murder people were watching. The man calmed the angry crowd.
Tze Ming prefers the beauty in the everyday approach, and I see the force in this too.
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On that note, I'm always trying to make the point that getting society to acknowledge the rights and contributions of minorities by overemphasising the model minority 'high achievers' who get awards and prizes and are well integrated, is problematic.
This is a good point. But it is also true that Nelson Mandelas and Aung San Suu Kyis provide symbols that are powerful enough to transcend stereotypes and change minds. Maybe they inspire us to remember that despite our differences we have most of our best attributes in common.