Posts by Heather Gaye
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Describing MMP as the system the Germans put in place after Hitler and …
dun
dun
dun
They haven’t had a majority (stable) government since.That's just inexplicably amazing! Do you know who else had a stable government? The NAZIS!
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to JLM,
Winston cornered the one that should speak best to all of us - "fair".
I would've thought so, but I've actually heard that word a lot from the right. They want a "fair" society where you're not penalised for being successful, etc.
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to Kumara Republic,
Because the media relies on ad revenue from the McMansion & Hummer delusion machine, it’d likely be commercial harakiri to bite the hand that feeds. So it has little choice but to stoke the machine instead.
I'm really hoping that the Greens manage to position themselves - both in parliament and the collective consciousness - where they're regularly sought after for comment. It was a no-brainer to approach them after Deepwater-Horizon-pot, but I reckon there should be ways they can encourage that - play the media a little - especially on the back of a strong campaign and successful party vote. Then they just need to pick the mantra.
Wholeheartedly agree about Inside Child Poverty - I would've been interested to see the outcome if it had aired a couple of weeks *before* the teapot saga.
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to tussock,
Oh, and what Labour needs, like Mana and Māori, is a positive soundbite that accurately describes the aims and goals their policy will work toward in a way that differentiates them from (primarily) the National party.
+1. One thing that was confirmed for me on the few occasions I’ve had to converse with National supporters is that National have been campaigning the last, this, and probably every future election since midway through Labour’s second term. The sole National supporter I spoke to at a party on Saturday night kept on chanting “personal responsibility” like a mantra. He freely admitted no facts or figures or unpacking would change his mind because to him National was simply all about taking personal responsibility and having the right attitude. He couldn’t respond when asked how severe this left-wing laziness actually was across NZ, he hadn’t heard about (and once explained, really liked) Labour’s apprenticeship policy, and was surprised at (and generally skeptical of) MSD’s actual numbers on the DPB’s yearly turnover. Didn’t make one shred of difference – National = personal responsibility, and Labour = paying people to sit on their arses. It was so firmly ingrained that he wasn’t even capable of unpacking *any* of the assumptions in his “personal responsibility” belief – many patently false. He said he’d been a labour supporter when he was younger, and that he’s gotten more realistic with age.
I think there are a *lot* of people in NZ that kind of osmose their beliefs based on what they hear in the media, and ever since the baying for tax cuts began, that’s been National (and I also think that the american right wing has had an effect here as well) cracking on about personal responsibility.
So I’d like the left to balance that out by drilling into the media the kind of phrases that promote the egalitarian ethics we’ve traditionally associated with nz society – “the social contract”, “protecting the vulnerable”, “second chance” , that kind of thing. The way to sway the national dialogue – specifically the “gut feelings” of people that aren’t interested in politics – is sheer repetition.
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Hard News: Last Words, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
(**FULL DISCLOSURE**: The Greens got my party vote. Got a problem with that? Tell someone who gives a shit – that ain’t me.)
au contraire, I want to give you a big hug, although you'd likely find that equally offensive. It's confirmed every good thing I already believed about you, for what that's worth. Is there a "happy tears" emoticon?
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I'm going to advance vote, in my Greens t-shirt. Am I going to have to change my facebook profile pic on Saturday though?
Apropos of nothing, has anyone seen Jacinda Ardern's billboard on Bond Street (Kingsland)? It's been graffitied - with lots of little yellow love-hearts.
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Hard News: Grokking things by being places, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Really? I find politics makes some otherwise agreeable Labour supporters vile every three years or so.
I’m with Craig on this point – the debate gets wholly acrimonious on both sides. I’m guilty too (although that’s mainly because I’m unspeakably furious about National’s loathsome, incessant demonisation of beneficiaries. I’ve said a few things about Paula Bennett that I feel a bit guilty about in retrospect, at least academically).
That said, this year I have to say I’ve found being a Greens supporter surprisingly relaxed. I’m not receiving much in the way of combative rejoinders. I guess it helps that I generally live, work & socialise with left-wingers. Six years ago my then-boss congenially remarked “so what do we need to get you to vote National? A baseball bat?”
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Hard News: We interrupt this broadcast ..., in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
:P Sure! However, I think between their three policy points – better support for the most vulnerable families, no asset sales, not to mention their make-the-dairy-farmers-pay stance – they’ve ruled out a vast bulk of the devil-dealing that’d worry me too much.
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On the billboards, am I the only one who finds the Greens’ use of children unsettling? Like having kids at a protest…
Both the rivers & 100,000 kids sections felt to me like they’re trying to set themselves up as the party of families (right after setting themselves up as the party of the kiwi entrepreneurs).
I heard someone somewhere say their impression of the Greens was sincere, passionate, competent & boring – after years of people thinking of them as the whackjob anti-smacking potsmoking naturopath party, I think that’s a very very good thing. & I know I’m possibly in the minority amid their constituency, but I’m really happy about their stance to work with whichever party’s in government. They’re basically saying they’ll implement their three policy points no matter what.
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Up Front: It's Not Sex, and It's Not Education, in reply to Heather Gaye,
I’ve only met a couple of people that explained atheism in a way that I understood and respected
...oh, looks like that number's increased since I started writing. Pah! Public address community. Typical!