What a day for news it was today! First I was planning on a review of Freaks and Geeks, but then I saw the results of the local body elections and felt I needed to talk about that, and then Tame Iti and friends end up creating more of a furor. What a day.
So the review can wait, let's turn to the news.
So the review can wait, let's turn to the news.
Local Elections - Poor Turn Out
It seems to me that the results of the latest elections are subtly showing the growing divide within New Zealand society. The swing to the Right spectrum is likely related to a variety of issues. For Auckland, Hubbard was just hopeless. He was clumsy and incapable of handling the city - people were willing to take back the much reviled John Banks rather than put up with another term of Hubbard's inept handling of the council.
But there was a record low turn of of voters, and many people in the position of organising these things are scratching their heads as to how to fix this.
I suspect it has to do (in part) with the dropping number of homeowners. See, people who rent don't pay rates and often don't consider local politics as affecting them as much. Which is patently silly, but a sentiment I have heard from a number of people.
With the recent housing boom, the people who have been buying up properties have been largely people of a reasonably high income bracket, who have conservative views and are aiming to get into the property investment business. These people will be paying rates on their homes, and so will be worrying about the increasing rates (ironically missing the fact that most rate increases are often tied to increased house prices, but go figure...) and so they will usually vote conservatively because Right-wing candidates love to tell those who are investing lots of money that they will not have to pay as much for the returns they are getting at the expense of others. (Did you spot the bias?)
What needs to be done is firstly educating those who aren't voting that just because they don't directly pay rates doesn't mean that local government doesn't effect them. Rents are also tied to rates- as landlords increase rents when rates go up. Your rent pays your rates.
Furthermore, local body government effects much of your city's appearance, how its businesses operate, how clean your streets are...
As an example - in Wellington water rates are part and parcel of council rates. In Auckland you have to pay them on top of these rates. In Wellington you have to pay for rubbish collection seperately. In Auckland, everyone has a wheelie bin.
Auckland has an inorganics collection regularly throughout the year - when all your crap furniture and other non-biodegradable trash can be put out on the street for collection.
As far as I am aware, Wellington has no such thing.
These elements are all part of local governance. If you genuinely have pride for your city, you need to vote - because the council has considerable influence over how your city develops. While Kerry Prendergast has a rumoured history of nepotism, she has also had the shrewd mind to support the creative and artistic endeavours of Wellington - it is something that makes Wellington's character unique.
In contrast, John Bank's mayoralty was focused on business and economics - and as such Auckland suffered a distinct lack of cultural identity - one I would argue is still a problem as Hubbard did very little to rectify the problem.
If you didn't vote, I don't want to hear a single complaint about the Mayor of your city - choosing not to vote is just plain silly. We spout out support for democracy, the least you can do is exercise that democratic freedom. By voting you are showing interest in the society you live in - be it for selfish reasons or altruistic, you are still taking part. By refusing to vote you aren't making a statement - you are shirking responsibility, because no vote is pretty much supporting the person who gets into power. By choosing not to vote you are saying that you are fine with whoever gets in.
Apathy does not free you from responsibility.
Which brings me to the next topic...
But there was a record low turn of of voters, and many people in the position of organising these things are scratching their heads as to how to fix this.
I suspect it has to do (in part) with the dropping number of homeowners. See, people who rent don't pay rates and often don't consider local politics as affecting them as much. Which is patently silly, but a sentiment I have heard from a number of people.
With the recent housing boom, the people who have been buying up properties have been largely people of a reasonably high income bracket, who have conservative views and are aiming to get into the property investment business. These people will be paying rates on their homes, and so will be worrying about the increasing rates (ironically missing the fact that most rate increases are often tied to increased house prices, but go figure...) and so they will usually vote conservatively because Right-wing candidates love to tell those who are investing lots of money that they will not have to pay as much for the returns they are getting at the expense of others. (Did you spot the bias?)
What needs to be done is firstly educating those who aren't voting that just because they don't directly pay rates doesn't mean that local government doesn't effect them. Rents are also tied to rates- as landlords increase rents when rates go up. Your rent pays your rates.
Furthermore, local body government effects much of your city's appearance, how its businesses operate, how clean your streets are...
As an example - in Wellington water rates are part and parcel of council rates. In Auckland you have to pay them on top of these rates. In Wellington you have to pay for rubbish collection seperately. In Auckland, everyone has a wheelie bin.
Auckland has an inorganics collection regularly throughout the year - when all your crap furniture and other non-biodegradable trash can be put out on the street for collection.
As far as I am aware, Wellington has no such thing.
These elements are all part of local governance. If you genuinely have pride for your city, you need to vote - because the council has considerable influence over how your city develops. While Kerry Prendergast has a rumoured history of nepotism, she has also had the shrewd mind to support the creative and artistic endeavours of Wellington - it is something that makes Wellington's character unique.
In contrast, John Bank's mayoralty was focused on business and economics - and as such Auckland suffered a distinct lack of cultural identity - one I would argue is still a problem as Hubbard did very little to rectify the problem.
If you didn't vote, I don't want to hear a single complaint about the Mayor of your city - choosing not to vote is just plain silly. We spout out support for democracy, the least you can do is exercise that democratic freedom. By voting you are showing interest in the society you live in - be it for selfish reasons or altruistic, you are still taking part. By refusing to vote you aren't making a statement - you are shirking responsibility, because no vote is pretty much supporting the person who gets into power. By choosing not to vote you are saying that you are fine with whoever gets in.
Apathy does not free you from responsibility.
Which brings me to the next topic...
NZ Terrorism?
What the hell? I am shocked, appalled and mystified by the revelation that there were military-style training camps that were being run by radicals. Not so much that such a camp existed - given the freedoms we have in this country, it wouldn't surprise me to know that a bunch of rural folks had a little semi-survivalist type commune - but rather that there are people with a more serious goal in mind.
See, semi-survivalist types tend to keep to themselves. They aren't preparing to take a fight to the people, they are preparing to protect themselves when the perceived collapse of society comes to their doors.
But Tame Iti and his crowd seem to have been preparing for a variety of agendas that the NZ Police felt were of genuine risk to the public. Now I have heard the BS stories before of conspiracy and police-state NZ. But the reality, from knowing many police (and having once been on the wrong side of the law as a teen) is that they do not act unless it is a genuine risk. Despite some of the bad press recently, the NZ Police are more often effective and professional in their handling of things.
If they felt there was risk, I believe there genuinely was something to be concerned about. Even if these guys weren't really planning to follow-through with their agendas, but were acting out on their crazy schemes to a point - they were idiots for going so far as to raise concern.
Let's get something straight folks. New Zealand is not an oppressed nation. We have a remarkable number of freedoms that so many people take for granted - choosing to gripe about the most inanely silly issues.
Sure, Maori are still not fully treated with the respect that their culture deserves, but in the 30 or so years I have been in NZ, I have seen amazing changes in the way Maori have been treated and there doesn't seem to be any evidence to suggest this progress is going to stop.
I certainly don't feel that Tame Iti has any foundation or moral authority to take such violent and divisive actions. His antics have done more to harm Maori as a people than help.
For Maori culture to survive, it needs to change - not be preserved. Shocking as that may sound, a culture lives by growing and changing. Maori culture needs to be cultivated and nourished. It needs to be allowed to grow and become part of the greater NZ culture. It needs to be treated as something that is changing and developing - not held in stasis from a time in the long distant past.
The success stories in NZ are from groups who have seen this and recognised it. I want to see more people like the woman who got on the bus the other day and asked the driver (in Te Reo) if he was a native speaker, to which he replied he could speak somewhat - and they proceeded to have a conversation in Te Reo. (Which has made me think I should find the time to learn it myself.)
What are attacks on "crown" lands going to achieve? Terrorist attacks on NZ parliament and perceived locations of imperial oppressors would show nothing. It would create a climate of fear and recrimination. Groups like the National Front would begin to fill their ranks with angry young people, gangs would grow even more prominent than they have as of late - this country would cease to be the NZ we love and would become more violent than it is now.
There would be no gain.
But most of all, what is there about our country that deserves such a reaction? We live in a country that has a growing multicultural population. We have the opportunity to embrace that. Yes, we may have to let go of some cultural conventions - society would need to make some changes - but those changes are happening already.
Contrary to anti-globalists views, those changes are not a european hegemony - they are something more primal. New Zealand's social views are often at odds with other European nations. What many NZers don't realise is that over the last thirty years we have become a more pacific/asian nation when it comes to cultural views. And this isn't because of increasing numbers of immigrants - although they have helped this development. This view is very subtly showing up in traditionally European families.
NZers, as a people, tend to be community focused. They tend to be well versed in the cultural habits of several ethnic backgrounds - many NZers have a mix of Maori, European and sometimes Asian societal habits.
Most NZers have experienced a hangi, been involved with the Chinese New Year, understand basic Maori sayings and believe in the idea of family being more than the nuclear unit.
It isn't a comfortable acceptance, but rather a subtle unnoticed effect.
And it is something to embrace and grow from. Collectivist societies such as the Pacific nations and many asian cultures can teach those of us from a European Individualist ideology much about how to look at society in the big picture - while we Individualists can teach collectivist nations about how to not overlook the individual elements within our society.
Maybe I'm proposing that we stop worrying about the past and embrace New Zealand culture as our primary identity - and that part of that identity is to take pride of the various cultures we come from. For those with Samoan heritage to proudly show their culture while embracing NZ as well. For those with Irish roots to embrace their Irish heritage while reveling in a culture where they can learn about other people and the stories they can teach.
This nation's identity should be founded on working to come together - not to be selfish but to show that working together we can create a society where your ethnic culture isn't a difference to separate you from the rest of the country but rather an aspect of our society as a whole. Not an easy task. But an admirable one to aim for. Ultimately people need to stop being afraid of change. We were once a nation unafraid of change - we were willing to do things before anyone else. We should be again - for it is part of human nature to grow and change.
The fear of change is a threat that only prevents us from reaching the happiness we desire. Buddhism and Taoism can both teach us how to face change in different ways. Maori tradition can teach us much of learning to respect each other and the land. We are a nation that is still looking for an identity - but acts of violence will not aid us, they will only continue to push us apart. We need to be coming together.
Love and Huggles
Conan
Currently Reading: Sidereals
Currently Playing: Niente
Mood: Hoping to find a new way
See, semi-survivalist types tend to keep to themselves. They aren't preparing to take a fight to the people, they are preparing to protect themselves when the perceived collapse of society comes to their doors.
But Tame Iti and his crowd seem to have been preparing for a variety of agendas that the NZ Police felt were of genuine risk to the public. Now I have heard the BS stories before of conspiracy and police-state NZ. But the reality, from knowing many police (and having once been on the wrong side of the law as a teen) is that they do not act unless it is a genuine risk. Despite some of the bad press recently, the NZ Police are more often effective and professional in their handling of things.
If they felt there was risk, I believe there genuinely was something to be concerned about. Even if these guys weren't really planning to follow-through with their agendas, but were acting out on their crazy schemes to a point - they were idiots for going so far as to raise concern.
Let's get something straight folks. New Zealand is not an oppressed nation. We have a remarkable number of freedoms that so many people take for granted - choosing to gripe about the most inanely silly issues.
Sure, Maori are still not fully treated with the respect that their culture deserves, but in the 30 or so years I have been in NZ, I have seen amazing changes in the way Maori have been treated and there doesn't seem to be any evidence to suggest this progress is going to stop.
I certainly don't feel that Tame Iti has any foundation or moral authority to take such violent and divisive actions. His antics have done more to harm Maori as a people than help.
For Maori culture to survive, it needs to change - not be preserved. Shocking as that may sound, a culture lives by growing and changing. Maori culture needs to be cultivated and nourished. It needs to be allowed to grow and become part of the greater NZ culture. It needs to be treated as something that is changing and developing - not held in stasis from a time in the long distant past.
The success stories in NZ are from groups who have seen this and recognised it. I want to see more people like the woman who got on the bus the other day and asked the driver (in Te Reo) if he was a native speaker, to which he replied he could speak somewhat - and they proceeded to have a conversation in Te Reo. (Which has made me think I should find the time to learn it myself.)
What are attacks on "crown" lands going to achieve? Terrorist attacks on NZ parliament and perceived locations of imperial oppressors would show nothing. It would create a climate of fear and recrimination. Groups like the National Front would begin to fill their ranks with angry young people, gangs would grow even more prominent than they have as of late - this country would cease to be the NZ we love and would become more violent than it is now.
There would be no gain.
But most of all, what is there about our country that deserves such a reaction? We live in a country that has a growing multicultural population. We have the opportunity to embrace that. Yes, we may have to let go of some cultural conventions - society would need to make some changes - but those changes are happening already.
Contrary to anti-globalists views, those changes are not a european hegemony - they are something more primal. New Zealand's social views are often at odds with other European nations. What many NZers don't realise is that over the last thirty years we have become a more pacific/asian nation when it comes to cultural views. And this isn't because of increasing numbers of immigrants - although they have helped this development. This view is very subtly showing up in traditionally European families.
NZers, as a people, tend to be community focused. They tend to be well versed in the cultural habits of several ethnic backgrounds - many NZers have a mix of Maori, European and sometimes Asian societal habits.
Most NZers have experienced a hangi, been involved with the Chinese New Year, understand basic Maori sayings and believe in the idea of family being more than the nuclear unit.
It isn't a comfortable acceptance, but rather a subtle unnoticed effect.
And it is something to embrace and grow from. Collectivist societies such as the Pacific nations and many asian cultures can teach those of us from a European Individualist ideology much about how to look at society in the big picture - while we Individualists can teach collectivist nations about how to not overlook the individual elements within our society.
Maybe I'm proposing that we stop worrying about the past and embrace New Zealand culture as our primary identity - and that part of that identity is to take pride of the various cultures we come from. For those with Samoan heritage to proudly show their culture while embracing NZ as well. For those with Irish roots to embrace their Irish heritage while reveling in a culture where they can learn about other people and the stories they can teach.
This nation's identity should be founded on working to come together - not to be selfish but to show that working together we can create a society where your ethnic culture isn't a difference to separate you from the rest of the country but rather an aspect of our society as a whole. Not an easy task. But an admirable one to aim for. Ultimately people need to stop being afraid of change. We were once a nation unafraid of change - we were willing to do things before anyone else. We should be again - for it is part of human nature to grow and change.
The fear of change is a threat that only prevents us from reaching the happiness we desire. Buddhism and Taoism can both teach us how to face change in different ways. Maori tradition can teach us much of learning to respect each other and the land. We are a nation that is still looking for an identity - but acts of violence will not aid us, they will only continue to push us apart. We need to be coming together.
Love and Huggles
Conan
Currently Reading: Sidereals
Currently Playing: Niente
Mood: Hoping to find a new way
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