More generally appeasement might be described as follows.
https://www.merriam-webster.com › dictionary › appease
1. pacify, conciliate; especially : to make concessions to (someone, such as an aggressor or a critic) often at the sacrifice of principles.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com › dictionary › appeas...
Appeasement means giving people what they want to prevent them from harming you or being angry with you.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org › dictionary › appease...
The act of giving the opposing side in an argument or war an advantage that they have demanded, in order to prevent further disagreement.
It might be argued that for generations now New Zealand's political elites have engaged in a policy of appeasement in acceding to the demands of the Treaty's most radical proponents.
In keeping the peace in the immediate, have they bought the problem we now face?
Have concessions, here and there, simply played into the hands of those whose ultimate intentions are far more radical than anyone can imagine?
Parading Jim Bolger, Jenny Shipley, John Key, Geoffrey Palmer, and Chris Finlayson as apologists for the indulgences of our political elite is far from reassuring. In the minds of a growing number of people, they seem to have been more the cause of the problem than the solution.
No-one with the influence to bring reason and forethought to this debate has ever been willing to bear the political cost. The line has never been drawn in the sand. No one (with influence) has ever said ... thus far and no further, and then stayed the course. The can has been perpetually kicked down the road until there is no more road left.
Democracy and equal citizenship are fragile beasts and they have never come cheap.
I guess the questions now might be ... What will the cost of democracy be to this (and coming) generations of New Zealanders? Will we be willing to pay it?
In answer to the first question possibly more than we can imagine, and to the second very possibly not.
Perhaps the rooster has finally come home to roost.
Caleb Anderson, a graduate history, economics, psychotherapy and theology, has been an educator for over thirty years, twenty as a school principal.
14 comments:
Succinct and terribly accurate. Enough is enough.
A country that does not know the truth of its history has no future.
Kevan
Masterly.
1. Ardern 's He Puapua document was revealed thanks to Peters. Lead author /law professor Claire Charters downplayed the document's intent - too late as people got the future picture.
2.This is: a) tribal rule; b) legal authority - via final veto - over Aotearoa ; c) financed by the "other" 83 % tax payers.
3.What is Luxon's role? ( While he must endure a Right-leaning Coalition.) For a 2026 victory, he needs : a rock star economy ( viz .John Key) and ongoing appeasement ( viz. Finlayson). If a coalition is still needed, who could this be? e.g. Te Pati Maori? NZF?
3. Departure : when the heat rises, a political leader is always
removed to a " better place." So Luxon will land a stellar job somewhere - and even soon.
PS Important aspect
Nothing is done to stop the Left--biased MSM = huge damage to the Coalition daily. Goldsmith took over the media portfolio from Melissa Lee in April 2024 and could fix this fast. Why does National/Coalition not do this? Is National preparing for further appeasement in/after 2026?
What stuns me is the silence of the majority....including myself. We are just waiting for someone else to get the ball rolling all the time. The hikoi can at least be commended for doing something about what they believe in...for standing up. The opposing side does not do this. And yes I fear for my childrens future.
Following your (accurate) analogy:-
The screaming, chanting, aggressive hickoy marchers are very much like Hitler's Storm Troopers.
Nor has a country which accepts a re-written version of its history without debate........
Action is coming: triggered by Luxon's attitude to the ACT TP Bill:
1. submission to ACT Bill ( even if blocked) 2. a citizen's petition= for a referendum 3. the 2026 election.
If support is weak, you can know what the future will be.
If looked at from a strategic point of view I think the organisers have got it wrong. The consultation on the Bill is going on for 6 months. I would have thought having it at the start is a big mistake ---the hikoi will be all forgotten in a month.
From my point of view that is good because maybe in the next few months people will get to understand exactly what Seymour is trying to achieve with the Bill.
To Anon at 8.10. I am also part of the silent majority. I think this process over the last few years has at least well and truly flushed out the media for what they represent. I think TVNZ News needs to be shut down, as it pumps out ideological propaganda every night.
Given Luxon et al are not delivering a rational NZ, who/ what is the alternative that will?
Equality is best achieved for all with education . I mean real education not the progressive -Marxist nonsense being dished out to our children currently in schools which encourages radical protestors as we have now and inevitably in the future, unless our Ministry of Indoctrination is drastically altered. For me the hikoi is a major distraction from doing the most constructive thing in reducing Maori numbers in prison , on welfare and in economic hardship. This means getting rid of our utterly disgraceful long tail of academic underachievement which is one of the worst in the developed world.
The cost of appeasement? We are living in it.
It must be obvious by now; the cost of appeasement is enormous, both in a monetary sense and socially. I hope that the pillars of our democracy hold up under the strain, because if we can’t sort these divisive issues out calmly, significant civil unrest is likely.
To remember 2 points in the current situation:
1. the supreme power of Iwi - who will put pressure on ordinary Maori to join tribal groups. Unaffiliated ordinary Maori will no longer exist.
2. Iwi - like radical Maori- are committed to He Puapua by 2040 - with Maori supremacy via final veto over all laws.
Your children must understand this future plan.
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