The first pillar of our success was the triumph of the Age of Reason. The early character of New Zealand was shaped by Enlightenment ideas: objective truth, rational inquiry, and the belief that the world could be improved through evidence and disciplined thought. Decisions were judged by outcomes, not by how they made people feel. This national mentality created a society that valued clarity, merit, and competence.
Second, we were an enterprise-based nation. The economy depended on people who built, farmed, engineered, invented, and took risks. Settlers crossed the world not for comfort, but for opportunity — and they understood that prosperity would only be achieved through relentless work. Their efforts were explicitly future-focused: build today so your grandchildren could live better tomorrow. That intergenerational ethic created an upward-moving society.
Third, honour mattered. For generations, New Zealand public life was dominated by people — men and women — who believed that duty, honesty, and personal responsibility were the minimum standards of adulthood. Slackness, dependency, and excuse-making were not admired; they were embarrassing. A person who refused to pull their weight diminished themselves in the eyes of others. National character rested on contribution, not consumption.
Fourth, we were a results-based society. Achievers were celebrated, not resented. Champions were role models, not targets for ideological deconstruction. Excellence was not something to “decolonise”; it was something to aspire to. Success brought pride, not suspicion.
Fifth, education served as a ladder, not a therapy session. Schools once existed to transmit knowledge, discipline the mind, and prepare young people for competence in the real world. Teachers were authority figures. Standards were objective. Children were expected to master the basics before sharing their opinions. The system worked — and the results were internationally recognised.
Sixth, personal freedom and individual agency defined the national outlook. People were trusted to make their own choices, bear their own risks, and reap their own rewards. Society was cohesive precisely because it was not micromanaged; citizens shared values that didn’t need to be enforced by bureaucratic moralism.
But over recent decades, these foundations have been replaced by a soft-minded, ideology-driven approach to national life. Objective truth has been subordinated to subjective feeling. Evidence has been displaced by emotive narratives. Achievement takes a back seat to performative virtue. The education system has been turned upside-down by fads that prioritise identity politics over literacy and numeracy. Policy is driven by symbolism rather than outcomes. And the national focus has drifted from building a stronger future to apologising for the past.
New Zealand did not decline because its people lost talent. It declined because it abandoned the cultural framework that once allowed talent to flourish. Nations do not collapse overnight — they decay when their core values are slowly eroded and replaced by ideologies that reward dependency, excuse failure, and punish excellence.
If New Zealand wants a future worthy of its past, it must restore the principles that built its success: reason, responsibility, enterprise, merit, and truth. Nothing else will work — and history shows that nothing else ever has.
Second, we were an enterprise-based nation. The economy depended on people who built, farmed, engineered, invented, and took risks. Settlers crossed the world not for comfort, but for opportunity — and they understood that prosperity would only be achieved through relentless work. Their efforts were explicitly future-focused: build today so your grandchildren could live better tomorrow. That intergenerational ethic created an upward-moving society.
Third, honour mattered. For generations, New Zealand public life was dominated by people — men and women — who believed that duty, honesty, and personal responsibility were the minimum standards of adulthood. Slackness, dependency, and excuse-making were not admired; they were embarrassing. A person who refused to pull their weight diminished themselves in the eyes of others. National character rested on contribution, not consumption.
Fourth, we were a results-based society. Achievers were celebrated, not resented. Champions were role models, not targets for ideological deconstruction. Excellence was not something to “decolonise”; it was something to aspire to. Success brought pride, not suspicion.
Fifth, education served as a ladder, not a therapy session. Schools once existed to transmit knowledge, discipline the mind, and prepare young people for competence in the real world. Teachers were authority figures. Standards were objective. Children were expected to master the basics before sharing their opinions. The system worked — and the results were internationally recognised.
Sixth, personal freedom and individual agency defined the national outlook. People were trusted to make their own choices, bear their own risks, and reap their own rewards. Society was cohesive precisely because it was not micromanaged; citizens shared values that didn’t need to be enforced by bureaucratic moralism.
But over recent decades, these foundations have been replaced by a soft-minded, ideology-driven approach to national life. Objective truth has been subordinated to subjective feeling. Evidence has been displaced by emotive narratives. Achievement takes a back seat to performative virtue. The education system has been turned upside-down by fads that prioritise identity politics over literacy and numeracy. Policy is driven by symbolism rather than outcomes. And the national focus has drifted from building a stronger future to apologising for the past.
New Zealand did not decline because its people lost talent. It declined because it abandoned the cultural framework that once allowed talent to flourish. Nations do not collapse overnight — they decay when their core values are slowly eroded and replaced by ideologies that reward dependency, excuse failure, and punish excellence.
If New Zealand wants a future worthy of its past, it must restore the principles that built its success: reason, responsibility, enterprise, merit, and truth. Nothing else will work — and history shows that nothing else ever has.
Source: Facebook
6 comments:
What a great piece of writing. Thank you. One small thing that I might add is that migrants tended to escape/leave societies that suffocated peoples’ ability to make their lives better. As a result NZ was highly egalitarian where ‘Jack was as good as his master’. I well remember the respect that my parents paid to tradespeople and artisans, and the Christmas treats that were given to the people that served us like the meter reader, postie and dustmen. These were demonstrations of respect which I believe that we have lost. We desperately need to return to a community of contributors.
Those 5 principles are poison to those who engineered this destructive change to NZ society . There will be a battle to the death to maintain - and advance - the progress made to date.
The mood of the country is set from the top. We have some pretty mediocre people in parliament . One could add that some of our politicians are actually sabotaging our chance of success. Just look at their antics and what they are allowed to get away with. It has reached a point of sheer theatrics.
We have lost any sense of accountability from those in charge.
When you say people had "honour", I totally agree. That seems to be missing now, and instead it doesn't matter how badly people perform, they end up with large payouts, cushy jobs and even public honours.
Also, the politicians don't seem to give a toss about those that elect them.
It is probably impossible for those that do have integrity to achieve anything in the present climate and with our present biased MSM. An orchestrated countries decline one would think.
Janine: politicians can easily dismiss voters because the ignorance and apathy of general populace ( curated by the msm) are beyond belief. Time to shine the light on this disastrous reality. Conned by Labour's hollow promise of 3 free doctor visits! Recalls "sold for 30 pieces of silver." 2026 is the "make or break election".
We allowed small government to get away with replacing individualism with collectivism and here we are. Centralization (big government) instead of localism, with the overriding ideology of socialism, where socialism is really resentment disguised as compassion enforced by tyranny disguised as tolerance.
Yes and unfortunately I think the show is over for nz.and the indoctrination is now too deep to recover from. An example is how half of nz schools are deciding to keep te tiriti indoctrination going. My old high school now has a fully maori name. The english one has completely gone. A catholic school has on their website kids doing the haka, prefects of all nationalities in maori cloaks, explanations on how they all do karakia and hongi and how payers are done in te reo. Rules they follow include never sitting on a table or desk where kai has been consumed and other rules similar to a narae are folliwed at the school. .Many schools have a page on how tikunga is honoured. Try going to a church in nz. You won't know what is going on as most of it is done in te reo. Corporate nz is still full of karakia etc. think the UN plan to return nz to tribal rule by 2040 is well underway. Sadly, I think labour and the gangs will be voted in by kiwis in 2026.
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