Bob Jones: Hopeless Stuff

The “Stuff” newspaper chain, bought for a dollar by a woman under whose management has seen a massive collapse in readership, must be the most incompetently run organisation outside of some government departments in our history.

Guy Hatchard: Inside Jacinda Ardern’s Dystopian Biowave Political Movement

We have just had local body elections here in New Zealand, and we were entertained by the spectacle of Jacinda’s government-funded medico-political platform in full flood.

If you want a metaphor from popular culture, watch Divergent, in which good people whose profession is to protect society get injected and become compliant oppressors.

Stuff newspaper, in conjunction with sophisticated websites and government-funded scientists, led the campaign charge and sought to identify and publicly attack any candidates who had safety concerns.

Guy Hatchard: God’s Own Country

One of my favourite books read whilst at Christchurch Teachers College was “Cry The Beloved Country” by Alan Paton. A 1948 novel about the trials and tribulations in pre-apartheid South Africa. It poignantly mourns the loss of the stability offered by traditional tribal ties as the economic and social alienation of blacks takes root in the cities.

In 1980 New Zealand was still referred to as Godzone, a derivation of reforming Premier Richard Seddon’s turn of the century vision. ‘Godzone’ cherishes the ideal of a free caring society set in pristine nature. Whether this was ever fully true doesn’t really matter, it was something to aim for and be proud of. It celebrated our aspiration to be an inclusive, kind, and freedom-loving society.