Beautiful piece Stephanie. In my view, it’s way past time to stop beating around the bush. Polite and conservative narrative simply does not cut through, so nice job here, well done and thank you.
First up, and incredibly sadly, van Velden’s toxic and morally reprehensible behaviour - defined as evil, literally - isn’t a bug in the political system, it’s a feature. Luxon, Willis, Seymour, Bishop, Collins, Peters, Jones….you get the gist, pick one, they’re all toxic, all bought and paid for. Are they corrupt? Here’s the definition, you be the judge: having or showing a willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain.
And while the list of politicians ‘hovering’ around this definition is far too long, I will acknowledge the right side of politics appears to be more likely to generate toxicity. Makes sense, they’re the puppets of ‘the have yachts’, not the ‘have-nots’.
Stephanie, you mentioned feedbacks, which I love. Why? Because they provide insights into the health of systems. The ‘feedbacks’ van Velden and her political cohort, caucus, and factions are dealing with, is the economic and financial pressures building up beneath a rapidly disintegrating and failing Neoliberal experiment. I would argue it is in the final stages of collapse and in ‘systems’ terms, collapse often happens rapidly. Google up any of the great civilisations. They all went quickly in the end. The US is demonstrating rapid collapse in real time. The Middle-East is following suit. Russia, another rogue state rife with inequality and corruption, is moving towards its end game. My point, the myth of exceptionalism is being revealed and New Zealand won’t escape that reality either. It is no longer a caring, egalitarian society. The social contract between the government and its people has been severed, broken, and smashed into irreparable pieces. Trust has evaporated. Its people are leaving.
In New Zealand, taking a stick to workers as van Velden is doing is beyond stupid. Firstly, for cohesive and humane reasons. Secondly, because this low wages country chooses to invest in labour over technology. Why allocate capital to advanced plant and equipment or technology when you can just tap into the desperation of people struggling to exist in this world. This strategy enables surplus capital and profits to be channelled into the tax effective non-productive property sector, which further extracts from the proletariat. And thirdly, screwing Kiwi workers is a gift to Australian firms who pay 35% more, offer security, double the paid sick leave, and deliver far safer working conditions. The departure rate of the disenfranchised is currently sitting at 200 people per day, every day. Bon voyage, bon chance.
The whole dirty, petty, low-rent, nasty, cruel, and unsustainable ideology of the ‘van-Velden class’ can be seen across the global west. Big business and its political puppets have ‘extracted’ finite resources to the point of systems collapse. Seven out of nine planetary boundaries have now been breached. Through their climate changing extraction, the ‘wealthy and sorted’ have also extracted meaning, hope, and futures from the very human lives of the ‘serfs’ that facilitate their lives of luxury. Queue image of hospitality person crying in Queenstown because sleeping in their car in zero degree temperatures is becoming a bit much.
The Neoliberalism world - an extraction system for the wealthy - in its blind, unadulterated greed, has created immense inequality and division, which unbeknownst to fuckwits and cunts like van Velden is combustible. And make no mistake, the fuse has been well and truly been lit. And do you know what? There’s a big part of me that wants what these selfish people have created to blow the fuck up. Why? Because the van Velden class is resistant to listening, research, advice, and facts. Worst of all, they are resistant to humanity. Kaboom….💥 That’s called revolution detonation Brooke, no sick leave required.
The part that annoys me is that sick pay is paid at relevant daily rate…so if you earn minimum rate for one job for two hours you will max out at about$47 in that job and $47 in the other job, so while it might look like you are getting 2 days sick leave it is in fact only 1/2 day compared to a full time job. The sick leave provisions in NZ are too low, lead to illness spread and cost the economy more lost days I would imagine than if people stayed or worked from home when sick. Who wants to spread coughs, colds. V&d etc. And as people who have had real flu can attest a week is not long enough for a good recovery.
My cleaner when I was a teacher was part time, she had three part time jobs all while supporting her partner, ill with cancer, and trying to scrape enough money together to buy their first home at 50! The Shipleys, Richardsons, Van Velden’s and Willis’s of the world are wilfully ignorant of the plight not just of women, but of every worker who has to juggle multiple jobs, living expenses and child care in a political climate of at best, disinterest and worst, hostility. I simply cannot fathom the lack of humanity that politicians (and especially female) demonstrate for those less fortunate than themselves.
'Give up your babies, give up your babies, you don't deserve them if you're not rich like me' - remember that time Ruth Richardson had baby Lucy and suddenly there was childcare at Parliament? We really are going backwards with these corporate feminist cupcake politicians ...
The cruelty of this brand of young female neocons is sickening. Women must rise up and call a cunt a cunt for her cuntiness.
Beautiful piece Stephanie. In my view, it’s way past time to stop beating around the bush. Polite and conservative narrative simply does not cut through, so nice job here, well done and thank you.
First up, and incredibly sadly, van Velden’s toxic and morally reprehensible behaviour - defined as evil, literally - isn’t a bug in the political system, it’s a feature. Luxon, Willis, Seymour, Bishop, Collins, Peters, Jones….you get the gist, pick one, they’re all toxic, all bought and paid for. Are they corrupt? Here’s the definition, you be the judge: having or showing a willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain.
And while the list of politicians ‘hovering’ around this definition is far too long, I will acknowledge the right side of politics appears to be more likely to generate toxicity. Makes sense, they’re the puppets of ‘the have yachts’, not the ‘have-nots’.
Stephanie, you mentioned feedbacks, which I love. Why? Because they provide insights into the health of systems. The ‘feedbacks’ van Velden and her political cohort, caucus, and factions are dealing with, is the economic and financial pressures building up beneath a rapidly disintegrating and failing Neoliberal experiment. I would argue it is in the final stages of collapse and in ‘systems’ terms, collapse often happens rapidly. Google up any of the great civilisations. They all went quickly in the end. The US is demonstrating rapid collapse in real time. The Middle-East is following suit. Russia, another rogue state rife with inequality and corruption, is moving towards its end game. My point, the myth of exceptionalism is being revealed and New Zealand won’t escape that reality either. It is no longer a caring, egalitarian society. The social contract between the government and its people has been severed, broken, and smashed into irreparable pieces. Trust has evaporated. Its people are leaving.
In New Zealand, taking a stick to workers as van Velden is doing is beyond stupid. Firstly, for cohesive and humane reasons. Secondly, because this low wages country chooses to invest in labour over technology. Why allocate capital to advanced plant and equipment or technology when you can just tap into the desperation of people struggling to exist in this world. This strategy enables surplus capital and profits to be channelled into the tax effective non-productive property sector, which further extracts from the proletariat. And thirdly, screwing Kiwi workers is a gift to Australian firms who pay 35% more, offer security, double the paid sick leave, and deliver far safer working conditions. The departure rate of the disenfranchised is currently sitting at 200 people per day, every day. Bon voyage, bon chance.
The whole dirty, petty, low-rent, nasty, cruel, and unsustainable ideology of the ‘van-Velden class’ can be seen across the global west. Big business and its political puppets have ‘extracted’ finite resources to the point of systems collapse. Seven out of nine planetary boundaries have now been breached. Through their climate changing extraction, the ‘wealthy and sorted’ have also extracted meaning, hope, and futures from the very human lives of the ‘serfs’ that facilitate their lives of luxury. Queue image of hospitality person crying in Queenstown because sleeping in their car in zero degree temperatures is becoming a bit much.
The Neoliberalism world - an extraction system for the wealthy - in its blind, unadulterated greed, has created immense inequality and division, which unbeknownst to fuckwits and cunts like van Velden is combustible. And make no mistake, the fuse has been well and truly been lit. And do you know what? There’s a big part of me that wants what these selfish people have created to blow the fuck up. Why? Because the van Velden class is resistant to listening, research, advice, and facts. Worst of all, they are resistant to humanity. Kaboom….💥 That’s called revolution detonation Brooke, no sick leave required.
The part that annoys me is that sick pay is paid at relevant daily rate…so if you earn minimum rate for one job for two hours you will max out at about$47 in that job and $47 in the other job, so while it might look like you are getting 2 days sick leave it is in fact only 1/2 day compared to a full time job. The sick leave provisions in NZ are too low, lead to illness spread and cost the economy more lost days I would imagine than if people stayed or worked from home when sick. Who wants to spread coughs, colds. V&d etc. And as people who have had real flu can attest a week is not long enough for a good recovery.
My cleaner when I was a teacher was part time, she had three part time jobs all while supporting her partner, ill with cancer, and trying to scrape enough money together to buy their first home at 50! The Shipleys, Richardsons, Van Velden’s and Willis’s of the world are wilfully ignorant of the plight not just of women, but of every worker who has to juggle multiple jobs, living expenses and child care in a political climate of at best, disinterest and worst, hostility. I simply cannot fathom the lack of humanity that politicians (and especially female) demonstrate for those less fortunate than themselves.
'Give up your babies, give up your babies, you don't deserve them if you're not rich like me' - remember that time Ruth Richardson had baby Lucy and suddenly there was childcare at Parliament? We really are going backwards with these corporate feminist cupcake politicians ...
She’ll be waiting for her Royal Birthday Honour in a few year’s time. It worked for Richardson!