tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post5209456157719107373..comments2024-03-29T17:55:30.203+13:00Comments on Anglican Down Under: The politics of Jesus (Monday 14 April 2014)Peter Carrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535218286799156659noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-3786731097898362332014-04-30T10:07:31.038+12:002014-04-30T10:07:31.038+12:00I've now watched both and am in a better posit...I've now watched both and am in a better position to comment on them. The main difference between Key's and Harawira's videos roughly corresponds to their overall political personas: Harawira's is far more about politics and real issues; Key's is far more about superficiality, personality and content-free generalities like "making a difference" and (eventually) "economic management".<br /><br />Key does talk about "vulnerable people" after Campbell observes the wealth of their context, and he talks about his support for WFF (a Labour initiative he opposed at the time) and his concern for kids in poverty. But for him these vulnerable people and children in poverty are an abstraction. They aren't anywhere in his life.<br /><br />Meanwhile, his claimed concern for kids growing up on welfare belies the fact that his government has kept benefits at the levels they were set to in the early 90s by Ruth Richardson. Richardson deliberately set benefits lower than necessary to survive, in an attempt to incentivise people into accepting the new low-wage jobs (those lucky enough to find jobs anyway - they also encouraged a certain level of stable unemployment, again for these "incentive" reasons - and no amount of individual incentivisation can fix the level of unemployment in the economy). The whole thing was and is a sacrifice of the poor in order to support poverty-wage employers.<br /><br />Child poverty has dropped since the last Labour government brought in WFF (which Key now supports), and National's rhetoric is all anti-unemployment these days. But it still speaks volumes that Key's willing to use taxpayer money to subsidise those poverty-wage workers today, instead of supporting living wages. And that he looks no further than individual solutions to the social/economic issue of unemployment. Meanwhile, the abstract "vulnerable people" who miss out on the limited number of jobs offered by this "economic management" suffer now more than ever.<br /><br />Suffice it to say I find Hone and Hilda far closer to the politics of Jesus than John and Bronagh.Calebhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13619381698748105116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-28245759039975917872014-04-30T09:29:22.885+12:002014-04-30T09:29:22.885+12:00Here's the next installment - Hone Harawira an...<a href="http://www.3news.co.nz/At-Home-with-the-Leaders-Hone-Harawira-and-his-wife-Hilda/tabid/817/articleID/342032/Default.aspx" rel="nofollow">Here</a>'s the next installment - Hone Harawira and Hilda Halkyard-Harawira.Calebhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13619381698748105116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-28303669556362784502014-04-15T17:43:31.758+12:002014-04-15T17:43:31.758+12:00As you know from my comments on a previous blog, I...As you know from my comments on a previous blog, I think equality of outcome is a straw man - at least in NZ. Our parties all strive for equality of opportunity, but have different opinions on how to get there. I think you need to give up on this way of characterising right wing vs. left wing (or capitalism vs. commmunism), because it leads you to say things that you actually know are inaccurate, like saying capitalism (or right-wing politics) provides equality of opportunity, instead of saying it ostensibly strives for equality of opportunity, but largely falls short (just like the left wing).<br /><br />I too think it's incredibly naive to say that Burnside High when Key was growing up succeeded in providing equality of opportunity. For a start, living in the Burnside zone (even in the state housing part of it) means you're likely to have a better public education than living in other parts of Chch. And it's well-known that the most important driver of education success is socio-economic status - a school can only go some way towards equalising this existing inequality of opportunity.<br /><br />You rightly note that although Key managed to become a multi-millionaire through a combination of talents (cf: Smiling Assassin), opportunities, choices, assistance, hard work and luck, not everyone can. The fact that a poor boy became rich doesn't mean there's equality of opportunity. It's only possible for some people to attain Key-level massive wealth. We all have some opportunity to attain it, but some have far more opportunity than others. Usually the people who get it will be the people with the most opportunity, though in a minority of cases, people with less opportunity will manage to attain it (e.g., Key).<br /><br />It's also worth noting that Key (like Paula Bennett) grew up benefiting from a strong welfare state; his mother's benefit, his state house and his public education were all part of the opportunity and assistance he had. The welfare state has been greatly eroded since then (partly by Key and Bennett themselves), which means equality of opportunity has been eroded. If Key's family moved onto Hollyford Ave today, their John would have much less opportunity to attain his wealth than what the real John did.<br /><br />You make a good point re: other countries' politics greatly affecting our country. I'm afraid I haven't attempted to answer your question about that... sorry!Calebhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13619381698748105116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-16546405137463606232014-04-15T05:16:18.230+12:002014-04-15T05:16:18.230+12:00"Taxation Is Robbery" by Frank Chodorov...."Taxation Is Robbery" by Frank Chodorov. Read the whole pathetic article. More Ayn Rand-style selfishness-is-good from the looney Austrians.<br /><br />http://mises.org/resources.aspx?Id=1bb049d5-cc33-48ab-985a-91d4f7a544d6<br /><br />Kurt Hill<br />Ntooklyn, NY Kurtnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-81419502840106831432014-04-14T14:40:05.442+12:002014-04-14T14:40:05.442+12:00Taxation is robbery.
A snippet from this American...<a href="https://mises.org/etexts/taxrob.asp" rel="nofollow">Taxation is robbery.</a><br /><br />A snippet from this American work which was published in 1962:<br /><br /><i>The ultimate of taxation-for-social-purposes is absolutism, not only because the growing fiscal power carries an equal increase in political power, but because the investment of revenue in the individual by the State gives it a pecuniary interest in him. If the State supplies him with all his needs and keeps him in health and a degree of comfort, it must account him a valuable asset, a piece of capital. Any claim to individual rights is liquidated by society's cash investment. The State undertakes to protect society's investment, as to reimbursement and profit, by way of taxation. The motor power lodged in the individual must be put to the best use so that the yield will further social ends, as foreseen by the management. Thus, the fiscal scheme which begins with distribution is forced by the logic of events into control of production. And the concept of natural rights is inconsistent with the social obligation of the individual. He lives for the State which nurtured him. He belongs to the State by right of purchase.</i><br /><br />It would be a great thing if we could manage more equality of opportunity but complete equality of opportunity is never going to happen. We are not born equally gifted of equally gifted parents. Even the order in which a child is born makes a difference.<br /><br />However, the idea that inequality of outcomes is a bad thing that must be corrected by forced redistribution of wealth is pernicious. It does not arise from compassion but from envy, covetousness and the love of money. Jesus was not in favour of any of those things. Janicenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-28383550614690937892014-04-14T12:46:51.101+12:002014-04-14T12:46:51.101+12:00re the politics of Jesus. I am no political animal...re the politics of Jesus. I am no political animal - except insomuch as politics involves people, and Jesus was always concerned with the spiritual and social welfare of ALL people. In a religious world of Church prosperity, Jesus was often seen to 'kick against the pricks' as it were, often to the discomfort of the Church hierarchy. <br /><br />Church Law was not always, for Jesus, actually cherishing the marginalised and disadvantaged of society - especially amongst women and lepers, whom Jesus constantly affirmed and justified as being worthy of religious acceptance.<br /><br />The "New Commandment", as we today affirm during Jesus' journey to the Cross during Holy week, was manifestly one of the reasons for his arraignment before Pontius Pilate by the Scribes, Pharisees, and the Temple authorities.<br /><br />So what has changed, in the polity of the Churches, that seeks to bring about justice for ALL? I am part of the problem, too, and long for substantive change to happen.<br />Father Ron Smithhttp://kiwianglo.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-72396168155241239952014-04-14T10:26:46.885+12:002014-04-14T10:26:46.885+12:00Piketty's book does a great job of gathering d...Piketty's book does a great job of gathering data, on patterns and levels of wealth over time for a variety of advanced economies. It would be good to see someone do something similar for NZ. But the book is on considerably shakier ground when he moves on to prognosticate about how these variables will behave in future, and is simply an expression of personal political preferences (about which economists have nothing distinctive to say) once he gets on to policy propositions.<br /><br />In sum, the book is well worth reading and thinking about. But one should always be wary about suggestions that trends of recent decades are likely to run on forever. As just one example, the current very low interest rates in most of the world mean that returns to many "rentiers" are now lower than they have been, perhaps at any time in modern history.Michael Reddellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-24656974923780178322014-04-14T09:55:29.404+12:002014-04-14T09:55:29.404+12:00Hi Mike
Yes, I readily concede that re tough quest...Hi Mike<br />Yes, I readily concede that re tough questions.<br /><br />I don't resile from the fact that the overall intention of a school like Burnside is to provide a great education for all its students; nor from the assumption that theoretically all students walking through the gates have equal opportunity to access what the school provides and equal chance of having the best teachers over the years of being there.<br /><br />But I see your point (without having seen the interview or the data, I'll make an assumption that it is something like this ...) that once inside the school gates the school's reality is a complex organisation which some are better geared to make the most of than others; and aspects of the school respond better to some pupils than to others.<br /><br />Extrapolating further, I can imagine that JK's sunny, confident disposition would have gotten him a long way into the Burnside 'system' (or, indeed, in my experience, into any school he had attended, state or private).Peter Carrellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09535218286799156659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-52792631988181225792014-04-14T09:42:07.543+12:002014-04-14T09:42:07.543+12:00Kia ora Peter,
John Key does seem a nice guy. Th...Kia ora Peter,<br /><br />John Key does seem a nice guy. The 'story' of rags to riches makes a happy read. However, it has it's problems.<br /><br />The idea that Burnside High provided equal opportunity for its students is unfortunately flawed. Eleanor Catton recently referred to that in a TV interview. Data analysis confirms it. <br /><br />Education, like politics, can be selectively blind. If we want to think about the politics of Jesus, we need to be asking tougher questions than the ones you raise.mike greensladenoreply@blogger.com