Oh my god!
Political Correctness Gone Mad!
Yes, people here really think this way.
If you look at some of the articles, you'll see that, apparently, *everything* is political correctness. This is my favorite, because it points out the absolute foolishness of the NZ right's labeling of anything they don't agree with as being 'PC'.
I think Labour's big deficit in the polls is indicative of a long-term trend here in NZ. The country is becoming more conservative, in part because of migration. Educated Kiwi's are leaving, and the majority of immigrants into NZ are from China, India, and the UK. Most of the UK expats I know here (mostly on-line acquaintances) will tell you that among the reasons they left the UK is their native country's immigration policy ('overrun by Muslims' is a common meme) and because the UK was 'too PC'. (Yeah, it appears they still use that over there, too.)
I'm currently reading Chris Trotter's 'No Left Turn', which is about the political and economic history of NZ. It's very similar to Howard Zinn's 'A People's History of the United States', and after reading both, one could draw many parallels between the histories of both countries. Once I've finished I'll give a full book report, but right now all I can say is that reading Trotter's books has provided me with some context for what I'm seeing around me, and it's troubling. Looking back at the last 20 years in the US, it's easy to see the erosion of the social contract. (Hopefully the tide is turning in the US--heck, even Mike Huckabee's economic populism scares the establishment right.) I think the next 20 years in NZ could make the backward steps we've taken in the US look tame by comparison, mostly because, if Trotter is correct, the 'social contract' here in NZ was really nothing more than a thin veneer.
But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me finish the book, then I'll report.
Yes, people here really think this way.
If you look at some of the articles, you'll see that, apparently, *everything* is political correctness. This is my favorite, because it points out the absolute foolishness of the NZ right's labeling of anything they don't agree with as being 'PC'.
I think Labour's big deficit in the polls is indicative of a long-term trend here in NZ. The country is becoming more conservative, in part because of migration. Educated Kiwi's are leaving, and the majority of immigrants into NZ are from China, India, and the UK. Most of the UK expats I know here (mostly on-line acquaintances) will tell you that among the reasons they left the UK is their native country's immigration policy ('overrun by Muslims' is a common meme) and because the UK was 'too PC'. (Yeah, it appears they still use that over there, too.)
I'm currently reading Chris Trotter's 'No Left Turn', which is about the political and economic history of NZ. It's very similar to Howard Zinn's 'A People's History of the United States', and after reading both, one could draw many parallels between the histories of both countries. Once I've finished I'll give a full book report, but right now all I can say is that reading Trotter's books has provided me with some context for what I'm seeing around me, and it's troubling. Looking back at the last 20 years in the US, it's easy to see the erosion of the social contract. (Hopefully the tide is turning in the US--heck, even Mike Huckabee's economic populism scares the establishment right.) I think the next 20 years in NZ could make the backward steps we've taken in the US look tame by comparison, mostly because, if Trotter is correct, the 'social contract' here in NZ was really nothing more than a thin veneer.
But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me finish the book, then I'll report.
posted by Jon A at
7:55 PM
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