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Criticising Our Leaders

Entry 2211, on 2022-03-28 at 09:05:11 (Rating 3, Politics)

A recent opinion piece attempted to answer the question why New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, so often criticised. The writer seems to have fallen into the trap many people following the woke agenda do: they assumed the criticism was unjustified and that the real problem was with the critics or with society as a whole.

The writer commented that "Jacinda Ardern is young and female: Is that why some people have a problem with her?" I'm sure that technically he is right: there are some people who dislike her for those reasons, but the concept is misleading for a couple of reasons...

First, everyone is unfairly criticised for similar reasons. For example, I know feminists who would never vote for an "old white guy" whatever the circumstances. And conversely, there are people who are more likely to vote for a young female because they prefer that in a leader. I suspect this all evens out in the end, and that demographics are not a major factor in a politician's popularity.

And second, no doubt *some* people have all sorts of bad attitudes for reasons like this, but they are in the minority, and the PM's declining popularity is not because of this small group. So it seems that this is really just an attempt to disguise issues with the PM herself.

The writer objects to the "terrible things that get said about the Prime Minister" and to people who feel "compelled to crucify her with words". He didn't give any examples, but I see a lot of quite vicious criticism in some of the more controversial areas of the internet I visit. On the other hand, I see similar comments, and sometimes a lot worse, about other politicians too, especially the current and previous presidents of the US.

Those two presidents are both "old white guys" yet it was never (or rarely) suggested that they are only criticised because people can't cope with older males as leaders. So it just seems a matter of convenience that negativity about old white guys is because the criticism is deserved, but criticism of a young or female or "racially diverse" person is because of problems with the critic or with society as a whole.

Unfortunately the Herald limited who can comment on the post. I have made comments in the past which they presumably didn't like, so I have been censored there. But even though they are completely biased and corrupt this silly article still backfired on them, because plenty of other people said the sort of thing I wanted to. Here are the first few comments about this piece, and my response to them...

Comment: I’m so disappointed what a lot of rubbish. It’s got nothing to do with her being young/female. Also nothing to do with the election, I think the people have already decided who they will be voting for, it’s been a tough time for a lot of people.

Response: Sure, there is absolutely nothing in the article supporting the writer's conjecture, so he just seems to expect us to accept it for no reason. Well sorry, but most of us don't.

Comment: Nothing to do with her age nor gender! Everything to do with the way she has arrogantly and patronisingly treated NZers like children. She has lied to us repeatedly and she has had our lives controlled by her inept Cabinet.

Response: Here's an alternative theory, and one at least as well supported by the facts as the crazy conspiracy of the writer.

Comment: It has nothing to do with Gender. This government has NOT ACHIEVED ONE ELECTION PROMISE EVEN IN THERE SECOND TERM... NOTHING GOVERNMENT. Regardless of who leads the party.

Response: This is true. Very few (if any) of this government's promises have been kept. That seems like a better explanation of the declining popularity of the PM.

Comment: For god sake... who the hell cares how old she is.. she is incompetent and has an ego that is out of this world. That is the truth and most know it... she has no idea about business and the economy that helps run this country.

Response: Exactly. Incompetence and arrogance are a dangerous combination, and I think there is sufficient evidence supporting the existence of both of these. Why would anyone support an arrogant, incompetent leader, and what does that have to do with her age or gender?

Comment: *becomes unpopular due to poor leadership* "it's because she's a young woman". What about when she won the election?

Response: This is a good point. If voters don't like young female leaders how did this one get the greatest proportion of the vote in recent years? Even I voted for her at the first election (and I apologise for that). It has just taken me a few years to realise what a terrible leader she is. I knew her age and gender when I voted for her, but it didn't stop me, so why would that have changed now?

Comment: No I think there's more of a problem with the restrictions she's put in place, her dishonesty and arrogance, the chaos she caused and her fiance's former occupation... anyone seen him lately?

Response: There's that same theme again. By the way, many of these comments were made by young women, so if there is bias against that demographic, it comes as much from within as from other places.

Comment: What a great idea of getting attention of the readers. And then create the poll that she is demand for the PM role for next elections or have they realised that next election won’t be a easy win for Labour Party because of all the broken promises, keeping families separated from their loved ones, ruining country economy.

Response: The media are perfectly entitled to publish articles like this, which are clearly marked as opinions, but it would be nice if we didn't suspect their motives because of government hand-outs to media companies. It would also be nice if there were more contrary views to give us some balance.

Comment: Not because female or young... Simply cause her and her team have made the shittiest calls and ruined many people's lives.

Response: Like all leaders, the PM has made good and bad decisions. Whether the good or the bad are more numerous is a matter of opinion, but criticising her because you think she has made too many bad decisions is perfectly reasonable.

Comment: I am a young female, I back myself, I don't back the prime minister. Her divisive policies and narcissism ruined peoples lives.

Response: Could be an old white guy pretending to be a young female, I suppose, or maybe everyone is biased against young females, even other young females. No, I don't think so.

Comment: I don’t particularly like her and I’m female and in my 40s... it has everything to do with claiming to be transparent and being anything but... as well as the fact that along with a lack of transparency we are rapidly going backwards in all areas and of course this Govt has got rid of any meaningful measurements, creating a divisive NZ not being honest about where we are heading... plenty more but yea nothing to do with gender or age.

Response: I totally agree with all of these points. It's a tough call, but I believe she is the worst prime minister we have ever had. I know many people love her, but many also hate her. She is very divisive, even after promising to "govern for all" after winning the last election, but you just cannot believe a word she says.

Comment: Couldn't care less about how old she is, just start listening to what the people want instead of your own agenda!!!

Response: This government is very ideological and they are only starting to listen to the public now that their poll results are declining. I'm not sure which is worse: being guided by leftist ideology, or being guided by the need to win the next election.

Comment: Well this article certainly triggered some people. I see the anti-woke warriors are out in force. Sure there is legitimate criticism of some of the decisions Labour has made. But lets get some perspective. My read on this article is that this criticism does not excuse anti-Arden hysteria at some of the levels it has gotten too.

Response: Yes, this was the first comment I read which defended the PM to some extent, and the point is a fair one too. Is the criticism commensurate with the actions being criticised? Some would say no, but many would say yes. Either way, it has nothing to do with her being a young female.

So can we please get over this silliness? If someone wants to get involved in politics - whatever their age and gender is - they need to be ready to be criticised, often quite viciously. It's always been that way, whoever the politician is, but can we please just take it for what it is, and not create some ridiculous politically correct narrative like this.

Comment 1 (7148) by Anonymous on 2022-05-03 at 14:55:08:

I reject the premise of this question!

Comment 2 (7151) by OJB on 2022-05-04 at 21:33:36: LOL. Well done!

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