This is my web log which contains all sorts of random thoughts I felt it necessary to record for posterity here. I've recorded ideas on all sorts of topics in here so I hope you find something interesting, and maybe even useful!
Learning from Failure
2024-11-28. Politics. Rating 3. ID 2376.
Everyone makes mistakes, don't they? Given that, what is the best response when you fail or discover that you got something wrong? Is it to blame someone else, or to blame the system (patriarchy, etc), or is it to look honestly at the situation and accept some (or all) of the blame yourself, and improve so you don't fail again in the future?
Well, that's obviously a rhetorical question, because any reasonable person would choose the "accept your own culpability" option, and improve as a result. But is that what commonly happens?
Of course, often it is not. There seems to be a major trend towards right wing politics around the world at this point in history, including the most obvious example: Trump's victory in the US. You might think at this point that the left would look at what they are offering and maybe adjust their approach to make it more popular, right?
Well, no. At least, not in the majority of cases. I have seen a massive amount of "feedback" from the losing side in the US, and none of them are thinking along the lines of maybe they had the wrong candidate, or the wrong policies, or the completely wrong approach to the election. Instead they are blaming the voters who they say are racists or misogynists, or claiming that Trump cheated in some unspecified way, or that the Republicans had access to more campaign funds.
These are all ridiculous. No doubt there are racists out there, who would not vote for a "person of colour" (which makes me wonder how Obama managed to win), but I don't think they are common. And there are also misogynist who would not vote for a woman, but there are plenty of people who are "reverse misogynists" who would vote for Harris because she is a woman, so that is unlikely to be a major factor.
And it's difficult to see how Trump could have cheated, considering the establishment bureaucrats running the election seem to be primarily Democrat supporters. Also, just saying "he cheated" is not helpful. We need details to take this allegation seriously.
And the Democrats were the ones who got most of the massive donations from big business, so they had far more funding. It is interesting that corporations now favour the Dems, because they are now the party of big business and the elites, and the Republicans are there for the working class (in theory, at least).
So when I see Democratic Party supporters saying they lost because Americans are racist, or misogynist, or ignorant, or evil, I just think: "you're not learning, are you". And that is a problem, because in the past I have been a supporter of the left more than the right, but as the left "lost its mind" pursuing a woke agenda, I had to swap.
So if I was an American I would have voted for Trump, not because I think he is the best possible person to be president, but because Harris was unelectable, in my opinion. The same thing has happened here in New Zealand, I voted for our libertarian party at the last election, but in the past I have voted for the left (Labour and Green) before they went woke. There is no way I could do that again, unless they change quite considerably.
To be fair, New Zealand's Labour (center-left) Party has learned to some extent from its extreme ideology under the tyrant, Jacinda Ardern. Several things have changed since the new leader took over, but not enough, and because they would need to form a coalition with parties which can only be described as totally insane (The Greens and Maori Party) voting for the left just isn't an option.
I think there is a place for parties with views I find insane, because other people might not see them that way, and everyone has the right to vote for who they think best represents them, but the left will find it hard to regain power unless they recognise that having extreme politically correct (AKA woke) views is unlikely to be a winning strategy at elections.
Just in closing, I strongly disapprove of one "insane" party having representation because of the ethnicity of their suporters rather than having any inherent merit. I'm talking about the Maori Party here, which has several MPs despite not winning any normal electorates or gaining 5% of the vote, like every other party needs to do. Having special electorates, just for a group based on race, which leads to an unfair advantage, is not real democracy.
The most functional countries around the world tend to be those with the greatest unity. Any country with multiple communities within it, whether those are based on race, religion, or history, will almost inevitably encounter more conflict than others. This should be obvious, which is why so many political leaders and parties emphasise unity as a message.
But the problem is that many of these same people preaching unity want to implement policies which emphasise division. For example, they might want to give certain groups special privileges that others don't get. People are very attuned to their societal and economic position relative to others, so this sort of action will inevitably breed resentment and division.
I do have to say that in many cases these special privileges exist because of genuine concern for groups which are seen as having some degree of disadvantage, but the answer to that problem is to make sure everyone can exist on an equal level, not to give some an unfair advantage.
Currently, here in New Zealand, we have a major social issue where special privileges handed out to the indigenous people, Maori, are partly being reduced by the government, and one party, Act, wants to implement a law making all citizens equal, instead of there being a pile of special privileges for Maori.
Before I go any further, here is a partial list of those privileges: Maori focused schools, special Maori content in the education curriculum, Maori-only education scholarships, Maori-only housing projects, Maori-only health initiatives, Maori-only welfare initiatives, Maori-only prisoner programmes, Maori-only positions on government agencies, Maori-only consultation rights under the Resource Management Act, Maori-only co-management of parks, rivers, lakes, and the coastline, Maori-only ownership rights to the foreshore and seabed, a special Maori Authority tax rate of 17.5 percent, a special Maori-only exemption to allow blood relatives to qualify for charitable status, Maori language funding, Maori radio and TV, Maori-only seats on local councils, Maori-only appointments onto local government committees, Maori-only local government statutory boards, Maori-only local government advisory committees, Maori seats in Parliament.
Because they don't want to give these up (and who can blame them) there is a major protest march, which is likely to last more than a week (yeah, I haven't heard how they got all that time off work, but I have some theories) and finish in the capital city, Wellington, to confront the government.
Now I've got to say, these people seem like a bunch of radical nutters. That is harsh, and probably not true in every case, but in general they are incoherent, irrational, inconsistent, and deliberately obscure.
Nominally, the march is about the "Treaty Principles Bill" which is the action I mentioned above that Act are recommending to give everyone the same rights, but everyone knows that there isn't sufficient support in parliament to get that through to law, and it will be ineffective, so why have a major protest about it?
It seems to me that it is just Maori throwing their weight around and giving a warning that they will not give up those privileges easily. It's a warning to any politician in the future who wants to pursue a similar aim. They will not accept it, they will not debate it, all they will do is act like a bunch of children who don't get what they demand.
And I think there is good reason to think that this protest has been primarily organised by the Maori Party. Yes, that's the same party who prefer to rip up documents, jump around making threatening gestures, shout a lot, and disrupt the usual processes of government. OK, we all know that government is never particularly inspiring even when it is working perfectly, but this just makes everything a lot worse.
The opponents of the Treaty Principles Bill claim it is divisive, but I cannot see how a proposal to give everyone equal rights can increase division. Several surveys have shown substantial support for the Bill, which indicates to me that the majority of New Zealanders feel the current arrangements are unfair. We are already divided. Giving everyone the same rights seems like more a way to increase unity, although it would take a while for some people to accept the change.
Unfortunately, many in the media are indulging in the usual biased reporting on this issue, and there are reports of media people, funded by the taxpayer, actually joining the march for short periods of time. And the current video of the young Maori activist MP ripping up the bill and prancing around with her friends, like some sort of savage from 200 years ago, has gone viral and is being held as an inspiring example of resistance by some. But I suspect the majority just look at it and laugh at us again.
Sometimes hard decisions need to be made to make genuine progress. There will be a lot of whining and complaining to start with, but eventually there will be acceptance, because you can't get unity through division.
Before I move on, I need to make one more post about the Trump victory in the US. When Biden won at the last election, Republican supporters were criticised for their failure to accept the result and for their violent and hateful rhetoric. But we haven't heard of a similar attitude from the Democrats after their defeat, have we? Well, we might not hear about it in the mainstream media, but it's out there, big time!
So I thought I would list a few I have come across (without specifically looking for them). I apologise in advance for some of the language used, and for the irrational, revolting comments made. Here are some examples...
Here's a mild one: "Trump won dirty with lies about the economy, racist and sexist attacks on Harris, and transphobic hate." I don't recall seeing any of that. Everyone (including myself) who criticised Harris did it because she was incoherent, disorganised, and untruthful, not because of her sex or race.
This one is just paranoid. A person posted on TikTok, crying because she thinks she will wake up a slave after Trump won. The delusion is incredible. No one is going to be a slave. I wonder if she knows it was the Republicans who were tha main party behind freeing slaves in the US.
Another post on TikTok contained an insane, unhinged rant against Trump supporters calling them pedos, Nazis, fascists, racists, etc. She says she would kill them (Trump supporters) but they're not worth going to prison over because they're dirt. I suspect this moron would come off second best if she took on most Trump supporters, but despite the hateful rhetoric, hopefully she would never try to carry out the threat.
Here's some advice from an X user: "If you know a maga Republican Nazi, hurt them, punch them, fight them, harm them, make them hurt. It's because they are Nazis they are awful human beings and they deserve to be killed." I always though explicit calls for murder like that were illegal, but there were no consequences for this that I could see.
A woman who thinks her parents voted Trump said: "Take me out of the will. I never want you hear from you again. I don’t feel safe being in a relationship with you." People who disagree with your politics aren't evil (well, some probably are, but not because they disagree with you), they're just people with a different view from you. She should try to be a little bit more tolerant, like the left used to be.
Another unhinged leftist told a Trump supporter: "I want you to find yourself in a Princess Diana car accident." Before that she had approached his server at a restaurant and told them not to serve him. Again, a hateful statement, wishing an political opponent had a fatal accident. This is how "kind" the left has become!
Democratic Party member, AOC worried that Trump might "jail political dissidents or legislative opponents" in his upcoming term. No, that's what the Democrats do to people they disagree with. She seems to have got a bit confused.
Then there are the claims that Trump is not a legitimate president. A young woman encouraged her friends to "seduce Trump voters so that their marriage is destroyed". Looking at some of these people there chances of success with seduction seem slim... which they aren't!
Another said: "If you voted for Trump I hope you can fight (with a threatening gesture)". As I said above, I doubt whether these people could ever carry out their threats of violence, but sometimes even empty threats result in real world consequences.
Another TikTok user (there seem to be a lot of nutty people there) called on women to divorce their husbands, and suggests if they can’t, they should poison them. Presumably she assumes that all men voted Trump, and so death threats are fine.
A person suggested the most effective form of protest was to "put a mask back on", meaning people can't see your face when you do something suspicious, plus you might get better health. I always though that masks were a badge of identity during COVID, more than a genuine health intervention. Maybe this confirms that.
Now we get onto some more troubling behaviour: One young woman (almost all these people were female) appeared on a video, waving a knife around and shouting "f*ck Donald Trump". What happened to all that "joy" Kamala was talking about?
A minor celebrity (I had never heard of) encouraged "Resistance against Trump and Republican policies. First mourn, then fight. Give him hell. Make his presidency impossible." Why not wait to see what he policies he actually implements and resist specific examples which are problematic? This attitude of "if it's Trump, it's evil" is just completely irrational.
A UK politician claimed "Donald Trump is killing thousands of Americans... He has no place in the White House. He's an embarrassment, and he should be ashamed of himself... He's an absolute disgrace." Trump organised the production of the COVID vaccine which (arguably) saved many lives, and no wars started while he was president. How is he "killing thousands"? Maybe thet's Obama you're thinking of.
A young "lady" had trouble accepting the result. She couldn't understand how Trump had won, and was now an election denier. She claimed there was "no way Trump got the f*cking popular vote, the presidency, the house, and senate." As I said in a previous post: so unaware.
I could give you hundreds more examples of deranged rants but this last thing is a sad example of where irrational comments turned into real world violence. A man of 45 killed himself, after also killing his wife and 2 sons, over Trump winning. The media have to take a lot of responsibility for driving people insane.
So never let anyone tell you the left is more fair, kind, rational, or understanding. Many of them are totally feral, unhinged, and totally irrational.
Surely the most dangerous attitude for any political group to have is lack of awareness. If people are unaware of the reality in the wider world how could they possibly make decisions which will be effective? Of course, I am referring to the Democrats and their supporters in the recent US election. In my opinion, they lost mainly because they are out of touch with reality.
Many prominent people, celebrities, media companies, and many large corporations strongly supported the Democrats. A superficial analysis might lead you to think that meant the majority of voters also supported them. Sorry, wrong!
It is a common phenomenon where the noisiest, most obnoxious, most arrogant people make a big fuss about a political issue, and when that is reinforced by the biased media, it might make us believe they represent the majority. But often, they don't.
The same thing is happening here in New Zealand where a bunch of lazy parasites (yeah, OK, being a bit judgemental there) are currently engaged in a march to parliament to protest against the Treaty of Waitangi Principles Bill. They organised this before they even knew what was in the bill, because any suggestion that Maori privileges might end triggers them. Judging from media coverage you might think that almost every New Zealander supports this protest, but surveys show the majority support the Bill. So the woke mob who are against the Bill seem to be unaware of the level of support it has.
Trump won because many working class people identify with his message. The Democrats have become a party for the elite, and for people who like a "nice" message instead of hard reality. They were unaware that their message was not attractive to the majority of voters. So even though Donald Trump is a difficult character for many, he still won because he was aware enough to create a message which did connect.
For example, his decision to appear on major podcasts, especially Joe Rogan's, was brilliant. I listened to that podcast and I thought Trump represented himself well, like a real person instead of the caricature the media showed us, although his aggressive style and tendency to engage in hyperbole were still there! And if you think podcasts don't matter then you are suffering from the same lack of awareness as the Democrats.
Of course, it could have been that if Kamala Harris had been subjected to an unscripted, unrehearsed 3 hour discussion with Joe Rogan her total vacuousness would have become obvious to everyone, but if that was the case, why was she chosen as the candidate to start with? Well, we all know the answer to that don't we: she was a diversity hire!
The world has recently started changing. The era of woke is drawing to an end. Many people are getting sick of being told that they are racists, or that the history of their country is evil, or that men are women, or that the police should be defunded. This might have worked 5 or 10 years ago but we're getting over it now. Maybe the Democrats weren't aware of this change.
And many of us noticed that every time Trump was attacked he just got stronger. After the obviously political law cases he gained voters. Why? Maybe the Democrats were so unaware of the consequences of their actions that they thought those dirty tricks would help. And amongst their own team the idea of "not electing a convicted felon" was popular. But other people were thinking "why vote for a party (the Dems) which uses the law against its political opponents?"
And the assassination attempts gave him a massive boost. The shooters' motivations were not very well explored by the media, which suggests they were largely due to left leaning ideology, but the imagery of his defiance after the shooting must have been worth a lot of votes.
I saw a cartoon very apropos to the general "lack of awareness" phenomenon. It showed two very earnest woke lefties, and one says to the other "I can't believe that a year of us screaming at Zionists, taking over buildings, destroying college property and burning American flags didn't defeat Trump".
There's a lot of truth in that cartoon. Most people are getting very sick of protestors who support terrorists, who inconvenience others by holding up traffic with their hysterical climate protests, and who engage in rioting, arson, and murder to support a fake narrative of system racism in police. These people, almost universally supported by the left, are morons, but they are also unaware of how their stupidity is seen by others.
If there was one factor separating the left and right at this point in history it would be this: the left want to do nice sounding things, even if the don't work; the right want to do the things which have worked in the past, even if they seem harsh on unkind. You can make you own choice, but be aware.
Well, it's basically all over, and I'm so happy about that. Just in case you are wondering, I'm talking about the US election, and as I write this, it's not quite all over, but unless there is a miracle (or some election fraud) Trump has won. I did write a second version of this post for Harris winning, but it looks like I won't need it!
The endless stream of ill-informed, biased, unoriginal nonsense being peddled by the media here was getting to me a bit. I mean, the last few weeks have been so tedious with all of those hours of media coverage, being able to be summarised as: there's an election in the US, it is close, there's a bad man called Trump, there's a wonderful beacon of hope called Kamala, who we really want to win, but we can't come out and say that ourselves, but we will only ask biased commentators to speak and try to choose ignorant sounding Trump supporters to try to discredit him.
And all the celebrities who have made such heart-felt pleas from on high to the common people, asking them to "do the right thing" or threatening to leave the country if they get the wrong result, have not succeeded. I wonder how many of them will actually leave.
I have made no secret of the fact that I would prefer a Trump victory, even though his supporters are likely to be ridiculed and denigrated at every opportunity. Now I can act a bit smug: where did I put my MAGA hat? (Just joking, I don't have one)
But given all the problems with Trump, why do I support him?
Well first, most of the criticisms of him are nonsense. Many of the suggestions on how he might behave when in power can be answered by looking at what happened when he was president four years ago. Did he behave that badly then? Not really. Well, there was the January 6 "insurrection"", but let's deal with that later.
What about his criminal convictions? Is that not enough to make him unfit to be president? If they were genuine, maybe (and that really is "maybe", not definitely), but they weren't genuine. Legal experts have questioned the motivations behind those, and it seems clear they were just a dirty trick to try to discredit him. The fact that they engineered such a antidemocratic and devious plot should be a reason not to vote Democrat!
So, he is loud, unpleasant, and obnoxious, isn't he? Fair enough. You could make that case, but those particular character "flaws" can be an advantage in many situations, and I prefer someone whose true character is on display rather than someone who is constantly saying what is deemed correct according to political expediency.
But, doesn't he lie a lot? Well he does say a lot of stuff which is not backed up with much evidence, although it is rarely without any supporting facts at all. He also indulges in a lot of hyperbole and rhetoric. But in general I find the other side spreading misinformation at least as much. I have heard the Democrats repeating the same discredited material over and over. For example, that Trump wants a nation-wide abortion ban. They are just as bad, if not worse.
So what about January 6? I think that was an extremely unfortunate event, and some of the blame for it must lie with Trump. Even if he thought the election had been stolen (and there was some evidence at various times to say it had) he should have just conceded anyway, for the good of the country. But Jan 6 did happen, even though Trump had asked his supporters not to indulge in violence. There were deaths, but only because of police over-reaction. And the riots the Democrats encouraged (BLM in particular) were much more damaging and lead to far more deaths.
Harris got a lot of support from high profile people, including celebrities, so should we not be taking notice of that and voting accordingly? Well, yes. When we see the most over-rated, mediocre, privileged people in society trying to tell us what to do I think there is a case to do the exact opposite. Maybe celebrities will get the message now: that there opinions are not taken seriously, to a large extent because they live in a fantasy world and are amongst the world's worst narcissists!
But isn't Trump a fascist, or a Nazi, or both? No, he's not. And Harris isn't a communist either. In fact several high profile white nationalists and other people the left tend to criticise have supported the Democrats. They are the ones talking about reducing rights (including free speech) upheld by the Constitution. You could make a case to say they have the more fascist tendencies, however I would just avoid using the word altogether.
What about the other people on Trump's "team". Aren't they dangerous extremists? Again, no. Elon Musk, for example, has had to endure a lot of abuse and even threats to how his businesses can operate, but he has values which seem to make a lot of sense to me. I think he, and other Trump team members, are arguably what the country needs to improve a lot of the problems it faces.
Isn't voting for Kamala just a good thing to do? Isn't electing the US's first female leader something we should celebrate? Well, no. She is clearly a "diversity hire" and I don't think she would have got to the position she has now if she wasn't a woman and was white (I really don't know what her latest claim of racial ancestry is). Voting based on the gender and racial characters of a person, rather than their skills, is not the right thing to do.
Notice that nothing I have discussed so far has said much about the policies of either side. To many people policy seems to be irrelevant. This is more an election about perceptions of the two potential leaders, about vague philosophical proclivities, and about emotion more than rationality. In many ways, policies don't matter.
So the US has chosen Trump, despite the massive forces against him, and I suspect there will be much angst generated by this. Will it be seen as a good result in 4 years time? Well, I don't know. Who knows what the future might hold? I just hope the Democrats learn at least a small amount from this, and can make a more compelling case for Americans' votes, next election.
The word "garbage" seems to be featuring prominently in American politics at the moment. The Democrats claim Trump thinks Puerto Rica is floating pile of garbage, and Biden thinks Trump supporters are garbage. But Trump never said that, and there are some extremely reasonable people who support him, so in reality the only garbage is the opinions of the politicians and many of their supporters.
Let's look at some of the rhetoric recently seen in the US...
Trump is a fascist.
Kamala's a communist.
Trump is the last chance to save America from a complete communist takeover.
Trump is Hitler.
Vote for Trump to save democracy in America.
Kamala is the antichrist.
Illegals are overrunning the country.
Democracy dies in darkness.
While the last one is possibly true, the rest are pure nonsense. Trump isn't a fascist and Harris isn't a communist. The country seems to have lost its mind. To provide some nuance here, I do have to say that you could argue that some of those characteristics exist to a small degree in each candidate. Harris does tend towards communism and Trump to fascism, but those things aren't necessarily bad in moderation.
Personally, I would prefer a Trump victory, but if the Democrats win instead it won't be the end of the world. There are enough safeguards in place in the American system to ensure that even someone as incompetent as Harris can't mess the country up too much, and if Trump wins his more extreme ideas would also be vetoed.
But the idea the "democracy dies in darkness" has some merit. It isn't really darkness that is the problem here though, it is the over-abundance of light, but light which reveals falsehoods and hyperbole more than truth.
There is an additional problem too. That is that most of the media are grossly biased. They exaggerate the bad side of the Republican's behaviour and minimise the same thing from the Democrats. Every time I see a "fact check" pointing out an inconsistency in one of Trump's statements I can think of several times Harris has been at least as inaccurate with no repercussions.
I know that few people take the media seriously any more, and they are on the road to extinction, but they still have enough influence to affect the outcome of an election which is apparently so close.
The fact is - and don't just ridicule this without thinking about it - X (previously known as Twitter) is now the best place to find out what is really going on. I know it is owned by Elon Musk, who is on the Trump team, but in my experience there is more pro-Harris material there than pro-Trump.
And fact checking is prevalent, including a lot of fact checking on Elon himself, who tweets a lot! It really does seem to be a neutral source, despite its owner being obviously biased. When I say "neutral" I don't mean there are a lot of rational, balanced views there, I mean there are a lot of deranged rants, but at least they occur in similar numbers on each side, and most are fact-checked.
If Trump wins we should get some much needed changes to the government bureaucracy and a correction of many of the more unnecessary existing policies, but after that Trump won't be president any more, and anything too extreme he has done can be corrected.
If Harris wins, she will be the first female US president and she will very likely make a total mess of it, which will show that just being a woman doesn't make you a better choice. She will likely only serve one term and then the corrections to her incompetence can be made.
See how this works? In most democracies the party in power alternates between left and right. They both make a mess of it in different ways, but then someone else comes in, fixes the mess, then makes an even bigger mess of their own. It's not the best system in the world, but what's the alternative?
I only wish that the standard of debate was a bit higher. Currently there is almost no value in anything either the politicians or the media say. Democracy dies in darkness, especially when it is buried in garbage!
My regular readers may have noticed that I have been talking about (that is, ranting about) woke-ism a lot recently. I consider it an important subject, and a major cause of many of the problems in the developed world today, but what actually is it? How do you tell if someone is woke, and how can you tell if you might be?
First, let me say that I know a lot of woke people, and many of them are actually pretty nice, so being woke isn't an automatic way to be rejected by me, although I suspect that if a lot of those same people read this blog they might reject me, because many woke people are not known for their tolerance of alternative views!
Also, I have to concede that most woke issues have their roots in real problems and they aren't totally ridiculous in themselves, they just become a problem when people take them too seriously and go too far. And there are good reasons to answer some of these questions the same way a woke person would, but if you answer them all (or a majority of) the questions this way, then that is a sign of wokeness!
So here are some questions, and my comments on them, you can use to decide whether a person (or yourself) is woke...
What is a woman?
This is the ultimate single question which reveals a lot about the person attempting to answer it. It is such an apparently innocent and simple question, but watching people try to justify their answers it is pretty funny. I can still remember our previous prime minister being completely bamboozled by it.
The "correct" answer is "an adult human female", but that goes against trans ideology, because the woke mob insists that trans women (actually men) are identical to "real" women. They often say "a woman is someone who identifies as a woman", but when the tautological nature of this statement is pointed out they have no answer.
Is indigenous science a thing?
In their enthusiasm to pretend every culture is as good as any other, or that native cultures are actually superior, woke people like to pretend that the positive parts of Western culture also exist in "minority" cultures. Note that I'm talking about the process of science here, not random knowledge the culture might have accumulated during its existence.
In New Zealand we have a pile of ridiculous claims about "Maori science", which doesn't even really exist. If you think it does, or that indigenous cultures have "deep knowledge" we need to incorporate into real science, then you're wrong... and woke.
Is a trans woman a real woman?
This relates back to the "what is a woman" question. Woke people think that a man who has transitioned to living as a woman actually is a woman and totally indistinguishable from the "real thing" (which they deny exists). The idea is insane, and totally woke.
Do you support BLM, MeToo, Free Palestine, etc?
There are many sources of activism which aren't totally without merit, but if you take these movements really seriously and refuse to see their obvious deficiencies then you are... you guessed it... woke!
Do you think there is a gender wage gap?
On average, women do get paid less than men, but women also work fewer hours, take more time off, work in lower paid jobs, and aren't as aggressive in pursuing more money. Note that I am talking about on average here, and exceptions to these exist. But there is no gender wage gap, and if you think there is, you're woke.
What do you think of Elon Musk? Donald Trump? Jeff Bezos?
If you disapprove of these people, especially if it is because you don't like rich old white guys, then you're likely woke. I can understand that they are all controversial, but I think we need to acknowledge their good points as well.
You are probably getting the idea by now, but here are a few others you might want to consider...
Do you think Greta Thunberg is a force for good?
Is abortion simply the woman's choice?
Is capitalism a problem and Marxism a better economic system?
Should we allow more refugees into the country?
Should we decolonise the country?
Do you think Trump is a danger to democracy?
Was George Floyd a hero?
Do you think all white people have unearned privilege?
There are 14 questions. How did you score on those? If you gave a woke answer to a few you are probably OK. As I said, there is room for some nuance in all of these. If you gave a woke answer for 10 or more, well, there's no hope for you. All I can suggest is to learn to start thinking for yourself instead of repeating the ideological talking points pushed by the woke media.
It seems to me that the big problem with the "civilised" world today is that so many people are making the wrong decision when it comes to deciding between supporting what is nice versus what is true. The word "nice" here doesn't literally mean that, of course, because the end result of supporting the ideology of "niceness" (or "kindness" if you want to use the word used by our own petty tyrant, Jacinda Ardern) is often anything but nice.
When you think you are being nice you might also believe you are "doing the right thing" or are "on the right side of history". It's a very dangerous attitude, because people who are convinced they are on the right side don't worry too much about what is true and can easily dismiss opposing views because they are evil (they must be, because they oppose you, and you are "doing the right thing").
So let's look at a few examples of where this phenomenon occurs...
Example 1: Israel versus Palestine.
Most (but not all) of the people who support the Palestinian side in this conflict do it because they think supporting the "underdog" is the nice thing to do, then confuse that with doing the right thing. And they rarely take too much notice of the facts, which explains the unbelievable ignorance of many (but again, not all) people on the side of Palestine.
They think Israel is an apartheid state, is engaging in genocide, and is the aggressor in the war. None of these (or most of the other points produced by the anti-Israel side) can really be seen as being true, but they seem to think that if they say "stop the genocide in Gaza" often enough it will mean there actually is genocide there.
By the way, if you are against Israel in this conflict, read my blog post "Which River?" from 2024-03-21 and try to refute my points by adding a comment. I try to be fact-based, so if you can show me where I'm wrong, maybe I will change my mind.
Example 2: LGBTQIA+ ideology.
Trans people have a tough time so it would appear to be nice to support them as much as possible, wouldn't it? Well yes, as long as your support for them doesn't start adversely affecting other people in society, which of course, it does.
So there is the kindness of allowing trans women (born as men) access to women's sport, private spaces, etc. And if we were only allowing for the needs of the trans community that actually would be kind. But by being kind to that group you are inflicting harm on another, in this case primarily women.
So the niceness is never universal, because it is focussed on one group, which is usually the one which is seen as a minority or one which was disadvantaged by majority attitudes, and sometimes even laws, in the past. And the facts again are ignored. Many trans activists say they think trans women are identical to people actually born as women, that they have no advantage in sport, and that they do no harm to women. All of these points are wrong, but again they seem to think that by repeating a lie often enough it becomes the truth.
Example 3: Marxism versus Capitalism
Marxism superficially seems like a "nice" doctrine. Marx's famous slogan "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" sounds great in theory, because everyone gets what they need. Isn't that nicer than capitalism which encourages greed?
Well in some ways that has some merit, because pure capitalism has obvious problems, but if we look at actual Marxist states (or at least states where Marxist inspired regimes have held power) we see they universally fail and create a terrible standard of living for the people.
How would you like to live in the USSR, or North Korea, or East Germany, or Venezuela? If you want a simple test of the effectiveness of the two main political/economic systems look at North versus South Korea or East versus West Germany (when they existed as separate states). Marxist doctrine doesn't look so nice then, does it?
By the way, I know that some states which are labelled Marxist may not fit that description formally, but they are all inspired by the ideas of Marx, and that's the criterion I am using.
Example 4: DEI
Diversity, equity, and inclusion is an ideology which tries to equalise the number of people from all backgrounds in different important roles. So political parties should have the same number of women as men, or black and white people, or straight and "gender diverse" people. If the balance doesn't exist then more diverse people should be hired or assigned to these roles.
It seems nice, doesn't it? But there are numerous issues with DEI which are often very obvious when you look at the bigger picture. For every person hired to do a job because of their race, gender, etc there might be many who would be more competent but didn't get the job. Hiring based on DEI tends to create a more politically correct environment. And hiring on any attribute other than proficiency reduces the overall competence of the workplace.
So I will close with two points: first, anyone who thinks they are being nice probably isn't, because they don't look at the negatives of their actions. And second, even if a person is being unquestionably nice, is that more important than being factual? Are nice fantasies better than hard truths? I don't think so.
The police are an interesting institution. While I don't like the idea that a bunch of people have power over the rest of us, and I don't like the fact that they occasionally misuse that power, I also have to admit that they are necessary to maintain order.
So it is important that the police have the ability to do what they need to, but it is also important that their power is constrained to what is reasonable and necessary. This delicate balance is usually maintained by the police only enforcing laws which are created by our elected representatives in government, so it would be very concerning if they started creating their own rules, wouldn't it.
But increasingly this seems to be a thing. The police (I'm talking about New Zealand here, but similar arguments apply to most other modern, Western countries) are pursuing their own agenda and have been selectively enforcing laws for years, and now have gone even further and appear to be creating their own.
I'm talking about a "training program" the police management have recently forced their staff to take regarding "hate speech". Here is my comment on X regarding this program: Oh no, not a "training program". We know what that often means: "political propaganda indoctrination".
Here are some examples of things the police don't want you to say any more: that there are only two genders, anything involving the phrase "kiwi not iwi", anything which might be seen as negative to Palestine. For example, recently a woman arrested for "disorderly conduct" when she said "Where is Palestine? What is Palestine? It's not a nation."
It doesn't seem to matter whether these things are true or not. For example, it's reasonable to say that Palestine isn't a nation, and depending on the definitions you prefer, there are only two genders. I fully agree that you could make arguments against these two points too, but why can't we at least have the discussion about it?
It's not just New Zealand police, of course, this problem is affecting public and private institutions and companies around the world.
Police in Britain and the US seem to have a very uneven interpretation of laws depending on the group involved. For example, protests by left-wing extremists, like BLM, are allowed, and even encouraged, but similar situations involving the right (especially what is conveniently referred to as the "far right") are treated more seriously.
Many large companies have strong policies favouring modern, politically correct (or "woke" if you prefer) ideas even though they have no real mandate to hold or enforce those views.
And back to here in New Zealand, it seems almost universal that public institutions will have many policies granting special privileges to "minority" groups, especially Maori. Again, these are not part of law or even part of the current government's agenda. And the current government was voted in partly for their policies of removing laws and policies granting special privileges based on race.
For example, New Zealand's drug buying agency, Pharmac, has created policies based on what appears to be a fictitious reading of the Treaty of Waitangi and used that as an excuse for actions which are racist by any reasonable definition. The government is working on fixing this, but it is very clear that the heads of these organisations are going to resist government direction as much as they can.
Many people have many different perspectives on modern societal issues. If someone disagrees with your views it is just too easy to label that as hate and call the cops. The problem with hate speech is not the speech, it is the hate, and that exists whether it is given a means of expression or not. Also, what is defined as hate is highly subjective. Is it hateful to say that Palestine isn't a country? Whether it is or not is debatable, so let's debate it.
As I said at the start, the police have been given the powers they have as a necessary way to control the unruly elements of society, but this right should not be taken advantage of. If citizens decide they can't trust the police we have a problem. Sometimes the attitude that they cannot be trusted is false, as I have argued in the past when criticising BLM, but if they use their powers to suppress speech just because it doesn't suit their preferred ideology then we really do have genuine reasons to mistrust them. That is not a good situation to be in.
So we need to reject any attempt police might make to control the narrative, not just for the benefit of the people being targeted for inconvenient opinions, but for the good of the police as well, and of society in general. My advice to police is this: stop playing politics and get on with your real job.
A common problem with many countries in the Western world currently seems to be what I call "the rise of the bureaucrats". We see government organisations trying to implement their own agendas, ignoring government policies, and enhancing their own influence through overreach of their intended functions. Additionally, these organisations often become infested with large numbers of managers who don't always provide any positive benefit, in fact, in general I would be tempted to say that the more managers you have, the more poorly the organisation will run, although that probably isn't always true.
A recent example of this phenomenon here in New Zealand is Health New Zealand, the large bureaucracy which replaced district health boards through the previous government's policy.
Here are a few worrying facts about it: there were 14 layers of bureaucracy between the board and the clinicians "at the coal face", about 2500 new middle managers were hired in recent years, and it spends $130 million per month over its budget.
I must admit, the 14 layers thing sounds insane, but no one has contradicted that so far, including the leader of the opposition when he was defending the new structure, so I guess it must be true. If we are going to have a management structure at all, surely a "flatter" one would be better. Maybe, for an admittedly quite large organisation, 5 layers would be more appropriate.
And what could those 2500 middle managers possibly be doing? Assuming they are paid at a fairly typical rate could we not have hired a substantial number of clinicians instead for the same price, or maybe just saved the money we are wasting on them?
And that overspending has not been justified and there seems to be no gains in core capabilities. The logical conclusion is all that extra expense is going to those managers. Considering the new structure was supposed to reduce wasteful spending on non-core functions, this seems problematic.
So seeing that the current organisation is rotten to the core the government decided to sack the board and appoint a commissioner instead. In general I don't approve of this sort of move, because depending on who you put in as commissioner you can get whatever agenda you want put in place, but sometimes even a move like this, which seems too controlling, is necessary.
A person I heard interviewed who works in health (and I mean works, not manages) said that impractical reforms were being pushed through, that there were no targets or specific measures of success, that there was no real accountability at the top, and that the more effective co-workers just ignored the bureaucrats and got on with job.
I have little doubt that almost every large organisation suffers from exactly the same problem. Other ministries and government institutions seem to be victims of the same issues: that is overbearing, incompetent, arrogant "leadership". Note that I put that last word in quotes because these people aren't leaders in the true sense, they are petty dictators prepared to use the system they have created (HR departments, etc) to crush resistance.
And it's even worse than what I have portrayed so far, because the same inefficient, dysfunctional organisations affected by this plague are crying poor and demanding more money so they can keep running. Well, if they want to run within their budgets, don't complain about your funding, or shut down core services, just get rid of those extra managers instead!
Unfortunately, that is unlikely unless a major intervention, like a commissioner, is used. But I would suggest we could use Health NZ as a test case and, if the commissioner can make major improvements in say a year (we would need to define what success actually is, of course, but in the case of Health NZ I believe it is to save $1 billion) then use the same method for similar institutions, like social welfare, universities, the ministry of education, etc.
I've used this example before, but remember in previous posts where I said that when Elon Musk took over at Twitter (now X) he fired 80% of the staff and the place seems to be working better than ever? Yeah, we need more of that.
Let's find all the corrupt and incompetent boards, committees, and management structures and sack them all!
There are several common proverbs which I think have relevance to many political situations we see around the world today. Here are a few: don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good; you can't have your cake and eat it too; and (maybe my favourite) there are no solutions, only-trade-offs.
I think many good projects and ideas have failed because of these issues. Here are a few general comments on how...
Imagine we decide we want to proceed with a particular project but someone points out how it could be done even better if we just start again with some aspects of the project changed. Should we stop and start again? Or should we just go ahead? Do we let the pursuit of perfection stop us from attaining the merely good?
Or imagine we wanted to proceed with a project but to do so meant we had to give up something else we valued in some way. Do we cancel the project in that case? Do we say well because I can't keep my cake as well as eat it, I just won't even bake a cake at all?
Finally, imagine a project which is designed to solve a particular problem, but by doing that it creates some other problems, even if they are lesser than the original one. Do we scrap the project and try again? Do we look for a perfect solution instead of accepting there must be trade-offs?
So let's look at a major real-world example in politics today. The New Zealand government wants to encourage more low cost housing to be built. Some of the policies they have implemented to do this involve reducing the amount of paper work, testing, and consultation required before a new building starts; allowing smaller, cheaper units to be built; and allowing more land to be zoned for house building.
Of course, the usual suspects (mainly the opposition, which is fair enough, it is their job, but also many left oriented commentators) have complained bitterly claiming that this will allow lower quality houses to be built which will create "slums" and use up valuable farm land.
Well, sure, all of that is potentially true. But are we letting the pursuit of perfection get in the way of achieving the good? Surely even living in a "slum" (which it really isn't) is better than living in a car, or under a bridge, isn't it? Are we wanting to have our cake (the productive farm land) and eat it (allow more house building) too? Do we not have to accept that some farm land might have to be sacrificed to help solve the housing crisis? And are possibly lower quality and smaller houses a worthwhile trade-off to make them available at the right price?
The previous government spent a lot of time studying the problems they wanted to solve. They spent vast amounts of money on consultants to try to get the perfect solution. In some cases the projects weren't started because they were too busy being planned. In others the solution became impractical because of massive cost over-runs.
Maybe it's better to be pragmatic about these things and risk some possibility of negative side effects so that something can be achieved. Maybe smaller houses, built with less consultation, on land which has other uses is actually the best compromise.
Another area this has occurred here is in gas exploration. The previous government wanted to reduce the country's carbon emissions, so they shut down the search for new gas fields. But now we are running out and importing coal instead. Gas is a far better fuel than coal when CO2 emissions are considered. Additionally it is debatable whether we should even be worrying about CO2, but let's not go there in this post!
Every decision involves compromises between economic, social, environmental, and other factors. If we are unprepared to compromise on any of those we will be effectively paralysed. We just have to admit that some major economic benefits can justify compromises in environmental standards. Of course, I'm not saying that we should dig massive open cast coal mines in the middle of national parks. There has to be some compromise of economic goals to recognise environmental standards, just like there has to be compromise the other way.
After all, there are no perfect solutions, only trade-offs.
There seems to be a trend around the world in many countries, which have in recent years had left oriented governments, to move to the right. The most obvious recent example is France, but here in New Zealand we had a shift at the last election, although our right is fairly moderate compared with some. Other European countries have already gone right, it looks increasingly like the US will (although that is far from certain), and Canada has finally got sick of the hideous Justin Trudeau so they will go right at the next election there.
There are exceptions, of course: Australia shifted left at the last election, and the UK appears to be about to dump its long-time conservative government, but overall I think there is a shift away from the left.
I have moved right myself in recent years so maybe I should be celebrating this, and to some extent I do, because the left (who I supported in the past) have gone insane thanks to woke ideology. People put up with it for a while because of the overwhelming propaganda supporting it from the media, but you can only fool most people for a certain amount of time before they catch on to what is going on.
Political trends do tend to change over time and the most certain thing about governments in all truly democratic countries is that they won't last, because the voters will get sick of them and (rightly or wrongly) want to give the opposition a chance to do better, which they might even do for a while, until they get lazy and things swing back again to where they were.
So victories and defeats for any political ideology are temporary when looked at that way, and it is the greater underlying trends, the "zeitgeist", which is more important.
Starting in the 1980s (thanks in a large part to Ronald Regan) this trend was towards neoliberal political and economic systems. While that achieved some successes, it also had some bad side effects, and things changed at about the time of the new millennium. Then what I call "woke-ism" became dominant. I'm sure it had some good points, although being an avowed opponent I find it hard to think of any, but even if they existed, the bad effects outweighed the good and that has finally caught up with it and it is now on the way out.
Note that during the neoliberal era that philosophy was adopted by what was traditionally the left almost as much as its more natural home, the right. Here in New Zealand it was an allegedly leftist party (the 1984 Labour Government) which introduced it, and Tony Blair's Labour Party in the UK was also an enthusiastic proponent.
And also note that during the current woke era many parties on the right have a fair degree of enthusiasm for it too. It is arguably the woke attitude to political controversies like immigration which has contributed to the fall of the Tories in the UK.
So in many ways which party is in power is of lesser importance and which political philosophy (or ideology if you want to be less generous) is popular is what rally matters. Maybe this is why many people feel like whoever they vote for there is often no improvement in their life. Most parties are following the currently popular trend.
Another factor which cannot be ignored when considering current political change is COVID. There was, and still is, significant resentment for some of the policies adopted during the pandemic. These vary greatly, from people who consider all the restrictions necessary and might have preferred going even further, to those who saw the initial lockdowns as necessary but think they were used too much, to those who reject government control of that type completely.
There seems to be an increasing opinion that many countries did go too far, including here in New Zealand, especially regarding the extensive Auckland lockdowns. And related to that subject, vaccine mandates also have a range of views, but agan many think the government exercised control far too strictly.
For the record, I think we had too many lockdowns and they were too strict here in New Zealand, although I think they were the safest approach initially, and I am ambivalent about vaccine policies, because I am generally pro-vaccination but anti-mandate.
In a previous post I was challenged to say what I thought the mechanism for global political (and other) trends was, and I said it was likely basically "random" ideas which gained positive feedback in an evolutionary way and became dominant. I don't know whether that is true, but the fact that these trends exist seems indisputable.
The only thing I can offer as a remedy is to remain vigilant. If you are becoming too accepting of the material which is being promoted almost universally by the media, or is seen as being "the right thing to do", or being "on the right side of history", or being "the new way we do things now" be cautious. You might just have become a victim of the latest global zeitgeist. Be skeptical, people!
Have you noticed how stuff that used to be quite well accepted is now not tolerated by what seems like large parts of society? Have you noticed how some things which would be considered ridiculous or even dangerous in the past are not considered OK? Or maybe you used to support a particular political party, but now find you cannot any longer because they don't follow your values any more.
What's happening here? Is it you who is changing while the rest of the world is still the same? Well maybe, because people's opinions do change over time, or at least they should, but that is only part of the story, because a bigger factor might be how societal values change, or at least the values of some of the "leaders" in society.
By the way, I put the word leaders in quotes because many people only reluctantly accept that those leaders have influence. Not many people are actually enthusiastic about politicians, managers, or cultural icons like movie and music stars.
So what is considered "appropriate" by the most prominent people in society (such as those categories of person I listed above) changes over time. This is a phenomenon often referred to as the "Overton Window", or the "Overton Window of Political Possibility", named after Joseph Overton, who initially proposed the idea.
I will now give an example, and I apologise in advance for picking such an obvious one, but it is politically relevant today. Trans "women" (people born as men who transitioned to being a woman, or pretend to be a woman, depending on your perspective) would never have been allowed to compete against "real" women in events such as sport, or beauty contests in the past, but now it is considered correct, and anyone disagreeing is considered to be phobic and wrong.
Now I strongly suspect that the majority of people would actually reject this new perspective, and more closely follow the ideas of the past, but the leaders (please just accept that this word is quoted in future, because these people aren't true leaders) are pushing it hard. The Overton Window has swung strongly in the direction of "trans rights".
And you will notice many places where what was once considered common sense and reasonable has now been labelled as "inappropriate" or "conspiracy minded". These particularly occur in politically active social issues such as climate change, indigenous rights, LGBT rights, and social justice.
Note that I am not saying that these issues aren't worth considering, but what I am saying is that the range of "respectable" (there seem to be a lot of quotes in this post) opinions has changed. What used to be mainstream is now considered impolite, incorrect, or even illegal.
Social norms change over time, and that is perfectly appropriate, but they don't always change for the better, and sometimes they swing from one extreme to another, so we should neither automatically accept nor reject the new direction the Overton Window is pointing.
Here's an example of where bias was clearly in place as a result of political norms rather than what was right or wrong: before Elon Musk took over Twitter, many people on the right of politics in the US (I mean the moderate right, not the far right), even Donald Trump himself, were banned, but the Taliban, the world's most active and harmful terror organisation, was allowed. Really?
By the way, I'm sorry to again use Twitter as an example of political trends, but it really is what shows us the direction society is going, ahead of anything else. Despite the poor opinion many people have, it is where the action is!
There is one last point I need to make here. Anything that isn't in the window needs to be taken seriously. Current trends need to be examined carefully. What is off to the left of the window currently, or more likely to the right, because it has currently swung well left, might be in the middle tomorrow.
So don't be too concerned if your opinions are currently unpopular. The window never stands still. It is difficult to support ideas outside of the window, but it is critical that we all do, otherwise it will never return to a sensible place.
I have written a few posts on the subject of free speech over several years. The trend for the last 20 years, in the period which I would characterise as being primarily driven by the rise of woke-ism, has been for free speech to be diminished as cancel culture has become more common, social pressure has been applied to people for what the woke mob see as violence in speech, and "hate speech" laws have limited what it is even legal to say.
Possibly the main source of these draconian limitations has been universities. Woke mentality arose from postmodernism, which has taken over from Marxism as the major destructive philosophical influence there. Many people would actually claim that postmodernism is simply Marxism applied with a more social than economic emphasis, but I tend to treat it as a seperate ideology.
But there is hope. As tends to happen with all corrupt belief systems, people are starting to realise how lacking in rigour and objectivity woke ideology really is. There is rebellion against the more radical impositions we are expected to live with. Free speech is back!
I spend a bit of time on social media most days. It's nothing too excessive, but it would be unusual for me not to check Facebook, YouTube, and X (Twitter) several times most days, and add a few comments on most occasions. In the past, especially on X, which is the main place where robust discussions take place, it would be difficult to express a view contrary to woke norms, because you might be censored by Twitter (as it was called then) or at least be attacked by numerous "social justice warriors" to the extent that it was difficult to make any point at all contrary to the norms established at the time.
Since Elon Musk took over Twitter (now X, why did he rename it?), things are much better. There are still plenty of SJWs, but now people with views contrary to that can get a fair say. It's what political discussion should have been all along: often quite extreme, but at least fair to all sides.
So it's now possible to discuss a "trans woman" (really a man) being allowed to compete in women's sports, for example. And if you consider that person really is a man, you can say so without having your access disabled or the tweet deleted.
I have followed an organisation called the "Free Speech Union" here in New Zealand for many years, and they have recently created a unit to help academics express opinions which might have resulted in significant negative consequences in the past. Free speech in universities is a big problem, and surveys indicate that many people in those institutions feel as if they cannot express their views. Also, many speakers have had been cancelled at university run venues.
So while universities are overwhelmingly left oriented, and therefore likely to have succumbed to woke ideology, it is even worse than that because the remainder who have enough independence of though to resist it cannot make their contrary opinions known. They tend to "self-censor".
I know people who work in universities who say that when they express unpopular opinions there, they regularly get people saying to them afterwards how happy they are to hear someone saying something they would like to say themselves, but are too scared to. Considering universities are supposed to be a place where a free exchange of ideas is encouraged, this seems like a genuinely dangerous trend.
But as I said, it does seem to be getting better, so there is reason to think we have passed "peak woke". Unfortunately, as ideologies die, they tend to become desperate to have as much influence as possible in the time that remains (by the way, I'm being a bit overdramatic here, and I don't think woke ideology will ever disappear completely). So we should expect to see some increasingly hysterical nonsense ahead, which it is important to resist.
I don't expect that my comments on social media are likely to change the views of people who are deeply dedicated to a woke mindset, but I do hope they might have some positive outcomes. First, anyone on the fence might see that my views have merit and be more influenced away from woke-ism. Second, people who share my views but are too scared to make them known publicly might feel supported. And finally, maybe, just maybe, it will put a tiny element of doubt into my opponents' minds.
Actually, there is one other thing too. If I present my views, and they are shown to be false or weak in some way, through a free exchange of ideas, maybe I will change my mind. So debate acts as a test of my own ideas too, which is really what free speech should be all about. The best way to defeat bad ideas is too make them public and subject them to scrutiny.
And that isn't just an idle comment. Look back 10 or more years and you will see I used to be far more accepting of the ideas the modern left espouse now. I wasn't so extreme that I would call myself a social justice warrior, but I was tending in that direction, and always voted for leftist parties. Anyone can change. All it really takes is some time and exposure to contrary views. All it really takes is free speech.
A few months back there was a popular internet meme that alleged that men think about the Roman Empire far too much. It originated on TikTok, and before that there was something similar on Instagram. These services aren't exactly well known for their quality content, so that might tell you quite a lot about the meme's credibility, put let's move on from that. Generally it involved women asking men how often they thought about Rome, and received answers such as "many times per day".
There are many reasons people might quite sensibly think about Rome, of course. It was the greatest empire of its time, had a lot of admirable characters (as well as many which might be less commendable), and was one of the main influences on the Western world today.
One of the most famous events involving Rome was its fall. The great empire gradually faded and now just a single country is left. Sure, it's a very cool country, with a lot going for it, but there is no empire any more. And the same can be said for every other empire the world has ever seen, including arguably the greatest of them all, the British Empire.
Is it inevitable that every empire, or most dominant country (because empires aren't fashionable any more, at least in their traditional form) eventually fails? Well, as I said, that is what the history of the world shows us, but what about today?
Today, the US would be the modern equivalent of the dominant empire. There is no emperor, and there is no large area of countries which have been militarily assimilated into a whole, but the US might be seen as the head of an economic and cultural empire, to some extent maintained by its overwhelming military capacity, but also by "soft" power.
Many people say the signs of the demise of the "American Empire" are here today for all to see. They see equivalents in the latter days of Rome and the current situation in the Western world, especially the US. So are we seeing the demise of the American (and more broadly, Western) Empire?
Unfortunately, I think that is quite possible. I say unfortunately here because whatever faults the US might have (and there are plenty) it is arguably the most benign power to ever dominate the world.
In the case of powerful hegemonies, failure usually comes from within. The society suffers from increasing conflict, lack of common beliefs, lack of confidence, and even self-loathing. Does anyone deny that this is what we are seeing in the Western world today?
Despite the fact that the West has many positives, it seems to feel as if it is unworthy and so easily allows increasing acceptance of inferior ideas to destroy it from within. Why do Western countries allow so many migrants across the border? Why do they feel as if they need to apologise for the past? Why do they have to capitulate to inferior, primitive ideas which should have no place in the modern world?
Maybe it's guilt for the past, or for being successful, or maybe it's related to the demise of religion, or maybe people have such a good standard of life now, despite current economic issues, that they feel guilty, or maybe even directionless because their lives are too easy.
All of these are probably factors, but I should add some notes here in the form of some nuance on these issues...
There were things which happened in the past (war, slavery, etc) which we wouldn't accept today, but those happened in every culture, and it was the British who primarily eliminated slavery and in some ways brought peace to the world through Pax Britannica (interestingly modelled on Pax Romana).
And why apologise for being successful? Without the political and scientific achievements of the West, the world would be a far worse place than it is. If other cultures weren't as successful we shouldn't necessarily denigrate them, but let's be proud of what we have achieved.
My position on religion should be well known to readers of this blog. I don't think religions are true, but they do create a useful social and philosophical environment which many people find beneficial. Without them, some people feel lost.
The fact that many people do have such easy lives might cause them to pursue irrational ideologies to feel more like struggling victims. I guess it is no coincidence that most of the protestors for dubious causes like climate change and Palestine are quite comfortable middle class people and university types.
The problem is, of course, that these social trends aren't based on rationality, so they are difficult to argue against or dismiss. I'm afraid that we really might be seeing the demise of the greatest era in history. Who will dominate next? China? Islam? Not a happy thought, is it?
One aspect of modern politics which seems puzzling to many is how different parties in various countries in the Western world all seem to have similar policies. People often comment on how it does't matter which way they vote, things don't change much. In recent times this phenomenon has primarily revealed itself through right wing governments being infiltrated by woke ideology almost as much as left.
In the UK, there are a lot of examples of people being persecuted for their comments which might be seen as contrary to the woke agenda, for example. I recently saw a stat where far more people in the UK (3300) were arrested for what they said on social media than in Russia (400). These weren't arrests for planning violence or anything, they were just for using a word someone else didn't like, or other trivial transgressions.
In the US people often complain that they are equally badly treated whichever party is in power. Even a maverick like Trump failed to get some of his more controversial ideas implemented. If he can't get anything done which contradicts orthodox views, who can?
Here in New Zealand we have seen some instances where the new government's agenda has not progressed to the extent we might expect, and where the underlying principles of what they are trying to achieve have been sabotaged.
For example, the need to reduce bureaucracy in government ministries has been sabotaged by staff reductions in roles with some useful function, instead of in the excessive numbers of useless bureaucrats hired by the previous government. A contact in the Ministry of Education recently commented that there are more senior managers than ever, at the same time as people with a useful role are being sacrificed.
So what is the connecting principle here? It is almost as if the governments we have voted for aren't really running the place, and there are "mysterious figures" behind the scenes who are really "pulling the strings" of the puppets we think are in charge. If you don't suspect this might be the case with Biden, you really haven't been paying attention!
It seems to me that government agencies are really running many Western democracies, and therefore making them a lot less democratic. When I say "running" I don't really mean they have total control, but they do have significant influence. They are a barrier to change, which is fine in some ways because it stops a new government from coming in and doing something stupid, but it blocks changes for the better as well.
I have given a few examples above of where I think this is clearly happening, but now I want to move on to some more extreme cases, some of which might stray into the area of conspiracies, so be warned! Remember that the idea of a conspiracy has been purposely demeaned by those in power, but that is exactly what they would do if there really was a conspiracy, wouldn't they! So a conspiracy is exactly what I am claiming is happening here; don't let the way the word has been diminished fool you.
We know the FBI interferes with US elections. The Twitter Files clearly show they were trying to manipulate public opinion of Trump and therefore influence US politics on a large scale. They didn't succeed in 2016 but who can tell what effect their actions might have had in 2020? And I'm sure what has been revealed so far is just a fraction of what they have been doing in the past.
There is good reason to believe that the CIA had a certain amount to do with the overthrow of Nixon during the Watergate Scandal. I haven't looked at this one in detail, and I think Nixon was probably indulging in some suspicious activity, but without influence from the intelligence agencies I don't think things would have played out like they did.
OK, here's the mother of all conspiracies: the assassination of JFK! I've gone backwards and forwards on this one for many years, and I still don't know whether I believe the official report or not. There are many odd details to this explanation, and there are many weird coincidences which just seem too convenient. But odd events sometimes happen without a conspiracy. I'm on the fence about this, but wouldn't be surprised if there was some nefarious intelligence agency activity involved.
What about 9/11? Was that an "inside job"? No, I don't think so. This is one conspiracy I do reject. The official explanation seems fairly good in that case, and destroying such a significant landmark as the WTC buildings and the Pentagon, along with taking thousands of innocent lives, just seems like it is going too far, unnecessarily.
The big conspiracies I mentioned here might or might not be true. If they are true, my case for control from these agencies is demonstrated beyond any doubt. If they are false, the control is simply of a more subtle nature: manipulating public opinion, blocking changes using excessive bureaucracy, and other "dirty tricks". Or maybe I'm wrong and this doesn't happen at all!
So what is the solution? Well, in some countries, when a new government takes over they fire all the senior bureaucrats hired by previous governments and put their "own people" into those roles. That might seem excessive or even corrupt, but is it really? There are plenty of senior public servants in New Zealand I would like to see the end of. Let's start with the Commissioner of Police!
The law is a difficult subject to evaluate fairly. We undoubtedly need laws to control how people interact in society, yet there are so many cases where laws are unfair, unproductive, or impractical.
The expression "the law's an ass" is well known, and there are a couple of aspects of it I should mention. First, the word "ass" here refers to a donkey rather than anything else, because donkeys are reputed to be obstinate and inflexible. And second, the expression became popular after being used by English author Charles Dickens, but can be traced back further to at least the 1600s, so it isn't new.
There are several examples of problems with the law which recently caused me to want to write this post. First, the UK Post Office Scandal, which has been prominent recently thanks to a TV program about it. Second, the anti hate speech laws recently passed in Scotland which are very controversial. And third, the use of legal cases against Donald Trump, which some people claim is an attempt to sabotage his chances of becoming president again.
So let's look at these three examples...
The Post Office case originated in the 1990s when a new computer system was introduced and errors it created in payment records were blamed on the people who owned, and worked in, the small businesses which were doing postal work as contractors.
Many people were prosecuted, imprisoned, and some committed suicide as a result of the pressure. It was clear all along that the computer system had faults and was being remotely manipulated, yet the Post Office continued to blame the postmasters for the errors.
Some attempts by those accused to defend themsleves resulted in lengthy court cases and often the defence just ran out of money before they could prove anything thanks to delaying tactics and just a vastly greater amount of (taxpayer) money being available to the large organisation.
So it was sort of a case where "the best justice money can buy" applied. The winner was not the person with the best case, but who had the most money and could afford the best lawyers for the longest time.
Note that things have now been resolved in the accused people's favour, but only after 30 years and where many have died, been locked in prison, or killed themselves because of the stress.
How did the law look in this situation? Comparing it to an ass would be generous!
In Scotland new so-called anti hate speech laws have recently been passed. It is illegal, with the penalty being a potential prison sentence, to use speech to diminish the status of certain "disadvantaged" groups. For example, you cannot call a trans "woman" who is biologically a man, a man, even if you think there is a good case to say that is true.
The law allows anonymous reports and people are encouraged to report their family members (even children to report their parents) who might say the wrong thing, even in private conversations.
Anyone who thinks this is OK needs to read Nineteen Eighty Four and see where this extreme authoritarian attitude leads. Note that it is a leftist government implementing stuff which even a far right fascist one might have hesitated to enact in the past!
Harry Potter author, JK Rowling has said she will voluntarily make the same comment as what was said by anyone else who had been persecuted by this law, forcing the police to arrest her as well, and causing a huge backlash since she has the financial ability to fight it. So far this has not been necessary, because this law just doesn't work.
That new law isn't just unenforceable, it is genuinely evil. Any law where a person expresses a politically unpopular opinion in their own home, gets reported by their own children, and ends up in prison is far worse than an ass, it's an abomination!
Finally, we come to the cases being taken against Donald Trump. This one is likely to be even more controversial because Trump is a divisive figure. People who don't like him will no doubt think he deserves to be locked up, but those who support him will most likely see the charges as being politically motivated and completely bogus.
In this case the truth is probably somewhere in between. We know the US legal system interferes with elections, after the FBI tried but failed to influence the 2016 election in favour of Clinton but Trump still won. There can be little doubt that these charges are politically motivated, yet I would be surprised if there wasn't some element of truth in some of them.
The timing is "unfortunate" if you are a Trump supporter even though we are assured the fact that they all arose just at the beginning of the presidential election cycle is coincidental. That seems unlikely.
So the law is being used in this case to disrupt the democratic process of the most powerful nation on Earth. Anyone who didn't have concerns about the fairness and robustness of the legal system up until now should be genuinely alarmed at this point.
Apparently the law is being used as a political weapon. Again, calling the law an ass in this instance is really far less than the criticism it really deserves.
I don't think any less of a person if I hear they have broken a law. Many laws deserve to be broken, and the "criminal" would be better described as a hero. Of course, I have presented some of the worst cases where the law fails and there are plenty of times when it works absolutely fine, so many people who break laws are justifiably prosecuted. I just look at it on a case by case basis.
In summary, is the law an ass? Well no, it's not. Often it is an excellent tool to control society, but other times, it is far worse than that. If it was just an ass, I would be relatively happy!
Most human institutions, and most individuals, are very defined and affirmed by status. People compare themselves with others, and are aware of their relative value compared with their friends and others in their society. Additionally, people in general like to strive for the highest status they can attain.
The complicating fact is, or course, that status can be measured in many different ways, and if someone cannot compete on traditional grounds, they might be tempted to find a different way to measure themselves which more suits their strengths.
And that is fair enough. Money is often used as a measure of status, yet many people with a lot are not necessarily worthy of much respect, because their only significant talent is just the ability to accumulate money. But that shouldn't be the only way to establish status, and others might be equally valid.
The problem is that instead of just rejecting traditional measures, or dismissing the idea of status completely, many dysfunctional people like to create their own way of establishing dominance, even though they might not even be aware they are doing it.
So have you ever wondered why so many people who virtue signal a commitment to a bizarre belief are stupid, ugly, poor, or ignorant? Clearly these misfits cannot attain status in a traditional way - like becoming rich, respected through their intellect or achievements, etc - so they have to invent a new way to do the same thing.
Now, I have to be fair here and say that there is no objective way to say which ways of measuring an individual's value are most valid, so maybe these alternatives are just as valid as any other, but no, we have established ways because they have proved valuable over time, and new ways are unlikely to be as good.
So all of that is a bit abstract, so let me give some examples of where traditional hierarchies have been overturned or even reversed - or maybe I should say when this has been attempted.
Communism was allegedly a way to eliminate status completely. All people were to have the same value and receive the same rewards. But it didn't work, of course, because the leaders took the majority of power, status, and material wealth. It failed in its aim, and arguably created a culture even more based on status than before.
But the fantasy of communism is egalitarianism and that might explain why so many people who are not doing well in our traditional Western societies, where status is based on merit as measured by financial and intellectual success, look to communist styled philosophies such as Marxism and postmodernism as an alternative.
So if you cannot be a great artist or accumulate enough money to own great art, why not try to destroy existing art under the pretence of protesting lack of action on climate change? That will give you status amongst the other misfits with similar beliefs.
And if you are hideously obese, why not try to attract attention by demanding your "rights" to two seats for the price of one when you fly? No doubt, other people with similar lack of self-control (in most cases) will admire your courageous stand against oppression, right?
And if you feel like you can't make any great contribution in traditional ways, and that you are near the bottom in social status, why not try to flip the narrative by making those at the bottom the most worthy? So you could pretend the religious, racial, and social minorities who aren't doing well are truly deserving of more, without making any effort on their own behalf, and that would make you look better too.
And people without jobs and who don't drive might like to hold up traffic in order to virtue signal whatever nonsensical belief they have, whether it is supporting Palestinian terrorists, or pretending their actions might stop climate change, or to support their sick religion. If you don't have a job or a car, why not make life as hard as possible for those that do, isn't that a good way to gain equity?
I do have to admit that I am being a bit unkind here. There are people who protest political and social issues who are actually quite functional in a traditional sense. But a lot aren't. Next time you see these people with their insane demands ask yourself: are they really just compensating for their own deficiencies, whether that is intellect, or knowledge, or experience, or physical fitness, or their appearance, or talent, or one of many other factors.
When you have no status, you can pretend you don't care, you can try to destroy existing status mechanisms, or you can demand a new world where you matter. But in the end, it is all about status.
I recently visited a friend/client who is very active in the centre-left Labour Party here in New Zealand. While I was there primarily to look at a few issues with her computer, we did get into a political discussion, as almost always happens, and while it didn't turn nasty, I think we could safely say we didn't agree on everything!
But we did agree on quite a lot. I used to regularly vote for Labour, until two things happened. First, they went a bit too far left socially for me, in fact they went woke. And second, their coalition partners, the Greens and the Maori Party, are insane. These two parties genuinely are filled with extreme, ideologically driven nutters.
I really think most of the members of those two parties are on the edge of insanity. They are hysterical, irrational, and inflexible. I'm not saying that those faults don't also exist in other parties, especially their two equivalents on the right, Act and New Zealand First, but I think those two are far more pragmatic and moderate.
One of the policies of the new government is tax cuts, and the left are attacking them on that front. To be fair, the policies have not been well thought out and the costings are highly suspect, but I think the opposition to them is more a matter of ideology than practicality.
My opponent looked horrified when I told her I voted for Act (libertarian, center-right) at the last election. She described that party's leader as a "horrible lying fanatic" or something similar, but when challenged to say why, she had no answer. It was as if I should just accept that appraisal without question. When I criticised the leadership of the Green and Maori parties I gave reasons, such as Marama Davidson's completely false claim that it is "white cis men who cause violence in the world" (see my blog post "Just Admit You're Wrong" from 2023-04-04).
I probably don't need to say it, but this woman also sees herself as a proud feminist. Earlier in the debate I had said there is a tendency for women to make judgements based on emotions, where men tend to be more (superficially, at least) rational.
Needless to say she was horrified by this, although I emphasised that this is just a general trend, and there are plenty of exceptions, and that emotion is an important part of human existence. But her reaction to the Act leader was an excellent example of this phenomenon, I think.
Then I told her my "Jacinda Ardern" story, which I will briefly mention here. I get emails from all the major parties, and when Labour were in significant political difficulties before the 2017 election, they asked in a newsletter for ideas about what they could do better. I recommended making Ardern party leader, and I actually voted Labour that year.
In my defence, at that point she showed some promising political skills and her tyrannical tendencies hadn't become apparent. Note that I haven't voted for Labour since. I learned from my mistakes!
But when I asked this person if there was anything Labour could do that would convince her to vote for another party she had nothing. It seemed as though she would literally vote for Labour no matter what their policies were. She might have said at that point that Labour would always represent her wishes, but what about the 1984 Labour government which went completely neoliberal, by selling off government owned assets, privatising public instituions, and changing the tax system? I know without doubt that she would not have approved of that. Unfortunately I didn't think to ask her who she voted for in 1984, and whether she regretted it.
People who always vote for one party, whatever the current situation the country is in, or no matter what policies that party is offering, are the worst. Do they really deserve a vote at all? I mean, that is not the way democracy is supposed to work. Any party which is guaranteed your vote really doesn't have to work too hard on your behalf, does it?
By the way, the question above about who deserves a vote is rhetorical. I think we need to give everyone a vote, above a certain age (18, I say), no matter how poorly we might view their political opinions. If they vote in a stupid way, that is their right, but I don't have to like it!
I often get into quite heated debates, especially on X (previously known as Twitter), involving controversial topics such as indigenous rights, feminism, LGBTQIA+ rights, leftist political agendas, and environmentalism (including climate change).
My opponents tend to accuse me of being racists because they say I am anti-Maori, or misogynistic because I disagree with some women's rights claims, or transphobic because I am seen as anti-LGBT, or a rabid far right crazy because I object to some of the more extreme ideas on the left, or being a climate denier because I disagree with many proposed climate actions.
Sounds like I am a truly terrible person, doesn't it? Well, if any, or all, of that was true maybe I would be. But that's not the way I see it.
Here's the thing: I'm not anti any of those groups in general. What I am against is the extremists and activists in those groups, not the people they allegedly (but not in reality) represent.
So I think many of the Maori elites who have accumulated a lot of wealth out of the grievance industry are corrupt, and I think the crazy extremists, such as most of the members of the Maori and Green Parties, who claim to be representing Maori rights, are just plain wrong (they're probably corrupt too, but that's not my main claim).
I have no problem with Maori people in general, and I suspect (although I know of no credible stats on this) that the average Maori person does not have the same views as the activists do. More Maori voted for the National Party (conservative) than the Maori Party (activist) at the 2023 election, which I think indicates a lack of support for their more extreme policies.
And a similar argument applies to those other groups. There have been many reports and news items showing that most women do not support a lot of the modern feminist agenda. And in the same way, many people from the LGBT community are really embarrassed by how they are supposedly represented by activists in that area.
I have no problems with many ideas the traditional left of politics hold; in fact, I agree with many of them. But the radical woke social agenda which has particularly infected the left of politics (although also the right to some extent) makes it impossible for me to vote left (and I used to). So having a balanced mix of policies, some from the left and some from the right, is a natural preference for me, but the more radical elements stop that from being practical.
Finally, I think climate change is real and I think there is good evidence that it is primarily caused by human activity. If there were sensible, rational actions we could take that would make a genuine difference I would support them. But the crazy hysteria we hear from activists like Greta Thunberg and the Green Party is where I start pushing back.
Shutting down power plants and other facilities which use fossil fuels while China constantly opens new ones and uses more coal than the rest of the world combined is insane. We can't make a difference so why not spend the money we were going to use for carbon emmission reduction on protection from the effects of a more extreme climate, which is going to happen whatever we do?
So my enemies are not Maori, or women, or trans people, or the left, or climate scientists. My real enemies are the people who take those issues, and push them to irrational extremes, either because of pure ignorance, hysteria, virtue signalling, or for the financial benefits they might be able to accumulate from these actions.
I have a private client who I visit occasionally and who is about as left as you can be. One day we were discussing issues like this and I said I thought feminists had become irrational. She said "I'm a feminist" and I sort of had to back down, because it isn't feminism in general I object to - I believe in equality for women for example - but the more insane extremes of it we see occasionally.
So I do need to be a bit more careful about my choice of words. I'm not going to say "the damn Maoris are just a blight on society" for example. Instead I will say Maori activists are. There's a big difference, even to the extent that many pro-Maori activists aren't even Maori themselves. That fact shows that it is the idea I reject, not the person.
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