Easing the political rhetoric in Aotearoa New Zealand

Earlier this week the home Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters was attacked by vandals. A crowbar was used to smash a window which showered broken glass into the house, onto the family dog and cut his partner.

THERE IS NO PLACE IN NEW ZEALAND FOR POLITICAL VIOLENCE OF ANY KIND.

If I sound angry, yes I am. The whole of the New Zealand political spectrum – it doesn’t matter if you are a candidate in today’s local Government elections, an elected M.P. holding a seat in Parliament or someone affected by the rhetoric of politicians – needs to take a big step backwards from the coal face, touch grass and play with the dog.

The incendiary rhetoric that happens online, in the print media, on television and in person is harming this country.

Too many people on the left are calling conservatives “Nazi’s”, which is insulting to the memory of the many hundreds of millions of people across Europe, the U.S.S.R. who were true victims of that 1930s-1940s horror show. There will only ever be one Nazi Party – the one that is banned; there will only ever be one Adolf Hitler, who is certifiably dead. Extermination camps purpose built with railway sidings and a whole industrial sector built around state sanctioned industrial scale mass murder are not going to happen again – there is no way the current world without massive international consequences is going to let this happen.

According to actual right wing conspiracy theorists we have become a nation where moderate left-leaning people are alleged to be Communists. Allegedly we are all World Economic Forum sycophants wanting an end to private property, wealth creation, freedom of freedom of speech and such. The allegations go further and include a truly warped idea that people support a U.N. Agenda 2030 that includes all of the prior allegations and a whole heap more. The full delusion is below:

What DOES exist is a Sustainable Development Agenda with target dates including 2030. And to that end it does list 17 priorities that the world should focus on, for achieving a more sustainable future. That said, it is absolutely nothing at all like the one that has been fueling conspiracy theories, and which people have attempted to associate with former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – among others.

If you genuinely believe that there is a new world order wanting to take away all of your rights, maybe it is you who needs to take another look at who/what you believe. Yes the World Economic Forum exists and yes people go there and talk about economic priorities. But yes, also we have other international forums of all sorts for all kinds of reasons – for human rights; for marine conservation among others. The simple existence of a “forum” does not automatically mean it has a malicious purpose.

But also, how many of you have thought that maybe so many of us are the rhetoric spewing things we have become, because no one has done civics at school? And that critical analysis is something that doesn’t seem to get taught any more, or if it is, it is discouraged by those in a position of power. The absence of subject matter like this in the school curriculum, suggests to me that those who hold sway in the Ministry of Education need a reality check about the kind of schooling New Zealanders need.

The loss of ability to think critically before one opens their mouth is a more serious matter than many realize. It is why I am so grateful to this day that papers I took at University, particularly in geography placed emphasis on the phrases “critical analysis”, “critique” and “critical thinking”. Perhaps it is because of these and being encouraged by my parents to look at alternative viewpoints even if I did not agree with them, that I see no problem calling out the fringe elements across the spectrum.

Just as Mr Peters, his partner and their property did in no way deserve what happened to them, nor did former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern deserve the violent rhetoric that was aimed at her and other senior politicians. There is no justification ever for suggesting that people get hanged. There is no justification for suggesting sexual violence and other horrible stuff, which in the course of investigating individuals, the Police found to have been made against Ms Ardern.

Violence is never going to solve anything, and just invites an escalation of an already potentially volatile situation. It just winds up justifying things like the Bill of Parliament currently at Select Committee Stage to ban certain protest activities. The Bill itself is not a good idea as it restricts types of protest activity. The necessity of not tolerating political violence is something that all political parties need to come together on and actively push a collective message on their members and supporters. Genuine members and supporters are better than whomever it was that attacked Mr Peters’ property and those that the Police arrested with regards to Ms Ardern.

Unless this happens, New Zealand risks making that oft used saying “United We Stand; Divided We Fall” more realistic than anyone wants to admit.