Go back a century and visualise a nation. Until 1890 (at the earliest) the nation was seen as quite backward; little more than a pioneering frontier backwater, well behind the times compared with much of the rest of the world but things changed rather rapidly and it quickly became very
During the last century of history there have been a large number of appalling things undertaken by communists: mass murder, famine, tyranny; it’s always the same story. What we have also seen during that century is the left wingers – politicians, activists, media, historians – do not see any problem with
On numerous occasions both on this website and in real life I’ve been strongly critical of the silly welfare state created by the socialists in 1938 and the enormously adverse effects it has had on vast numbers of New Zealanders. It has infantilised huge numbers of Kiwis, treated adults
Do you recall when The Beatles visited New Zealand? Perhaps you were a teenager or young adult? In the same period between then and now – sixty years – our doughty antecedents built a nation; it was that quick. They didn’t worry too much about childish matters like health and safety,
So the new government is finally formed, and a three-party coalition agreement is signed; done and dusted. One overriding thought I’ve had during the last couple of days is wondering “What have they stuffed us on?” What (ahem) iron-clad promises have been ditched with the relevant party slinking out
One of the universal attributes of left-wingers is they are scared of everything. They are terrified of anything which constitutes ‘day-to-day life’ and try to either ban it, regulate it, or scold it. This is why they jumped into the March 2020 lockdowns with enthusiasm; they could be terrified of
Yesterday morning (as I wrote this) David Seymour was on TV 3’s AM show, where he said there was going to be a three-party coalition; instead of ACT being only in coalition with National, and Winston only being in coalition with National, ACT and Winston would be in coalition
Text text “Kid Charlemagne” is my favourite song by Steely Dan, another marvelous band from the 1970s; second only to Mott The Hoople, of course. The song tells the story of a man with the rather grand sounding name of Augustus Owsley Stanley, a scion of a very prominent Kentucky
One of the differences between right-wingers and left-wingers is pragmatism. Right-wingers, because most of the time we invariably have to actually ‘govern’ whereas left-wingers do not, realise how the real world works and that often deals need to be cut which we’d rather not undertake. Occasionally this means eliminating
In due course, we will have a new government formed and it’s been signalled there will be a ‘mini-budget’ that will involve cuts to government expenditure. All well and good: an important inflation-fighting measure desperately required, and I think I speak for the man in the street when I
One of the peculiarities about my business organisation is the absence of staff turnover: nobody ever leaves except to retire. I pride myself on having never read a CV or other nonsense and having an ability to look people over and decide whether they are suitable or not. My success
One of the frustrating things in recent weeks is that Chris Hipkins remains the Prime Minister of New Zealand, albeit in a ‘caretaker’ capacity. Even more frustrating is there is still – three and a half weeks after the general election – no firm date on when a government will actually be
In 1941 the Australian Labor Party came into office due to a dirty deal by cross-bench MPs. Its Prime Minister, John Curtin, was completely unsuited to the job (basically a fall-down drunk) – thrown into an international crisis with little idea of what to do, saved from himself by officials, and
In 1941 the Australian Labor party came into office through a dirty deal by cross-bench MPs. Prime Minister John Curtin was completely unsuited to the job and thrown into an international crisis with little idea of what to do: he was saved from himself by officials and winning a ‘oncer’
In a few days, hopefully on Friday when the special votes and the final election result are declared, National and Chris Luxon will take office. This will usher in a new era in New Zealand: an era of common sense and prosperity, and rejecting a lot of the socialist wickedness
One of the universal attributes of left-wing politics is how people are used and then discarded when they are no longer useful. It is the practical manifestation of “useful idiots” that Lenin talked about and it is remarkable how there is a seemingly never-ending group of people who line up
