This is edition 2025/124 of the Ten@10 newsletter.
Welcome back. It's 2025 and 20 years since I started writing about politics and anything else that took my fancy. Thank to my VIP members for making this site what it is today.
This is the Ten@10, where I collate and summarise ten news items you generally won't see in the mainstream media.
Enjoy!
1. Panic In Action
Chris Trotter
- 😨 Status Panic: Deborah Russell exemplifies status panic, showcasing the Left's growing fear of ideological challenges.
- ⚔️ Aggressive Defensiveness: Russell’s combative interaction with David Harvey reveals the insecurity of the Professional-Managerial Class (PMC) in the face of intellectual opposition.
- 📜 Historical Context: Russell’s use of James Harrington’s ideas ironically supports the Regulatory Standards Bill (RSB), which mirrors constitutional principles of protecting property from redistributive impulses.
- 🏛️ PMC Vulnerability: The PMC, reliant on public funding, faces mounting resistance from the wealthy and ordinary citizens, which threatens its power.
- 🇺🇸 Global Parallels: New Zealand’s PMC is increasingly alarmed by growing hostility toward its values, mirroring shifts in the U.S.
- 🔥 David Seymour’s Threat: Seymour poses a real challenge to the PMC by advancing an alternative worldview that could dismantle the PMC’s grip on power.
- 📉 Panic in the Committee: The submission of figures like Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Dame Anne Salmond reflects panic as the status quo faces real disruption from Seymour and his supporters.
- 💥 The Collapse of Certainty: Experts like Palmer and Salmond fear that their authority is being eroded by new forces questioning their long-held positions.
- 📰 Media Outrage: Journalists, like Andrea Vance, echo the anxiety of a shifting political landscape where old norms no longer apply, signaling a breakdown in democratic codes.
