This is edition 2025/93 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. In July we will be having a 20th birthday celebration. Stay tuned for more announcements.
This is the Ten@10, where I collate and summarise ten news items you generally won't see in the mainstream media.
Enjoy!
1. Losing The Left
Chris Trotter
- 🚫 No credible left-wing party: Current alternatives fail to meet the traditional definition of a class-oriented, mass-based, democratic, and anti-capitalist left-wing party.
- 📅 Historical shift: New Zealand's left-wing options faded after Labour embraced the free market in 1984, with Anderton's NewLabour and the Alliance attempting, but ultimately failing, to fill the void.
- 🌱 Greens' transformation: Originally focused on ecological and anti-capitalist values, the Greens have shifted towards identity politics, moving away from foundational left-wing ideals like justice and participatory democracy.
- ⚙️ Labour's ideological shift: Labour, after embracing neoliberalism, abandoned its anti-capitalist roots and increasingly turned to identity politics, aligning more with the Greens’ focus on ethnicity and gender.
- 🎭 Facade of democracy: Labour maintains a democratic façade with party conferences and “democratic-socialism” principles, but in practice, its direction is controlled by unelected policy committees and technocratic governance.
- 🏙️ Rise of the Professional-Managerial Class: Both Labour and the Greens are now led by the professional-managerial class, prioritizing "appropriate" decision-making and sidelining traditional democratic participation.
- ⚖️ Disrespect for dissent: Parliamentary hearings show how those opposing identity politics (like TERFs) are treated with hostility, revealing a shift away from respecting free speech and debate.
- 🏛️ End of class-based politics: Traditional working-class concerns have been replaced by a focus on cultural issues, leaving former left-wing voters alienated and disenfranchised.
- 🔄 Labour’s transformation: Jim Anderton’s actions, like promoting middle-class candidates, were key in Labour's shift from its working-class base to the professional-managerial class, making it harder to maintain its original ideology.
- 📉 Political homogenisation: As political parties professionalize, voters face a choice between elitist options, undermining the possibility of meaningful social progress through collective action.
- ✊ Call for unity: True unity can only come if citizens are free to debate and express themselves, but this is hindered in parties like Labour and the Greens, where identity politics stifles discussion and dissent.
