SELF REFLECTION

.

But enough of that. We're not talking about Richard (of RBB) here although he does delude himself quite a lot in his blog posts and comments on others' posts.

**************************

You may have noticed this survey in USA: LATEST USA PRESIDENTIAL SURVEY by The American Political Science Society who regularly survey 154 academics who specialise in the field.

Donald Trump, the 45th president was rated the worst president in USA presidential history. 

The five worst presidents were listed  in order from 5th worst to worst as William Henry Harrison, Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan and Donald Trump. It's no mean feat for Trump to be rated worse than those other four odious and generally berated arseholes.

At the top of the list were the top five best presidents who were Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Rooseveldt, George Washington, Teddy Rooseveldt and Thomas Jefferson.

Barack Obama came in at seventh best and Joe Biden at fourteenth best.

This is a big blow to Trump's ego but it hasn't stopped him from proclaiming at rallies that he is the number one president of all time. With abilities to read polls like that and his dodgy accounting skills it's no wonder that the idiot now owes half a billion dollars in civil court cases he's lost.

"I still love me."

***************************

This got me thinking of our own deluded and pompous little ass - Chris Luxon, our 42nd prime minister. 

He thinks that he is a good prime minister and his self reflection tells him that he's well-liked by everyone. Maybe, instead of preening in the mirror, he should read what New Zealanders are saying about him on-line like these two:

Yes, Luxon has shown himself to be gutless in pandering to the two minor parties that make up the coalition government. Most of the pandering involves dismantling the former Labour government’s policies like the formal end of any work on light rail in Auckland, the scrapping of Three Waters and the backing down on smoke-free laws. 

Here are some of the 'done' and 'to be completed' things that he and his cronies are doing:

DONE: Stop work on the Income Insurance Scheme.
DONE: Stop work on Industry Transformation Plans.
DONE: Stop work on the Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme.
TO BE COMPLETED: Begin efforts to double renewable energy production, including a NPS (national policy statement) on Renewable Electricity Generation.
DONE: Withdraw central government from Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM).
DONE: Meet with councils and communities to establish regional requirements for recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle and other recent major flooding events.
DONE: Make any additional Orders in Council needed to speed up cyclone and flood recovery efforts.
TO BE COMPLETED: Start reducing public sector expenditure, including consultant and contractor expenditure.
DONE: Introduce legislation to narrow the Reserve Bank’s mandate to price stability.

 TO BE COMPLETED: Introduce legislation to remove the Auckland Fuel Tax.

DONE: Cancel fuel tax hikes.
TO BE COMPLETED: Begin work on a new GPS reflecting the new Roads of National Significance and new public transport priorities.
DONE: Repeal the Clean Car Discount scheme by 31 December 2023.
DONE: Stop blanket speed limit reductions and start work on replacing the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2022.
DONE: Stop central government work on the Auckland Light Rail project.
DONE: Repeal the Fair Pay Agreement legislation.
DONE: Introduce legislation to restore 90-day trial periods for all businesses.
TO BE COMPLETED: Start work to improve the quality of regulation.
DONE: Introduce legislation to restore 90-day trial periods for all businesses.
TO BE COMPLETED: Start work to improve the quality of regulation.
DONE: Introduce legislation to repeal the Water Services Entities Act 2022.
DONE: Repeal the Spatial Planning and Natural and Built Environment Act and introduce a fast-track consenting regime.
TO BE COMPLETED: Begin to cease implementation of new Significant Natural Areas and seek advice on operation of the areas.
TO BE COMPLETED: Take policy decisions to amend the Overseas Investment Act 2005 to make it easier for build-to-rent housing to be developed in New Zealand.
TO BE COMPLETED: Begin work to enable more houses to be built, by implementing the Going for Housing Growth policy and making the Medium Density Residential Standards optional for councils.
DONE: Abolish the previous government’s prisoner reduction target.
TO BE COMPLETED: Introduce legislation to ban gang patches, stop gang members gathering in public, and stop known gang offenders from communicating with one another.
TO BE COMPLETED: Give Police greater powers to search gang members for firearms and make gang membership an aggravating factor at sentencing.
DONE: Stop taxpayer funding for section 27 cultural reports.
TO BE COMPLETED: Introduce legislation to extend eligibility to offence-based rehabilitation programmes to remand prisoners.
TO BE COMPLETED: Begin work to crack down on serious youth offending.
TO BE COMPLETED: Enable more virtual participation in court proceedings.
TO BE COMPLETED: Begin to repeal and replace Part 6 of the Arms Act 1983 relating to clubs and ranges.
DONE: Stop all work on He Puapua (obligations regarding a UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples).
DONE: Improve security for the health workforce in hospital emergency departments.
DONE: Sign an MoU with Waikato University to progress a third medical school.
 DONE: By 1 December 2023, lodge a reservation against adopting amendments to WHO health regulations to allow the government to consider these against a “national interest test”.
DONE: Require primary and intermediate schools to teach an hour of reading, writing and maths per day starting in 2024.
DONE: Ban the use of cellphones in schools.
DONE: Appoint an Expert Group to redesign the English and maths curricula for primary school students.
DONE: Begin disestablishing Te Pūkenga (Te Pūkenga was the name for the super-polytech institute established by the former government, merging all 16 existing institutions into one).

and others.

Now, don't get me wrong, I think that there are some good initiatives in there but, unfortunately there's a lot of bad stuff that's going to hurt the average Kiwi for quite some time. A lot of it is peevishness in undoing anything that Labour did. Much of it is the obsequious pandering to Peters and Seymour (and to his waiting in the wings vultures like Nicola Willis). The rest is insane and knee jerk reactions to gain support from the right-wing base that National is standing on. Time will prove that this 100 day plan is a bad idea and that Chris Luxon is one of the worst prime ministers that we have ever had. At number 42 he very nearly mirrors Trump at '45'. Maybe he can match him at being the worst.

******************************

To conclude, here is a comparable list of best and worst New Zealand prime ministers.
This list is made up not only from my preferences but from (various) political commentators and academics who specialise in the field.

The bottom five, from fifth worst to worst are:

5th worst.

 William Fox, 1856, 1861-1862, 1869-1872, 1873. 

He confiscated three million acres of Māori land then blamed them for starting the Māori Wars. To add insult to injury he then was behind the early prohibition movement in New Zealand thereby alienating both Māori and Pakeha.

4th worst.

William Massey, 1912-1925.

Yes, I know that Wellington has a significant memorial to him that is rumoured to contain not only his mouldering old remains but his ghost as well. That's not necessarily a good thing and, I remind you that this old prick said:

"NATURE INTENDED NEW ZEALAND TO BE A WHITE MAN'S COUNTRY, AND IT MUST BE KEPT AS SUCH." 

Yes, he was a white supremacist - a racist. We don't need to celebrate people like him. One good thing is that the university that bears his name - Massey University - is only afloat through encouraging foreign (and dark-skinned) students to come to New Zealand to study its courses.

3rd worst.

Richard Seddon, 1893-1906

He was a populist  and fancied himself. In modern days he'd be like Winston Peters - bolshy, thinking he was smarter than others and a bit of a bully. They called him King Dick which reminds me of that White Sport Coat and Pink Carnation Society joker. Do you know that he compared the Chinese to monkeys? Certainly not the kind of guy that I'd want remembered as a good prime minister.

2nd worst.

Christopher Luxon, 2023 - ?
I'll put Luxon here in the position of the second worst prime minister above Shonkey but suspect that he will be relegated to the position of worst prime minister ever sometime soon.

Like Key he's a 'wide boy' having made a lot of money in business and, like Key assumed the position with no real political education. Unlike Key though, who had a rat's cunning, Luxon is a bit naive as shown by his piss poor handling of the Premier's House fiasco. 

Worst.

John Key, 2008-2016.

Key was a chancer businessman - a wide boy or, like Del Trotter - a 'barrow boy' who made money off the misfortunes of others. He wasn't particularly clever but had the eye for a deal - kind of like Donald Trump but not as unsuccessful. He also had an eye for young women particularly if they had pony-tail hairstyles and was lucky that this didn't get him on the 'Me Too' list. He humiliated himself and New Zealand on American talk-shows  like the disgusting David Letterman show at every opportunity. He frankly gave me the shivers with his smarmy, appeal to the old ladies bullshit while using his National Government powers to rob them of their savings.

You may of course have your own selections which you wish to share. If so I suggest that you post these on Robert The Catholic Guy's blog. He needs the comments so, in the words of Jacinda Ardern "be kind."



This then leaves us with who I (and the professional political pundits) think are New Zealand's top five prime ministers.

The top five from fifth best to best are:

5th best

Jim Bolger, 1990-1997

Bolger was an interesting prime minister who seemed to have been a bit conflicted about his position in politics. As a National minister he weakened the unions and championed neo-liberal policies, but then professed an understanding and liking of Socialism. He actually would have made a good Labour minister or prime minister. I think that he cared a lot for New Zealand and the average Kiwi.

3rd equal best

Norman Kirk, 1972-1974
Kirk headed an amazing Labour government that had the balls to take on the big players. He pulled all New Zealand troops from Vietnam, refused to give visas to an all-white South African rugby team, and pressured the French to stop testing nuclear weapons in the Pacific. Kirk died suddenly, and there are conspiracy theories about this from him having been assassinated by anyone from Robert Muldoon through to the CIA. The fact is, it was a great loss to New Zealand. 

3rd equal best

David Lange, 1984-1989
Like Kirk, Lange was a big man in stature but also in gutsiness.. He was very intelligent, a trait that puts our current dullard and that guy John Key to shame. He too wasn't afraid to take on the bully boys of the world whether they were so-called allies or outright enemies. It's just a shame that snakes in his own government like Roger Douglas fucked it all up.

2nd best.

Helen Clark, 1999-2008

Clark is without doubt one of the most powerful people in the world. She was an outstanding prime minister and didn't take shit from anyone whether they were fellow or opposition politicians, world leaders or journalists. She called the snotty John Campbell a "sanctimonious little creep".  No wonder she did so well at the United Nations.

Best.

Michael Joseph Savage, 1935-1940

Savage was a brilliant speaker and very intelligent and, like Norm Kirk, a man of the people. Before becoming a politician he was a miner, a flax cutter, a ditch digger and worked in many hard jobs. These honed his strength to help him as a boxer and a weightlifter. No wonder he was so popular with the nation. He was also an accomplished dancer so - eat your heart out John Key - the dames of the day would have loved him more than you. When Savage died, 50,000 mourners filed past his casket. For decades, portraits of Savage hung in thousands of family homes around the country. It's difficult to imagine any other New Zealand leader inspiring such affection.

I'm left in a quandary now. I would have liked to give a best equal rating but unfortunately, or fortunately Michel Joseph Savage was such a titan it's hard to place anyone next to him. In this case then I'm going to make an honorary mention of someone who in my lifetime is the best that I've experienced:

Honorary best.

Jacinda Ardern, 2017-2023

Ardern was 'one out of the box'. No one has encouraged the nation as much since Savage and yet also polarised the country as well. Her downfall was social media and the rise of the mean and ignorant conspiracy theorists who didn't have the stomach to do the right thing. Ardern helped New Zealanders through a period that was the worst since the Second World War. Her leadership during the Covid crisis might well have saved a quarter of a million NZ lives with the lockdown measures, mask wearing mandates and vaccination. Her handling of the Mosque shootings tragedy and immediate anti-gun response (now being weakened by the gutless coalition government) was world leading. She was my hero and I hope that future historians will edit out all the shit and concentrate on the good stuff.

STOP BEING A PAWN

 This post fell to me because the subject is somewhat controversial and causes  dispute. The other Curmudgeons dodged it but, to be fair it does come under the mandate that I've been given:

We've just had our local body elections and, as per usual the percentage of voting by eligible voters is pathetic. It's actually worse than in previous years. 

And yes, it happened

Why is this?

Under the current system, local councils run the elections for their area, with the Electoral Commission's role limited to enrolment.

The Prime Minister  is supportive of exploring options to increase turnout in local elections, amid concerns around voter participation, but won't go so far as handing control of the process to the Electoral Commission.

"I have concerns any time people aren't using the democratic right that they have to use their voice and choose who represents them.

"We always do a bit of reflection across local government elections in the same way we do general elections, I think this is the time for Local Government New Zealand to sit down and just have that conversation around the way that people vote for local elections."

 - RNZ Breakfast. 

This may have worked well in the past, when there was seen to be a separation of power and influence between government and local politics. Government handled the big stuff and local politics handled the day to day living issues.

Today the issues are blurred with increases in population, expansion of the major cities enveloping regional bodies, the creation of 'super cities' and big new cities like Tauranga, Hamilton and Manuka and connecting infrastructure and services that will, eventually be nationalised (roads, water, telecommunications, electrical services etc).  It's basically a different landscape and the responsibility boundaries have been challenged and broken.

When pressed on the Government's reluctance to support the Electoral Commission taking over, Ardern said she was "really cautious here about sweeping in and making these calls without making sure that we're having those discussions together". - RNZ Breakfast. 

OK, Jacinda, I understand, You have to be careful here in 2022 when we have conspiracy nutters thinking you are a socialist communist fascist who not only kills babies but probably eats them as well. Time will prove that your cautious approach was wrong but, why throw bones to the rabid dogs who are hell bent on tearing everything down.*

The problem is though that the rate payers, citizens and residents anywhere in the country are confused. Let's face it,  the internet tells me that psychologists revise IQ tests every few years in order to maintain 100 as the average. Most people (about 68 percent) have an IQ between 85 and 115. Only a small fraction of people have a very low IQ (below 70) or a very high IQ (above 130). Most of the voters, or, in this case the non-voters will register in the average class. They are busy in their work and will, thanks to modern society's 'advancements,' be playing video games, texting on their phones, arguing on Facebook, communicating via Twitter and Instagram and, of course, writing blog posts.

Their news sources are limited and facile with very short sound bites providing sketchy snippets of goings on that favour trivia, sensationalism and entertainment rather than anything meaningful and useful. Some get their information via the pulpit in church on Sundays which harks back to the dark ages. No wonder the average person is under and even mis-informed.

I made an effort, albeit a quick and easy one when compared to national elections and read the information pamphlet that came with the voting papers. The voting paper was easy to use and there was a pre-paid envelope provided to send in my vote. How difficult is that? Very it seems for the majority of potential voters

 according to the turnout response.

One thing that I would like changed though is for local elections candidates to take on party affiliation the same way that national elections run. We all know that there are party lines (Labour, National. ACT, Greens, Maori etc.) at play but, when even interested voters do a skim read as I did and uninterested voters attention isn't stimulated who the hell knows whether xyz candidate is aligned with National, Labour or something else? This is critical when it comes to the selection of mayors as the Auckland results show. If the candidates had big blue National signs or big red Labour signs supporting their campaigns maybe the turnout (and the results) would have been different. It's time that we changed to this.

* The use of emotive language, mixed metaphors and a loose approach to the truth is part of The Curmudgeons Inc.ⓒ's  platform. Might I draw your attention to the disclaimer on The Curmudgeon's header page:

A NIETZSCHE NICHE

Hello possums. Sorry for taking so long to get back to you but the other Curmudgeons have been hogging the spaces available and our readers don't have enough wit to juggle more than one argument at a time THEY CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH - that's a little polemical joke there, ha ha.

You might have noticed that Robert (the apathetic sanctimonious sinner and toilet cleaner) has been banging on about morality, ethics and god and stuff and he actually quoted old Nietzsche at one point without actually acknowledging the reference. That's what copying and pasting is all about I suppose but, with Nietzsche you have to be careful because, after his death his crazy sister edited much of his writing to fit in with her own racist and reactionary views. These found favour among fascists and Nazis during the 1920s and 1930s and, I guess the Catholic church which is not surprising and explains his popularity amongst modern day Republicans in the USA, conspiracy theorists, right wing reactionaries and, of course Robert (the ASSTC).

Well all this leads me into a little polemical review of Nietzsche's On The Genealogy of Morals which is made up of three essays, all questioning and critiquing the value of our moral judgments based on a genealogical method examining the origins and meanings of our different moral concepts. I believe that Nietzsche's sister didn't get her mitts on this treatise so Robert (the ASSTC) should find it interesting to compare with the other things that he has read and quoted.

The first essay, "'Good and Evil,' 'Good and Bad'" contrasts what Nietzsche calls "master morality" and "slave morality." Master morality was developed by the strong, healthy, and free, who saw their own happiness as good and named it thus. By contrast, they saw those who were weak, unhealthy, and enslaved as "bad," since their weakness was undesirable. By contrast, the slaves, feeling oppressed by these wealthy and happy masters, called the masters "evil," and called themselves "good" by contrast.

The second essay, "'Guilt,' 'Bad Conscience,' and the like" deals with guilt, bad conscience, and the like. Nietzsche traces the origins of concepts such as guilt and punishment, showing that originally they were not based on any sense of moral transgression. Rather, guilt simply meant that a debt was owed and punishment was simply a form of securing repayment. Only with the rise of slave morality did these moral concepts gain their present meanings. Nietzsche identifies bad conscience as our tendency to see ourselves as sinners and locates its origins in the need that came with the development of society to inhibit our animal instincts for aggression and cruelty and to turn them inward upon ourselves.

The third essay, "What is the meaning of ascetic ideals?" confronts asceticism, the powerful and paradoxical force that dominates contemporary life. Nietzsche sees it as the expression of a weak, sick will. Unable to cope with its struggle against itself, the sick will sees its animal instincts, its earthly nature, as vile, sinful, and horrible. Unable to free itself from these instincts, it attempts to subdue and tame itself as much as possible. Nietzsche concludes that "man would rather will nothingness than not will."

Nietzsche demands that we overturn or suspend many of the assumptions that our very reasoning relies upon. If we can come to understand Nietzsche's genealogical method, his doctrine of the will to power, and his perspectivism as all linked, his arguments will become much easier to follow.

In his distinction between a thing and its meaning, we find the initial doubt with which he unravels so many of our assumptions. We are generally tempted to see things as having inherent meanings. For instance, punishment is at once the act of punishing and the reason behind the punishment. However, Nietzsche argues, these things have had different meanings at different times. For instance, the act of punishment has been at times a celebration of one's power, at times an act of cruelty, at times a simple tit-for-tat. We cannot understand a thing, and we certainly cannot understand its origin, if we assume that it has always held the same meaning.

Morality is generally treated as sacred because we assume that there is some transcendental ground for our morals, be it God, reason, tradition, or something else. Yet contrary to our assumption that "good," "bad," or "evil" have always had the same meanings, Nietzsche's genealogical method shows how these terms have evolved, shattering any illusion as to the continuity or absolute truth of our present moral concepts, for instance, the concept of "good" was once dominated by the will of healthy, strong barbarians, and had the opposite meaning that it does now that it is dominated by the will of weak, "sick" ascetics.

According to Nietzsche, then, a belief in an absolute truth or an absolute anything is to give in to one particular meaning, one particular interpretation of a thing. It is essentially to allow oneself to be dominated by a particular will. A will that wishes to remain free will shun absolutes of all kinds and try to look at a matter from as many different perspectives as possible in order to gain its own. This doctrine that has deeply influenced postmodern thought is called "perspectivism."

Nietzsche's inquiries are thus conducted in a very irreverent spirit. Nothing is sacred, nothing is absolute, nothing is true. Our morality is not a set of duties passed down from God but an arbitrary code that has evolved as randomly as the human species itself. The only constant is that we, and everything else, are constantly striving for more power, and the only constant virtue is a will that is powerful, and free from bad conscience and hatred.

Well, it is Monday after all so I thought that a bit of light reading might set you up for the week.

TTFN, I'll be back soon I hope.

THE WORLD AS WE KNEW IT

In a few days the US  Presidential election  will take place although there has been an unprecedented amount of early and on-line voting. This should have given a clear indication of what the final result will be but, because of the ridiculous electoral college system they run there it does happen that a candidate can win going against the trend and the popular vote. This happened in 2016 with Trump winning and in 200 when George W. Bush won.

ELECTORAL COLLEGE SIMPLY EXPLAINED

Or, even more simply:

Where Wyoming has one electoral vote for every 193,000 people but California has only one electoral vote for every 718,000 people. Ridiculous.

So, that egregious idiot Donald Trump, despite his bullying, blustering, lying and incompetence could still win. At least Robert The Irresponsible Sinner will be pleased.

What this means for most of America and the rest of the world is potential disaster.

COVID-19 has not been eradicated and in many places is coming back in second and third waves. Trump's Administration - and what a misnomer that word is when applied to Trump and the GOP as per a dictionary definition:

Administration

1. The process or activity of running a business, organisation, etc.

2. The management of public affairs; government.

It would be a far stretch to suggest that these bozos could run a corner shop properly let alone a government.

Anyway - Trump's Administration has seriously undermined USA's economy, civil rights, health system, law and order, justice system, environment protection and the safety of its citizens just to name a few. It has also, and this is where it affects us, undermined and in some places destroyed decades-old treaties, accords and agreements with both allies and enemies and allowed  military, economic and political expansion of Russia, China, Turkey and Iran amongst other countries.

God (just an expression) help us all.

ARE YOU UP FOR A LAUGH?

 Well, I had to laugh yesterday when watching Judith Collins launch National's new campaign advertisement.

WATCH THIS AT 0:19: JUDITH COLLINS TODAY

"It was slick, it was fabulous, it was modern .."

- Judith Collins

More like, sluggish, frumpy and out of date. 

 

Collins, with the appalling Gerry Brownlee doing a Donald Trump lurking impersonation, woodenly went through a diatribe against Labour and Jacinda Ardern with some Muldoon-like sniping.

This was embarrassing and really shows that this party is not a viable alternative to the Labour government.

ON BEHALF OF THE WORKING CLASSES

 

THE POOR OLD WORKING MAN*

I fear that Robert, who on the latest polls is shown to represent 50% of the Curmudgeon Incⓒ blogs readership, is a bit conflicted about where his preference in voting for the upcoming elections should be. His normal 'True Blue' stance ( National Party supporter) - appears to be giving way to The New Conservatives:

"It's a hard being a voting Catholic in New Zealand. Both Labour and National have a policy of promoting abortion of unborn children.
The New Conservatives are more pro life."

- Robert The Inconsequential Sinner

 I tried to be of assistance in my usual, helpful way by suggesting that:

The New Conservatives (NZ) is a right wing, racist, reactionary, Christian political group which, as per its UK equivalent is supported by Donald trump.
Yes, I can see why you would support these bozos."

- The Curmudgeon 

I really think that Robert  is between a rock and a hard place here given that neither of his latest two preferences - National and The New Conservatives - represent his social, economic, demographic or educational position and background.

I'm proudly a Labour Party supporter and, having an open mind and an interest in politics and history, understand what Socialism means and I don't confuse Socialism's concept and ideals with Communism and the many twisted and perverted interpretations that right wing politicians give to, and promulgate about it.

Perhaps it will be helpful for Robert to see what the working classes are all about. Maybe this little film will be helpful.

THE WORKING CLASSES

* My parents had this Billy Russell recording and we all (pre TV days) enjoyed listening to it over and over along with a recording of Gerard Hoffnung's 'The Bricklayer's Lament'.

TIME GENTLEMEN, PLEASE

I think that Winston Peters is way past his 'use-by' date and certainly well past his 'best before' date.

I didn't like him when he was a National lackey, hated him when he played his pedantic 'king-maker' role in the first days of MMP and have found him extremely annoying ever since.

His latest sniping against the government which, as Deputy Prime Minister he is part of, is unworthy and obvious part of his electioneering. It's comforting to know that his NZ First party is performing abysmally in the polls and may not gain enough percentage votes to have much of a presence. Labour, with its strong polling and Collins-led National polling poorly could mean that a coalition party won't be needed. Let's hope so.

Also, that doofus Shane Jones needs to be kicked to touch.