Luxon to attack in speech

[Lilith7]

I can't remember where I picked up this thought, it definitely isn't original, but our political system is still wealthy, pre millennial, white, older male, aggression focused. Dominance rules.

I long for the day when we redesign our system to be more Aoteraroan. Because that simply isn't the way most of us operate these days.

Odd you should mention that - I'm reading the first book of Sonja Davie's autobiography & she was coming up against exactly that back then, as were others.

Some things have certainly changed for the better since then but there's still an expectation that politics is a game for older blokes to some extent.

We should surely by now be able to recognise that largely thanks to various past govts both left & right, the egalitarian country most of us knew has all but disappeared under an avalanche of neo liberalism over the past decades, which has widened the gap between rich & poor to an extent possibly not seen here since the 30's depression.
That needs to be addressed before much in the way of progress can be addressed in any other areas, & it really is time for this govt to tackle that - because if Luxon is inclined towards more of the same as seems likely, then voting in his party could be disastrous.

When you get right down to it, what's needed is more fairness rather than a small group of well off people & a larger group struggling to survive. And imo, no person who is extremely wealthy should be  in a position where they have power over other, less fortunate people - in fact I'd prefer to see very wealthy people barred from entering politics, since most have no idea of the day to day reality for most people.

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I can't remember where I picked up this thought, it definitely isn't original, but our political system is still wealthy, pre millennial, white, older male, aggression focused. Dominance rules.

I long for the day when we redesign our system to be more Aoteraroan. Because that simply isn't the way most of us operate these days.

but those stale old white guys stepped up to our governance to make this country what it is.
these men sought to forment and effect real change, creating the opportunities we all enjoy today, men and women.
they built our universities and librarys, so that future generations could better themselves and some day look down their well fed, well educated noses at the generations who provided those benefits selflessly for the generations to come, certainly it wasnt for their own aggrandisement. 

im sure many of them would rather have been sitting at home by the fire instead of undertaking civil responsibilities and working towards a better society. but if not them then who? no one else stepped up.

dominance and aggression arent endemic to politics, they are part of our psyche, the human condition.
dominance is the cornerstone of democracy, the majority dominating the minority. when this balance is upset, bad things happen. undemocratic things. like being excluded because youre old, white and stale

No one's looking down at their positive achievements. But let's not forget that some of those same people (& sadly, some were women)  did their best to actively prevent women from contributing in various areas.
Not entirely their fault; that was the way things were then, & some just couldn't cope with change.

I think its like any group of people; some will be complete bastards, some will be really good people & most will fall somewhere in the middle.