Who's to Blame for the Government?

It is people; It is people; It is the people that voted for them.

UPDATE: This newsletter was previously paywalled but is now public and available to all. 🙂

I saw no evil when I looked into your eyes
I heard no evil while you told me all those lies
I spoke no evil when I called out your name
Look at us now, baby
Who’s to blame?

Lyrics: Hemberger, Hemberger, Mayo, Rasero

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Today’s newsletter is a bit of a rant; some of you might agree with it—depending on your mood of the moment—whereas others might say, Chill out, Nick. Live and let live; you can’t hold half the population accountable for this government's actions.

Perhaps you’re right. Anyway, with that disclaimer out of the way, on with the rant…

Why do/did people support this government?

Do you ever shake your head in wonder as you look at the latest serving of manure du jour and ask yourself - who voted for this shit? And more to the point, and in the name of all that is holy, why?

Why would any seemingly intelligent and/or decent human being vote for this lot? Not only that, but having seen what they’re doing, still support it?

Did Nicola Willis' clarity of plan and obvious economic prowess or Christopher Luxon's charisma and character sway their vote? Maybe not, but there has to be a reason people voted for them.

To be fair, National didn’t exactly come out and say that when it comes to negotiations, we’ll give away pretty much every crazy thing NZF and ACT want, so in effect, a vote for us is a vote for them.

So we can’t hold National voters responsible for all of those fringe policies. Those are on Luxon and his team of woeful negotiators. But there are things that it’s reasonable to pin on them, namely the cuts being made to our public services to pay for their tax cuts.

Like yesterday when “more than 100 Wellington families caring for mentally ill children lost access to government-funded respite care they say they desperately need”.

That was the clear tradeoff - services for tax cuts. Even with much of the media seemingly asleep at the keyboard during the last election, it became obvious that the impossible wasn’t real, even if Nicola and Christopher had said it was.

That is, you can’t cut taxes AND cut borrowing AND keep on spending; it doesn’t add up. National did confess there would be cuts to the public sector, but they wouldn’t say what they would be or where they would make them. So voters were flying blind to a degree. But that doesn’t excuse anyone from believing the lie that front-line services would not be impacted.

That was a ludicrous claim, and you’d have to be an absolute moron to have believed it. Either that or the far more likely explanation is that those people were happy to sign up for tax cuts and a change in government without worrying about what would be cut.

Not through ignorance, other than the intentionally blissful kind, but out of utter disregard for how their decision would impact others or even their own lives. Such was the appeal of the extra $250 that National promised. Sadly, that level of tax cut turned out to be a lie, just like the claim that essential services wouldn’t be impacted.

You could argue that people were duped, but let’s give them a bit of credit. These people aren’t idiots. Every single one of them, at least those who weren’t licking or sniffing the marker pen they were given to mark their voting paper, knew when they stood in that booth and voted that they were sacrificing public services provided to all for their own betterment.

You can’t say they were momentarily blinded by their greed or confused by National’s lack of transparency either; the truth is that political polls since the election indicate that voting preferences remain largely unchanged. Even knowing what they know now, almost all of them would still vote the same. No buyer’s remorse, no going. OMG, what have I done? They stand by their decision to put these people in power and are okay with all the cuts and everything else that has happened since.

It makes you wonder—at some point, do we need to stop blaming the politicians and political parties, who, after all, are trying to offer things they think people want, and instead look at the people who actually made all of this happen—the coalition voters, especially those who voted for National?

They’re the ones who have made this happen, and through their ongoing support in the polls, they enable the government to continue on this path, safe in the knowledge that despite all the outrage from others, like you and me, the people who backed them continue to do so.

So what can you do?

The reality is that times are tight, and there are practicalities to consider. If your boss is an outspoken supporter of the coalition or mouths off about Jacinda and Labour, you might not be in a position where you can walk away. You may have to bide your time and bite your tongue. But at some point, power will shift, and you’ll have options again.

When that happens, you might ask yourself—do I really want to work for someone who voted to keep minimum wage increases as low as possible? Someone who supports a party that enables business owners to make more profit by increasing the gap between what they pay their employees and what it costs those people to live? All while reducing the regulations that are there to stop you from losing your life in the workplace?

Perhaps that’s a bit extreme. How about something nice and easy, like a boycott? All else being equal, if your mechanic, baker, or candlestick maker is mouthing off about how great the new government is or including digs about the previous government in their communications to customers, do you really want to keep doing business with them?

Thanks to the government’s austerity measures, the economy is doing badly. The upside is that this is a great time to ditch someone you don’t wish to do business with.

Or what about those loud-mouthed jerks who donate large sums to the likes of National and ACT and are given media platforms to spout their poorly formed reckons as if they were worthy? You know people like Nick Mowbray, the owner of Zuru.

Just remember where that money is going when you buy his plastic crap for your mokopuna. If you buy from people like Nick Mowbray, who donates six-figure sums to the parties doing so much damage to this country, then you are essentially giving the money to those parties yourself. Is that something you want to do?

What about family, friends and neighbours? You can’t go out and get new family or neighbours very easily. Friends, on the other hand…

I’m kidding. Seriously though, while you don’t necessarily want to get into a full-on argument over Christmas dinner or while saying hi when you’re walking your dog - but you can put them straight when what they’re saying is wrong.

National claimed they would deliver more for less; the reality is they are delivering less but still spending more. They complain bitterly about Labour, yet the last government was literally spending less than this one and still managing to fund public services, although they clearly needed more funding.

You might prefer not to discuss politics or agree to disagree, but don’t stay silent in the face of misinformation. Most people aren’t being assholes for the sake of it; they probably wouldn’t be your friend in the first place if they were. I suspect many simply don’t have a good understanding of the consequences of their actions.

Maybe it would help them, you, and the country if they did. Don’t think of it as an unpleasant confrontation, more a service you are providing that everyone gains from.

Yay - doesn’t it feel good to do something positive?

If you don’t like those views, here are some others that people gave on X or Facebook when I posted the following a week ago.

Susie: I’m really struggling with this at the moment. I have a teacher friend who I have known for 35 years, who said to me last week that she’s enjoying her retirement, thanks to 2 partners rentals, and doesn’t/won’t think about those who need support ‘cos she’s worked hard!

Dora: I’ll be damned if I will sit back & accept a handful of power hungry greedy duplicitous politicians making decisions detrimental to Aotearoa NZ refusing to accept expert opinions or public consultation. CoC supporters have been duped!

Susan: A friend who lives in another town, so I don't see her often, did a diatribe about Maori privilege. I'm more careful what I say now around her. But yes, a feeling of ease & shared values is lost. She told me off for wearing a mask, too. People in small towns don't have covid, she said!

Nicholas: It's tiring to counter the dis-informed, who repeat sound bite statements which when questioned elicit no comprehensible reply, essentially because it's ideology that drives them, not knowledge "A man convinced against his will Is oft of his opinion still" So don't bother trying.

David: Heh, we had well-spoken, seemingly enlightened American neighbours over recently … they’ve been living somewhat out of sight to us for about four years. As they departed, emboldened by their apparent co-sympathies, I made some remake about ‘this dreadful government’, whereupon an orange cone of silence descended and we won’t be seeing them again. So much for my astute judgement.

Jillaine: One of my best friends votes for National pretty much no matter what. We can never ever discuss politics. I find it hard to believe someone so lovely in so many other ways could vote blue but I figure at least it’s not fucking ACT, and I still love her to bits. She is the exception…others who are family members who vote ACT don’t get many invites to sit at our table.

Obviously, some of this has been a rant and a bit tongue-in-cheek. I’m not suggesting anyone “unfriend” people simply for having different views. I’m referring to those in your life who are loudly supporting this government and/or deriding the last one based on misinformation. People who clearly have different values—and let's be honest—are the reason this is all happening.

Because that’s the key point.

Not whether your boss is a dick - he probably is, although you’ll find others that aren’t. Not whether your friend has shown some side of themselves that makes you recoil and think about whether they really are a person you want to spend time with.

But in our democratic system, it is the people, not the politicians, who are simply implementing what the people demand, who are making all of this happen.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to be pissed off by that as we see other people suffering the consequences of their actions.