OPINION
I was browsing articles on the Herald website when I came across a headline: ‘Strong Leaders’, a ‘rigged’ economy and ‘poll of doom’. The writer was none other than our old friend Simon Wilson. Because the Herald holds Simon in such high regard (goodness knows why), it was a premium article. Now, because I don’t hold the Herald in the same high regard as they do Simon, I’m not a premium subscriber. That being the case, I was obliged to fork out the exorbitant sum of $4.20 if I was to devour the astute deliberations of a columnist the Herald thinks is worthy of such status.
Not unsurprisingly, it was something of an agonising read. While not begrudging the shelling out of said amount, I felt somewhat vindicated with my decision not to subscribe in order to avail myself of daily access to premium articles. Simon has a habit of getting the wrong end of the stick. This was most apparent in the article I am about to critique, hopefully for your enjoyment. It can only be classified as ‘entertainment’; otherwise it would be deemed appropriate to use such words as ‘ridicule’ or ‘ridiculous’ and one doesn’t want to be too harsh on poor old Simon.
Simon writes from a perspective that not many BFD readers would agree with and this latest effort is right up there with his best efforts. For those who don’t suffer from a masochistic streak and therefore haven’t read the article, you are to be commended. He starts off talking about needing a strong leader, which was the majority opinion of those who took part in the Ipsos poll. Simon is of the opinion we’ve already had one (there are no prizes for guessing who: it’s the lady of the lock-ups, Jacinda Ardern). But according to Simon that’s not all that contributed to her strength.
He says having locked us up she forbade us to travel, have any social contact with family members even if they were dying, made it really hard for New Zealanders to return home and cancelled almost everything. You don’t get much stronger than that, says Simon. No you don’t, but I have news for Simon. Those are the methods used, not by a strong leader but a DICTATOR. This is using a situation to her own advantage – an opportune time to put into practice everything she learned and agreed with as president of the International Union of Socialist Youth.
All of a sudden we were all made to become her comrades. Simon conveniently forgets to mention that she allowed her comrade ‘partner in crime’ to drench peaceful protestors with water and blast them with loud music. If that’s Simon’s idea of a strong leader it’s not mine and I daresay not yours. This type of behaviour is more the attribute of bullies. She also permitted police overreach in the dispersal methods used to overcome those who simply wanted their voices heard.
A strong leader will engender respect but a dictator will engender hate. That is precisely what happened and when it did she cowardly removed herself from her role on the flimsy excuse that she couldn’t afford the petrol to carry on, i.e., had run out of gas. The truth of the matter was she dispensed with her services before her services were dispensed with by others: the voting public. To call Ardern a strong leader is nothing more than a sick joke. That hate remains today.
The Ipsos poll is conducted worldwide and Simon says it shouldn’t be any kind of a shock that the citizens of the world are worried. He cites the wars and the rise of Trump in America and mini Trumps in many other countries. Again, I have news for Simon and it is this. If you don’t want wars, vote Trump. None were started under his watch and his plans to return troops from war zones were completely botched by another hopeless politician of the left, Joe Biden. Stopping the initiation of wars and not getting the military involved in other conflicts is my idea of a strong leader.
Simon comments that at home the worrying signs are there in the cost of living and the ongoing crises in health, schooling and social housing. He says we know people are getting angrier and social cohesion is fraying badly. Question for Simon: Who’s been in power for the last six years? A good deal of that time it was that strong leader you talk about. If she had been strong, in the true sense of the word, perhaps the country might not be in the shocking state she left it in. A strong leader sorts these things out which, unlike her, our current leader is hell bent on doing.
I could go on but the fact is the poll is reflective of a country that has endured six years of the most hopeless, leaderless government in living memory. They are, without doubt, totally lacking in the skills needed to solve the problems they are largely responsible for and the country now faces. Even now they are displaying not a shred of evidence that they have learned anything from the ignominy of their defeat. They are walking down the same road completely out of step with public thinking.
We now have a government of ability, real world experience and, dare I say it, a man who, in most areas, is displaying strong leadership. We do have some reservations. The recent cabinet reshuffle has put all ministers on notice. Luxon expects results and in order to achieve those he wants the right people in the right positions. If you prove to be the equivalent of a square peg in a round hole, then goodbye you. This is applying good business practice to government and the public sector and is sorely needed. Hipkins calls it chaos, something he would be eminently familiar with, and that tells you all you need to know.
Dear Simon, this government may not be prioritising everyone on a bike, bus, boat or train, but what they are prioritising are the things you mention: all children attending school, everyone suitably housed, health issues addressed and social cohesion restored. All the things the strong leader you mention seemed incapable of. Also, extracting wealth out of the ground to enable the aforementioned to be achieved. Dig and prosper is definitely preferable to borrow and hope. We at The BFD think so.