Bernie Sanders was hardly a "firebrand". As he repeatedly said, he was a social democrat in the traditional European sense. His core policy was to create a public health care system in the US similar to neighbouring Canada's. That country is far from "socialist" but supports much more public involvement in key sectors than even New Zealand does. Of all the Anglo-Saxon countries (otherwise known as the "five eyes"), New Zealand has gone further down the neo-liberal path than all the others. Whatever New Zealanders say in polls, at the last election they elected a government whose tax policies are much closer to Trump's than what Harris says she will introduce if elected. She also says she will take action against "price gauging" corporations. That is not something you are likely to hear from Trump or the National party. The price-gauging corporations in NZ are well known and their practices well-researched. Will New Zealanders vote to take action against them at the next election? I doubt it because they will struggle to find a political party committed to change.
New Zealand flipped from one of the most liberal/left nations to the most neo-liberal (economically far right) nation in the developed world after the USA in the 80's/90's... even surpassing the USA in some ways with the ECA, a thinly veiled Texas-style "right to work" law that knee caped unions, and biffing our land tax, the closest we had to a capital gains/wealth tax.
And the media has been so thoroughly indoctrinated that they can’t see their nose.
There are more idiots in NZ than I would;d ever have thought. I would really like to know the reasons why so many favour Harris whose main asset seems to be word salad speak.
Our legacy media are heavily invested in anti Trump propaganda so I guess it's hardly surprising. Harris's manifold failings are completely ignored
I have a wee Trump doll on my workbench - it's light powered and dances and waves; quite cute. Just yesterday an older woman saw it and went into a rant about what a horrible man he is, she insinuated there was something wrong with me as well. Couldn't point to anything specific but seemed to have developed a strong emotional aversion akin to a phobia. That is what that sort of propaganda is intended to do.
As another person has commented who to vote in US kind of depends on whether it is from a NZ perspective or not. Just this morning I came to the conclusion, like RFK that I want Trump to win the election in 2024 and I mean this in the sense of the impact the US president may have on NZ; in other words I don't "care" about US domestic issues but rather the impact of the US on the outside world.
In common with RFK's view, I prefer Trump on the basis of his stated opposition to the war in Ukraine although I am sceptical of his actual ability/willingness to follow through on it (and I loath him personally), but listening to Kamala’s speech yesterday it is clear that she represents a continuation of the bellicose war mongering of Joe Biden. It's hard to trust either party but the Democratic leadership are openly bellicose so you can assume they will follow through on that.
As an "old school" left winger and philosophical anarchist I find it hard to understand how NZers of conscience can genuinely prefer one side over the other; we should be seeing the US election for what it is; a complete sham and piece of political theatre that has descended into partisan banality all the while on the main issues they are essentially in full alignment with a "one party" state controlled by the oligarchy and corruption.
I look at that and want to get as far away from the US political system as is possible.
• After Donald Trump has been personally charged with 88 criminal offenses in four criminal cases.
• After he was found guilty on May 30 of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records (regarding paying off a porn star soon after marrying his 3rd wife.)
• After a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse in a civil case
• After the only legislative Republican victory that he had when in office was giving billions back in tax relief to billionaires and corporations. Meanwhile he was as hawkish on foreign policy and the military budget as they come.
And those who voted for the party that railed against capitalism and corruption, NZ1 (when Peters joined Labour in a coalition in 2017) support Trump the most.
Richard, as much as Trump is a "freak" at a personal level that stuff pales into insignificance when you compare that with "death and slaughter" surely. Try focusing on his record in government and compare that with a similar list of the highlights of the last four years of Democrat rule. Admittedly he did some silly things in my opinion (e.g. walking away from the Iran deal, rolling back Obama's end of Cuba sanctions, anti-Chinese policies etc) but so too the Democrats have an appalling record of supplying $100B+ for weapons to Ukraine and the result is hundreds of thousands of deaths, ~$20B for weapons to Israel, resulting in upwards of 40-60,000 deaths. Ok so Kamala has a nice smile but she sounds to me like she'll continue the slaughter that she supported as Vice President to Joe Biden. I think these things are more important than whether the president is a misogynist or not.
OK, so in your mind, Trump’s neo-fascist actions, felony convictions, lies, and convicted sexual abuse are forgivable? I cannot think of a moral person who would agree. These actions are not that of a “freak” but that of a psychopath.
BTW, I did mention his record in government. The only legislative Republican victory that he had when in office was giving billions back in tax relief to billionaires and corporations. He snuggled up to Israel and Netanyahu (“Uncle Bibi”) in ways that Biden never would.
Indeed, Trump and the Republican party have been castigating Biden for being too weak and “pro-terrorist” (Palestinian) by withholding selected bombs to Israel. Kamala’s Palestinian policy is still an unknown, but it will certainly be to the left of Trump, and likely of Biden’s.
Regarding “hundreds of thousands of deaths” in Ukraine and Russia. That would have easily been prevented by not going through with the (mostly) unprovoked invasion, slaughter of Ukrainian civilians and land grab by Trump's buddy, Putin. The EU has given equal amounts ...because Putin has clearly become dangerous.
1) I never said anything about "forgiving" Trump - they're all immoral arseholes IMO. I'd vote to minimise human misery and suffering - there are no silver bullets
2) Yes Trump has gesticulated about Biden's "softness" on Palestinians but you know he's a blowhard. When you free yourself from your own ideological beliefs and look at reality you can't possibly argue that Biden/Democrats are supportive of peace in Gaza. You saw the 53 standing ovations and sickening gushing when Netanyahu was in Washington. The "uni-party" support for Israel, against the wishes of the public is a symptom of the corruption of their democracy by lobby groups and corporate power.
3) Your position on Ukraine is predictable but not borne out by even a modest analysis beyond what you'll hear or read in the mainstream media now populated by left wingers like you on a crusade of self righteousness all the while being largely unaware of how far the Military Industrial Complex and corporate power have managed to subvert the left into the cause of their neo-conservative agenda. Tell me did you support the Iraq, Afghanistan, Syrian, Libyan, Vietnam wars and numerous interventions in places like Iran, Chile and Central America? Or were they aberrations and somehow Ukraine is a just cause? If you are really interested in the roots of Ukraine issue it's hard to refute the analysis of John Mearsheimer (2015) or for a more historical perspective "The Tragedy of Ukraine" by Nicolai N. Petro
1. So you can discount Trump’s neo-fascist actions, felony convictions, lies, and convicted sexual abuse... because you believe that he is a ‘pacifist’!?? His Modus Operandi is military strength. He radically increased the already bloated military budget.
2. You base your human suffering metric solely on believing that Trump would somehow not be worse for Palestinians than Biden in spite of all evidence to the contrary ?? Why on earth would you believe that...given his wholehearted support for Israel and Netanyahu during his administration? It is not just gesticulation. It has been concrete hawkish actions in Congress by the Republicans (remember Trump is just the “leader” of the GOP, not the GOP. He is not yet a dictator.)
3. I NEVER said that the Democrats are supportive of peace in Gaza. Some, such as the squad (whom I side with) are clearly supportive of peace. By any measure, they “better” than Republicans on foreign policy as a whole. Again, Biden halted sending heavy bombs. The Republicans tried to override that.
4. And, of course, I was never supportive of the Iraq, Afghanistan, Syrian, Libyan, Vietnam wars and numerous interventions in places like Iran, Chile and Central America. And though many Democrats were supportive, many were not. Nearly all Republicans were supportive and considered the Democrats weak. E.g. Over 60% of Democrats did NOT vote for the Iraq war the resolution in Congress vs 5% of Republicans. Yes, both parties are terrible at foreign policy, but one clearly is better.
5 “Military Industrial Complex and corporate power have managed to subvert the left into the cause of their neo-conservative agenda.”? . WTF. Do you have clue about the “left” in the USA (many such as Chomsky who took Russia’s side)? You do know that Trump’s mate, Putin did not have to invade and grab land while killing thousands of civilians. Or do you believe that to be a made-up fantasy?
I consider myself to be 'very' hard Left, yet I concur exactly with all of your comment- except- how do you get to the idea that the media is populated by "Left-wingers"? The mainstream media has moved so far to the Right in recent years that many consider the 'Financial Times' to be Britain's most Left-wing newspaper (left of the Guardian and the Independent), on the basis that businessmen need to know realities about geopolitics and economics rather than to be assaulted with Neocon propaganda. Is your opinion based on the NZ mainstream media only? tbh I rarely engage with it as a news-source except on local issues.
Sorry Kevin, these days it's hard to use any term with meaning since the definitions are no longer even stable... When I used the term "left wingers" I meant the "new left" - the elitist, identitarian, self righteous bunch who are far removed from the working class etc - a crude definition for sure but I presume you know what I'm getting at. I too would consider myself "left wing" - the anarchist, "Noam Chomsky" and "libertarian" kind.
So when I say the media is now dominated by the left wingers that is as per many surveys conducted here (by Democracy project and others) and in the USA.
Having said that I agree they are in many ways right wing - as in they have been subverted in many ways by the neoconservative agenda into supporting the Ukraine war etc. You can see this in the support for Kamala Harris. If you watch any of the DNC its hard not to be shocked at how bellicose it all was, and the fact that it was literally a stage show with an annointed rather than democratically selected candidate. Talk about manufacturing consent...
And in the mean while people are having these debates about "neo-fascist pussy grabbing" etc - it's a complete sideshow to reality.
Funny, I consider myself a latent anarcho-syndicalist and a huge fan of Chomsky in most ways (though not all).
I have news for you. All conventions are "staged". Did you watch the RNC one? Then you know.
And if you bothered to look at policies (labour law, collective bargaining, tax codes, etc.), you would see that "identitarian" leftist (of which Chomsky is one) have far better policies than the right, with the possible and selected exception of Hawley.
The myth upheld by the Democracy Project that the media is "left" is only correct when moving the center line far right (at least on economic issues). For example, Capital Gains Tax is considered “left” for Chrissakes by these folk when it is a norm everywhere else, including the USA.
Yes, there is an elite, but it is those billionaires and corporations who control the US Republican party, and here National Act and NZ1. That is commons sense 101.
I'm not sure how you can agree that the neo-fascist pussy grabbing Trump is a pacifist? I’m also curious about what evidence the Guardian is to the right of the FT? For “left”, one might stick to Democracy Now and Z Net, my stand-by for decades.
Yep, big difference between liberal pacifism & reactionary isolationism. For the latter, think the America First Committee during the early stages of WW2.
The internal interests of the USA as perceived by Americans, and the interests of 'the rest of the world' are at such odds as to make the question of which candidate we favour an entirely conflicted one. As an outsider, I favour, as less dangerous internationally, that section of Republicanism, the backers of Trump, that advocate radical isolationism, over the Democratic Party's (i.e. Wall Street's) futile and dangerous attempts to counter emergent multi-nodality in global economic relations with proxy-wars against actors that are moving away from USD as reserve and transaction currency. The Isolationist Republicans have at least acknowledged that the 'end of Empire' phenomenon is inexorable now that US dollar-hegemony has started to wane significantly. The USA must inevitably also give up, by degrees, the 'exorbitant privilege' of being the issuer of the worlds reserve currency- that of the seignorage on that issuance giving Americans an exorbitant standard of living for most of the past 80 years. This would be highly unpalatable to US citizens, if they even understood it- which they don't- because they believe that their great wealth was due to their own genius and hard work, and, of course, God's favour.
The big unknown for 'the rest of the world' is whether, after the US has re-shored a sufficient amount of industrial capacity, they will inflate away their $35Trillion external debt (Germany after WW1) or simply issue a 'fuck you' default. Given the incapacity of the 'rest of the world' to enforce its claim in the face of the geographical and military strength of the US, I anticipate the latter. The precedent for this unilateralism being Nixon's abrogation of the USD Gold Standard without negotiated redistribution of the underlying asset to the creditors. That other nations can shrug-off this seemingly terrifying prospect is demonstrated by Russia's indifference following the seizure of $300Bn of her assets by the USA and its western allies.
For US citizens, anyone who thinks that the personalities of US Presidents are anything other than a sweet or salty coating for either variant of the dystopian technofeudalism that is on offer has been asleep for the last 15 years. I really don't care what happens internally in the USA, but the best hope for survival of 'the rest of the world' would be their retrenchment to being a local rather than global hegemon.
Robert Kennedy Jr has now officially withdrawn from the presidential race and endorsed Trump. He was running at five percent + support in the key swing states so this is a pretty big deal. While the "Democrats" were using dodgy lawfare to keep him off the ballot in many states it goes a lot deeper than that.
Kennedy on the Dems: “It had become the party of war, censorship, corruption, big pharma, big tech, big ag, and big money.”
Trumps advisors and cabinet are looking like a very capable team with Vance, Tulsi Gabbard, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy among them.
I see you put populist and anti-Establishment together as meaning the same thing, and populist has become a very popular term currently. Is our current coalition govt guilty of populism, and does that mean they are an anti-establishment government ? Are these terms definitive, or are they just used to discredit people, like the label "racist" ? I thought you might be the right person to answer this.
What those polls really reflect is how effective media propaganda is in manipulating perceptions of public figures. It's not about the substance of policies, but the superficial details of one's appearance, and the one liner soundbites that have replaced real debate in the case of this election. I wonder what those poll results might have looked like if everyone was required to read ex Democrat Bobby Kennedy's recent speech announcing his campaign postponement, and support for trump.
Interestingly the only thing I’ve heard about RFK in NZ MSM was RNZ and TVNZ, last week I think, just as speculation about the future of his presidential bid was circulating, was a mocking piece about his “bizarre” behaviour in relation to “taking a dead bear into a bar”...
Was that really the most relevant item they could share with NZers? - Its pretty clear this was a hit piece planted into the “world news” distribution by Democrat corrupted processes and dutifully broadcast by our brain dead MSM
There has been a hard core of Trump supporters in NZ for a while. When he lost in 2020, there was a backlash on the pages of MPs here who did posts relevant to US politics. I recall Simon Bridges reviewed a book on recent US politics and published it on his Fb page, taking a moderate line. He was deluged by aggrieved Trump supporters based in NZ. It was rather weird. Simon O'Connor did a post featuring an article by Obama, and the same thing happened, although with the subject being Obama, 90% of the posts were overtly racist.
Well, what the hell did you expect in the land of leftie numpties? How many times do I have to tell people that NZ is the Cuba of the Sth Pacific?
Under the circumstances, if I was forced to vote I'd vote for Harris while swallowing back rising stomach contents and reaching for the Nurofen, simply because who wants to leader who's a feckless, untrustworthy, criminal, blowhard?
I'd take Curia's polling with a grain of salt, given its push-polling practices and recent withdrawal from the Research Association of NZ. That said, the GOP is a global outlier on being further Right than most major parties of its type.
Surveys are generally 15% to 20% inaccurate unless there is a limited range of answers. 60% of Americans consistently hate the incumbent government despite the Kamala boost. My bet is most Republicans don't like Trumps personality but like his policies thus the survey error rate could be up to 40%
I'd vote for Harris, but I would hate myself while doing it. Her economic policies I have seen are abysmal (Protectionism, subsidies, price controls), but she does have a massive advantage over Trump of being actually electable, and not a morally bankrupt egotistical fraud.
Bernie Sanders was hardly a "firebrand". As he repeatedly said, he was a social democrat in the traditional European sense. His core policy was to create a public health care system in the US similar to neighbouring Canada's. That country is far from "socialist" but supports much more public involvement in key sectors than even New Zealand does. Of all the Anglo-Saxon countries (otherwise known as the "five eyes"), New Zealand has gone further down the neo-liberal path than all the others. Whatever New Zealanders say in polls, at the last election they elected a government whose tax policies are much closer to Trump's than what Harris says she will introduce if elected. She also says she will take action against "price gauging" corporations. That is not something you are likely to hear from Trump or the National party. The price-gauging corporations in NZ are well known and their practices well-researched. Will New Zealanders vote to take action against them at the next election? I doubt it because they will struggle to find a political party committed to change.
Great response!
New Zealand flipped from one of the most liberal/left nations to the most neo-liberal (economically far right) nation in the developed world after the USA in the 80's/90's... even surpassing the USA in some ways with the ECA, a thinly veiled Texas-style "right to work" law that knee caped unions, and biffing our land tax, the closest we had to a capital gains/wealth tax.
And the media has been so thoroughly indoctrinated that they can’t see their nose.
NZ economically far right? What are you on about
1.We are the only developed nation without a wealth tax or Capital tax, so that New Zealand’s millionaires pay lower tax rates than cashiers, creating tax resentment and a big hole in income for the govenment. Even the centrist OECD recomends a CGT for us. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/27/new-zealands-millionaires-pay-lower-tax-rates-than-cashiers-its-time-to-fix-the-system?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
2. We are the 23rd lowest government spender per GDP https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/general-government-expenditures_595b4d0b-en.pdf?itemId=%2Fcontent%2Fcomponent%2F595b4d0b-en&mimeType=pdf#:~:text=General%20government%20expenditures%20amounted%20to,across%20oecD%20countries%20in%202021.
3. Our labour laws are carbon copies of thinly veiled Texas-style "right to work" laws
Why do you think otherwise? The data is clear.
There are more idiots in NZ than I would;d ever have thought. I would really like to know the reasons why so many favour Harris whose main asset seems to be word salad speak.
Our legacy media are heavily invested in anti Trump propaganda so I guess it's hardly surprising. Harris's manifold failings are completely ignored
I have a wee Trump doll on my workbench - it's light powered and dances and waves; quite cute. Just yesterday an older woman saw it and went into a rant about what a horrible man he is, she insinuated there was something wrong with me as well. Couldn't point to anything specific but seemed to have developed a strong emotional aversion akin to a phobia. That is what that sort of propaganda is intended to do.
And thats a good reason why women shouldn't have anything to do with politics
?!
The Afghan Taliban says hi.
People tend to get upset with fucking morons who lionise racist pedophile rapists.
Fair enough I guess, good job I'm not one of those "fucking morons".
As another person has commented who to vote in US kind of depends on whether it is from a NZ perspective or not. Just this morning I came to the conclusion, like RFK that I want Trump to win the election in 2024 and I mean this in the sense of the impact the US president may have on NZ; in other words I don't "care" about US domestic issues but rather the impact of the US on the outside world.
In common with RFK's view, I prefer Trump on the basis of his stated opposition to the war in Ukraine although I am sceptical of his actual ability/willingness to follow through on it (and I loath him personally), but listening to Kamala’s speech yesterday it is clear that she represents a continuation of the bellicose war mongering of Joe Biden. It's hard to trust either party but the Democratic leadership are openly bellicose so you can assume they will follow through on that.
As an "old school" left winger and philosophical anarchist I find it hard to understand how NZers of conscience can genuinely prefer one side over the other; we should be seeing the US election for what it is; a complete sham and piece of political theatre that has descended into partisan banality all the while on the main issues they are essentially in full alignment with a "one party" state controlled by the oligarchy and corruption.
I look at that and want to get as far away from the US political system as is possible.
My shocking takeaway from these polls is that more than twice as many people here would vote for Trump in 2024 than in 2016.
And this is after:
• Eight years after being on record saying that he would “grab them by the pus*y,
• 3.5 years after he incited an insurrectional mob that ransacked the capitol and threatened to kill the vice president and speaker of the house.
• ...After lying that the election was “stolen” even though former president Donald Trump's team admitted that he lost two key battleground states in a new memo. https://www.newsweek.com/trump-campaign-memo-admits-lost-election-2020-1943797
• After Donald Trump has been personally charged with 88 criminal offenses in four criminal cases.
• After he was found guilty on May 30 of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records (regarding paying off a porn star soon after marrying his 3rd wife.)
• After a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse in a civil case
• After the only legislative Republican victory that he had when in office was giving billions back in tax relief to billionaires and corporations. Meanwhile he was as hawkish on foreign policy and the military budget as they come.
And those who voted for the party that railed against capitalism and corruption, NZ1 (when Peters joined Labour in a coalition in 2017) support Trump the most.
Richard, as much as Trump is a "freak" at a personal level that stuff pales into insignificance when you compare that with "death and slaughter" surely. Try focusing on his record in government and compare that with a similar list of the highlights of the last four years of Democrat rule. Admittedly he did some silly things in my opinion (e.g. walking away from the Iran deal, rolling back Obama's end of Cuba sanctions, anti-Chinese policies etc) but so too the Democrats have an appalling record of supplying $100B+ for weapons to Ukraine and the result is hundreds of thousands of deaths, ~$20B for weapons to Israel, resulting in upwards of 40-60,000 deaths. Ok so Kamala has a nice smile but she sounds to me like she'll continue the slaughter that she supported as Vice President to Joe Biden. I think these things are more important than whether the president is a misogynist or not.
OK, so in your mind, Trump’s neo-fascist actions, felony convictions, lies, and convicted sexual abuse are forgivable? I cannot think of a moral person who would agree. These actions are not that of a “freak” but that of a psychopath.
BTW, I did mention his record in government. The only legislative Republican victory that he had when in office was giving billions back in tax relief to billionaires and corporations. He snuggled up to Israel and Netanyahu (“Uncle Bibi”) in ways that Biden never would.
Indeed, Trump and the Republican party have been castigating Biden for being too weak and “pro-terrorist” (Palestinian) by withholding selected bombs to Israel. Kamala’s Palestinian policy is still an unknown, but it will certainly be to the left of Trump, and likely of Biden’s.
Regarding “hundreds of thousands of deaths” in Ukraine and Russia. That would have easily been prevented by not going through with the (mostly) unprovoked invasion, slaughter of Ukrainian civilians and land grab by Trump's buddy, Putin. The EU has given equal amounts ...because Putin has clearly become dangerous.
I fall on the ground laughing.
1) I never said anything about "forgiving" Trump - they're all immoral arseholes IMO. I'd vote to minimise human misery and suffering - there are no silver bullets
2) Yes Trump has gesticulated about Biden's "softness" on Palestinians but you know he's a blowhard. When you free yourself from your own ideological beliefs and look at reality you can't possibly argue that Biden/Democrats are supportive of peace in Gaza. You saw the 53 standing ovations and sickening gushing when Netanyahu was in Washington. The "uni-party" support for Israel, against the wishes of the public is a symptom of the corruption of their democracy by lobby groups and corporate power.
3) Your position on Ukraine is predictable but not borne out by even a modest analysis beyond what you'll hear or read in the mainstream media now populated by left wingers like you on a crusade of self righteousness all the while being largely unaware of how far the Military Industrial Complex and corporate power have managed to subvert the left into the cause of their neo-conservative agenda. Tell me did you support the Iraq, Afghanistan, Syrian, Libyan, Vietnam wars and numerous interventions in places like Iran, Chile and Central America? Or were they aberrations and somehow Ukraine is a just cause? If you are really interested in the roots of Ukraine issue it's hard to refute the analysis of John Mearsheimer (2015) or for a more historical perspective "The Tragedy of Ukraine" by Nicolai N. Petro
1. So you can discount Trump’s neo-fascist actions, felony convictions, lies, and convicted sexual abuse... because you believe that he is a ‘pacifist’!?? His Modus Operandi is military strength. He radically increased the already bloated military budget.
2. You base your human suffering metric solely on believing that Trump would somehow not be worse for Palestinians than Biden in spite of all evidence to the contrary ?? Why on earth would you believe that...given his wholehearted support for Israel and Netanyahu during his administration? It is not just gesticulation. It has been concrete hawkish actions in Congress by the Republicans (remember Trump is just the “leader” of the GOP, not the GOP. He is not yet a dictator.)
3. I NEVER said that the Democrats are supportive of peace in Gaza. Some, such as the squad (whom I side with) are clearly supportive of peace. By any measure, they “better” than Republicans on foreign policy as a whole. Again, Biden halted sending heavy bombs. The Republicans tried to override that.
4. And, of course, I was never supportive of the Iraq, Afghanistan, Syrian, Libyan, Vietnam wars and numerous interventions in places like Iran, Chile and Central America. And though many Democrats were supportive, many were not. Nearly all Republicans were supportive and considered the Democrats weak. E.g. Over 60% of Democrats did NOT vote for the Iraq war the resolution in Congress vs 5% of Republicans. Yes, both parties are terrible at foreign policy, but one clearly is better.
5 “Military Industrial Complex and corporate power have managed to subvert the left into the cause of their neo-conservative agenda.”? . WTF. Do you have clue about the “left” in the USA (many such as Chomsky who took Russia’s side)? You do know that Trump’s mate, Putin did not have to invade and grab land while killing thousands of civilians. Or do you believe that to be a made-up fantasy?
I consider myself to be 'very' hard Left, yet I concur exactly with all of your comment- except- how do you get to the idea that the media is populated by "Left-wingers"? The mainstream media has moved so far to the Right in recent years that many consider the 'Financial Times' to be Britain's most Left-wing newspaper (left of the Guardian and the Independent), on the basis that businessmen need to know realities about geopolitics and economics rather than to be assaulted with Neocon propaganda. Is your opinion based on the NZ mainstream media only? tbh I rarely engage with it as a news-source except on local issues.
Sorry Kevin, these days it's hard to use any term with meaning since the definitions are no longer even stable... When I used the term "left wingers" I meant the "new left" - the elitist, identitarian, self righteous bunch who are far removed from the working class etc - a crude definition for sure but I presume you know what I'm getting at. I too would consider myself "left wing" - the anarchist, "Noam Chomsky" and "libertarian" kind.
So when I say the media is now dominated by the left wingers that is as per many surveys conducted here (by Democracy project and others) and in the USA.
Having said that I agree they are in many ways right wing - as in they have been subverted in many ways by the neoconservative agenda into supporting the Ukraine war etc. You can see this in the support for Kamala Harris. If you watch any of the DNC its hard not to be shocked at how bellicose it all was, and the fact that it was literally a stage show with an annointed rather than democratically selected candidate. Talk about manufacturing consent...
And in the mean while people are having these debates about "neo-fascist pussy grabbing" etc - it's a complete sideshow to reality.
Funny, I consider myself a latent anarcho-syndicalist and a huge fan of Chomsky in most ways (though not all).
I have news for you. All conventions are "staged". Did you watch the RNC one? Then you know.
And if you bothered to look at policies (labour law, collective bargaining, tax codes, etc.), you would see that "identitarian" leftist (of which Chomsky is one) have far better policies than the right, with the possible and selected exception of Hawley.
The myth upheld by the Democracy Project that the media is "left" is only correct when moving the center line far right (at least on economic issues). For example, Capital Gains Tax is considered “left” for Chrissakes by these folk when it is a norm everywhere else, including the USA.
Yes, there is an elite, but it is those billionaires and corporations who control the US Republican party, and here National Act and NZ1. That is commons sense 101.
I'm not sure how you can agree that the neo-fascist pussy grabbing Trump is a pacifist? I’m also curious about what evidence the Guardian is to the right of the FT? For “left”, one might stick to Democracy Now and Z Net, my stand-by for decades.
Yep, big difference between liberal pacifism & reactionary isolationism. For the latter, think the America First Committee during the early stages of WW2.
The internal interests of the USA as perceived by Americans, and the interests of 'the rest of the world' are at such odds as to make the question of which candidate we favour an entirely conflicted one. As an outsider, I favour, as less dangerous internationally, that section of Republicanism, the backers of Trump, that advocate radical isolationism, over the Democratic Party's (i.e. Wall Street's) futile and dangerous attempts to counter emergent multi-nodality in global economic relations with proxy-wars against actors that are moving away from USD as reserve and transaction currency. The Isolationist Republicans have at least acknowledged that the 'end of Empire' phenomenon is inexorable now that US dollar-hegemony has started to wane significantly. The USA must inevitably also give up, by degrees, the 'exorbitant privilege' of being the issuer of the worlds reserve currency- that of the seignorage on that issuance giving Americans an exorbitant standard of living for most of the past 80 years. This would be highly unpalatable to US citizens, if they even understood it- which they don't- because they believe that their great wealth was due to their own genius and hard work, and, of course, God's favour.
The big unknown for 'the rest of the world' is whether, after the US has re-shored a sufficient amount of industrial capacity, they will inflate away their $35Trillion external debt (Germany after WW1) or simply issue a 'fuck you' default. Given the incapacity of the 'rest of the world' to enforce its claim in the face of the geographical and military strength of the US, I anticipate the latter. The precedent for this unilateralism being Nixon's abrogation of the USD Gold Standard without negotiated redistribution of the underlying asset to the creditors. That other nations can shrug-off this seemingly terrifying prospect is demonstrated by Russia's indifference following the seizure of $300Bn of her assets by the USA and its western allies.
For US citizens, anyone who thinks that the personalities of US Presidents are anything other than a sweet or salty coating for either variant of the dystopian technofeudalism that is on offer has been asleep for the last 15 years. I really don't care what happens internally in the USA, but the best hope for survival of 'the rest of the world' would be their retrenchment to being a local rather than global hegemon.
Robert Kennedy Jr has now officially withdrawn from the presidential race and endorsed Trump. He was running at five percent + support in the key swing states so this is a pretty big deal. While the "Democrats" were using dodgy lawfare to keep him off the ballot in many states it goes a lot deeper than that.
Kennedy on the Dems: “It had become the party of war, censorship, corruption, big pharma, big tech, big ag, and big money.”
Trumps advisors and cabinet are looking like a very capable team with Vance, Tulsi Gabbard, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy among them.
I see you put populist and anti-Establishment together as meaning the same thing, and populist has become a very popular term currently. Is our current coalition govt guilty of populism, and does that mean they are an anti-establishment government ? Are these terms definitive, or are they just used to discredit people, like the label "racist" ? I thought you might be the right person to answer this.
Good one, Mark. Does any term mean what it is meant to mean in any way these days?
Stoopid survey as far as I'm concerned. Means nothing.
What those polls really reflect is how effective media propaganda is in manipulating perceptions of public figures. It's not about the substance of policies, but the superficial details of one's appearance, and the one liner soundbites that have replaced real debate in the case of this election. I wonder what those poll results might have looked like if everyone was required to read ex Democrat Bobby Kennedy's recent speech announcing his campaign postponement, and support for trump.
Interestingly the only thing I’ve heard about RFK in NZ MSM was RNZ and TVNZ, last week I think, just as speculation about the future of his presidential bid was circulating, was a mocking piece about his “bizarre” behaviour in relation to “taking a dead bear into a bar”...
Was that really the most relevant item they could share with NZers? - Its pretty clear this was a hit piece planted into the “world news” distribution by Democrat corrupted processes and dutifully broadcast by our brain dead MSM
Exactly, we'll said, the MSM has zero credibilty , RFK's damning criticism of the Democratic Party is the last thing they want people to hear .
There has been a hard core of Trump supporters in NZ for a while. When he lost in 2020, there was a backlash on the pages of MPs here who did posts relevant to US politics. I recall Simon Bridges reviewed a book on recent US politics and published it on his Fb page, taking a moderate line. He was deluged by aggrieved Trump supporters based in NZ. It was rather weird. Simon O'Connor did a post featuring an article by Obama, and the same thing happened, although with the subject being Obama, 90% of the posts were overtly racist.
Well, what the hell did you expect in the land of leftie numpties? How many times do I have to tell people that NZ is the Cuba of the Sth Pacific?
Under the circumstances, if I was forced to vote I'd vote for Harris while swallowing back rising stomach contents and reaching for the Nurofen, simply because who wants to leader who's a feckless, untrustworthy, criminal, blowhard?
Какая сегодня погода в Санкт-Петербурге?
I'd take Curia's polling with a grain of salt, given its push-polling practices and recent withdrawal from the Research Association of NZ. That said, the GOP is a global outlier on being further Right than most major parties of its type.
https://web.archive.org/web/20240823060005/https://www.researchassociation.org.nz/Update
Surveys are generally 15% to 20% inaccurate unless there is a limited range of answers. 60% of Americans consistently hate the incumbent government despite the Kamala boost. My bet is most Republicans don't like Trumps personality but like his policies thus the survey error rate could be up to 40%
I'd vote for Harris, but I would hate myself while doing it. Her economic policies I have seen are abysmal (Protectionism, subsidies, price controls), but she does have a massive advantage over Trump of being actually electable, and not a morally bankrupt egotistical fraud.