blogging it real

I used to buy the Sunday-Star Times all the time when I was at university, and I still can't for the life of me figure out why. It had an atrocious lay out, the articles were sloppy and hit-and-miss, and the Arts and Entertainment section was something that you may expect from the school paper of a primary school in Taihape. Probably the best thing about it was the letters section, because it enabled you to keep up-to-date with the crackpot fraternity of New Zealand.

I have only been in New Zealand 9 weeks of the last three years, so obviously I am not the best judge of the current mood or status of my country. But going back once a year does provide a clear little snap-shot of what's going on that residents may be to immune to to appreciate. I went back to NZ for 6 weeks in July/August 2003, and I was surprised at just how whiny and petty some New Zealanders were. I remember sitting down to the Saturday edition of the NZ Herald, and reading the letters page with absolute horror and shame: there was a guy bemoaning the influx of Asians because eventually they would get into positions of political power and turn New Zealand into a dictator state "just like all the Asian countries" (I assume he was the Press Officer for New Zealand First or something). Another guy who had moved to NZ from England was complaining bitterly about the Government - which, in and of itself, is hardly a bad thing - claiming that it was too compassionate and soft, and that it should stop trying to improve things like Social Welfare or minority rights; that the prostitution law (which had only just passed at the time) was a sign of the Government's lack of morality....and so on.

(As a sideline, during the height of the debate about the legalizing of prostitution, many of the detractors argued that legalizing the world's oldest profession was only going to entice gangs into the "business". I wondered, and continue to wonder, who the hell the detractors thought were running massage parlors before the bill was passed)

It stunned me to see that New Zealand had such a propensity for an Us vs. Them mindset, that people were so willing to blame everyone else but themselves. So it comes as no surprise that National os surging in the polls with their narrow, divisive policies: it's what many of our countrymen have been looking for, a line in the sand to stand behind. A team to play for, with all the other bogeymen (Asians, Maori, environmentalists, poor people etc) on the other side. Suddenly there's a political vessel through which people can stand and point their finger at others, and it's a sad sight to see. Hopefully Brash has some actual ideas about what to do for the country if and when he becomes Prime Minister, rather than his current raft of things he's not going to do.

I love my country, but I don't love some of the people I share that country with. When I go back to New Zealand in July (for only a week!), it'll be interesting to resample the vibe and guage exactly where our country - full of potential, full of vitriol - is heading.