Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Friday Music: Asking the important questions

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  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Ken Double,

    If only Sneaky Feelings had twigged that all they had to do was call Fiona McDonald.

    Absolutely. Positively. 'George' street?

    I have a sneaky feeling you haven't heard the last hurrah from those boys...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Stowell,

    Gary Younge in the Guardian -
    "Even as parties anchor themselves to basic principles, they have to adapt their promises to the times they are in. Blairites and Clintonites did not only once understand this, it was their credo. But having crafted a neoliberal agenda that made their parties electable in the 90s and beyond, they apparently believed their work was done: that the shift to the right was both unidirectional – you could never shift left – and unique – they would never have to shift again.

    The economic crash and the austerity that followed caused a tectonic shift in our political culture; what people wanted from a centre-left party changed. But the received wisdom about electability did not. Its high priests kept insisting elections are won in the centre, without any apparent understanding that the centre can move and, in times of extreme polarisation, disappear. ....

    But the principal problem with the notion of electability is that it is promoted on the premise that what has not been tried cannot possibly succeed. It suggests the way people see the world at any given moment cannot be changed through argument and activism and instead erects borders for what is permissible discussion and polices them determinedly. Those who dream outside those borders are utopian; those who speak outside them are fools.

    The trouble is that in times of crisis, like this, the cost of thinking outside those borders becomes lower for many than the price of living within them. While received wisdom comes with no receipt, it’s always the same people who pick up the tab. A candidate who has connected domestic terrorism and foreign wars and argued for the redistribution of wealth to shore up public services has been surging. This, we were told, was not possible. It’s why, for the first time in a long time, a significant number of people are excited about an election."
    tldr - wake up NZ Labour. It's not the 90s - or 2008 - any more.

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report Reply

  • Martin Brown, in reply to Rob Stowell,

    Great lyrics, Rob

    Auckland • Since Mar 2013 • 137 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Stowell, in reply to Rob Stowell,

    oops. wrong thread. sorry. big fingers, small screen, tiny brain. we'll wake up in the morning and Britain will have voted. at the least, it's been fascinating.

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report Reply

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