The Youngster who shook the world. Wheeler's Corner 81 19th Oct 2019

Greta [courage comes in all sizes] Thunburg.

This young person stirred up millions of supporters around the world to protest world government failure to act in regard to the obvious concerns raised by the almost 100% of the world's climate scientists.

It is said that over 95% of those scientists support this world view and especially those who are involved in climate change.

The real question is how can this desire be converted into political change that will pick up the challenge.

The New Zealand scene:

The National Party is clearly has not yet accepting the urgency or behind any change to support the ways and means of any REAL change, they keep using the theme that climate change is simply 'nature at work'...their comments about Greta have been really negative. But the Nats have come out in opposing almost anything and punishing behaviour of Kiwis and their families and offspring:

Simon suggest we all move to Mars cows and all

"A short list of people who’d be fined under National’s school leaver policy. Speaking of university students, leader of the Opposition Simon Bridges announced that the National Party would be looking into fining parents of children who leave school early and don't go into further education or training.  The announcement was met with widespread condemnation and ridicule, with even senior National MP Judith Collins saying "it's not for me". Reed Fleming compiled an incomplete list of noted New Zealanders who would've been fined under this policy. They include Lorde, Sonny Bill Williams, Parris Goebel, and National's deputy leader and spokesperson for social services, Paula Bennett".

I can picture the Nats banning all kids from protesting about the lack of climate action, and fining their parents or care givers three thousand dollars if they do...  

The Labour Party too, often says the right words, but realistic economic action from Labour these days is still not far off the neoliberal stance they have followed since the hugely damaging days of Roger Douglas and his right wing crew of wreckers. I wonder how many of them support the backward looking New Zealand First Party climate so-called policy.

Greta Thunburg has without doubt shaken up the world with her words "how dare you" to the International Climate Conference just before the students struck in support of a more active approach to the subject of action around climate change.

If we take a little time to reflect back, two events stand out: One was when the world sat up and took note of the power of woman on the political scene, now we all know that New Zealand was the first country in the world to give woman the right to vote...that was a huge and enlightened step forward...but history shows that it was in fact an accident, and only came about because a ship load of South Island MP's failed to arrive at Parliament in time for the vote and the majority of them were anti women so the vote passed by a very small majority. Today naturally male MP's praise themselves for ALLOWING women the vote...

and brighter and smarter.

The numbers of women in Parliament has taken years and years decades in fact, to reach part equality with males, in fact the present green party with a high number of women mp's, labour comes a distant second, and National and NZ First barely rate a mention, Labour has an elected a female Prime Minister, where as national has never had an elected female PM, and New Zealand First has yet still to admit that women actually exist.

So its not hard to understand just how backward are some of our NZ political players who have suggested that young women should stay out of politics and just wash and wipe the dishes when ordered! and that supporting their political behavior is just not on! Even if the kids are showing us the way toward saving the planet.

When you compare the behaviour of our and the worlds youngsters it not hard to believe that most of them have better and more intelligent brains than the Donald Trump, Mike Hosking, and other over paid and over rated talking heads. Seriously folks, Tramp says he wants peace but then via the back door murders hundreds of thousands, and jails kids in US privately run prisons.

So what does this mean for New Zealand...Well in my view it means we should get behind our youth by supporting the Green party politically and encouraging our children to do the same, it would achieve two things.

It would give the Labour party some much needed backbone, it would shake the hell out of the National Party, scare the heck out of the one percent that really run our country and drive the NZ First party to its already dug grave site, somewhere in Northland,

I have not included the ACT party because unless they Nats buy them a seat they won't exist after the 2020 election [heres hoping] 

Below is a reference to a story in  [Noted News Letter] its well worth a read.

https://www.noted.co.nz/currently/currently-politics/will-the-greta-thunberg-effect-influence-nz-election day-2020?ref_email=d2hlZWxlckBpbnNwaXJlLm5ldC5ueg%3D%3D&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NOTED_newsletter_17-10-2019&utm_term=list_notednz_newsletter


2. Below is an US media statement about governmemt in the USA, the question for us New Zealander's is, does this apply to NZ as well?...you decide.

"There’s a lot of reasons people have lost trust in government, not the least of which is that oligarchs and corporatists have been running  a well-funded, strategic coup which featured a propaganda campaign designed to rebrand  government from what it had been up until the late 1970’s—the source of much innovation and prosperity, a champion of the people, and a defender of the middle class—to the source of our problems, while simultaneously selling the free market and corporations as the source of all good things.  

But their propaganda campaign succeeded only because over the years, the ultra-rich and corporations were ceded more and more power, until by the early 21^st century, government no longer represented the people’s interests and they knew it. By 2014, Gilens and Paige concluded, after studying money and power in politics: ‘The preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.”

Meanwhile, since 1980 half of all Americans saw almost no gains in wealth, while the oligarchs walked away with the vast majority of wealth generated in that time.  Today, the three richest Americans have as much wealth as the bottom half of all Americans.

In short, the U.S. has a government of the rich and corporations, by the rich and corporations, and for the rich and corporations.  No wonder people don’t trust government and no wonder the people elected a renegade like Trump.

Have a short think about it, could not all of the above comments equally apply to us here in NZ