Last Summer I invited some old school friends back to my parents’ home in Christchurch. We swam in the heated swimming pool, relaxed in the spa, watched a movie in the home theatre, listened to music over the in-ceiling speaker system, and enjoyed many a glass of good gin. One friend’s phone was plugged into the speaker system, and when Lorde’s Royals began playing we sang along. Another friend pointed out the irony of singing “And we’ll never be royals, it don’t run in our blood” while surrounded by granite counters in a kitchen with an induction stovetop.
Later in the evening, and after much gin, the conversation turned to politics. “If I were Prime Minister tax rates would be back where they used to be. Maybe then we’d all live like this.” Another said “Yeah, sixty or seventy percent. It’s only fair. Don’t worry Rory, you can afford it.”
This was shocking to me. The nature of acquiring any wealth means that one must provide something of value. in other words, in order for a voluntary transaction to take place it must be mutually beneficial. Whether one is a barista or a barrister is irrelevant, because if one’s coffee or legal advice is not worth the fee then one will starve. The logical extension of this is that in order to have acquired great wealth one must have completed many transactions of great cumulative value, both to oneself and the people one is trading with.
Bearing this in mind, surely wealthy people deserve to be taxed the least considering that they have already done a great thing for their communities by providing valuable goods and/or services. If they hadn’t then they wouldn’t be rich. This is a somewhat facetious argument as nobody would actually advocate for a regressive income tax rate. A flat tax must be the fairest system.
Of course, my friends didn’t see it this way. They missed the irony of Lorde singing those lyrics, considering she also comes from an affluent family and was signed to a record company at the age of thirteen. Having those opportunities certainly qualifies one for royalty in many circles, and my friends chose not to think about the fact that Lorde―who isn’t even legally responsible for herself yet―earned many times my family’s income after her song topped the charts. For some reason they think it’s OK to steal from someone who worked like a dog for fifteen years on a now-successful building firm while also lauding Lorde’s overnight success.
I should pause to point out that I do not mean to begrudge Lorde of her success. Her music is not my cup of tea but, as with any successful pop artist, she’s making a lot of people a lot of money. I hope for her sake that she remains fashionable.
So how can my friends justify stealing from my family? I think it’s due to the assumptions they make about my family’s wealth. They assume that my father had been dealt an amazing hand in the game of life, that theirs is comparably rubbish, and that there is nothing anyone can do about it. Except the Government which, in their world, has the right to do whatever the majority of voters are willing to vote for. They feel helpless and unable to control their destinies.
I imagine that a lack of control is an accurate reflection of their real circumstances. They struggle finding work that is meaningful or even related to their years of university study and resulting debt. They feel uninspired and know that starting a business is both financially unrealistic and not worth the risk. They live in an uninsulated home and are often sick. For this I feel sorry for them, but I cannot agree with their proposed solution. Societies with overbearing Governments have been shown time and time again to be far worse for all involved than societies that value individual freedom and responsibility.
The elephant in the room is that capitalism is terribly unsexy right now. Young people overwhelmingly vote for big-spending parties and seem to believe that social engineering is not only right, but desirable. We need to find an effective way of communicating to young people that yes, we are less equal that we used to be, but we are all better off. The freedoms we take for granted and that you are willing to vote away were hard-won, and the world was not a better place beforehand. Capitalism is the reason we don’t have to wait weeks to receive a government-issued telephone. Capitalism is the reason there are no longer power cuts and power saving initiatives on the six O’Clock news. Capitalism is the reason you can send a message to someone on the other side of the world and it arrives instantly.
“I hate the term upper class. I call them lower aristocracy.”
“Politicians shouldn’t study economics. They need to go and find out what the real world is like.”
“I’m not sure whether to vote for Labour or the Greens. Labour cares about people but I also like the environment.”
Writing this post and recalling the above quotes (from more “friends”. Maybe I should keep better company…) has made me feel pessimistic about the New Zealand political environment. If people who so desperately need the opportunities that a freer society would create are fighting for the wrong team, we have reason to be discouraged. It is so depressing to think that a banal and hypocritical pop singer (sorry, I lied) can be manufactured in such a way that she is almost universally loved by young people in New Zealand and much of the world. I would suggest hiring the same marketing company, but this would be a shallow victory.
I believe that there are two potential courses of action. Unfortunately they are mutually exclusive. Firstly, addressing our schools. Allow parents as much choice regarding their children’s education as possible. Teacher unions are there for teachers, not students, and parents won’t put up with the political indoctrination that is currently present. Teachers will deny that this is the case, but their ongoing romance with the Labour Party means that they can hardly offer an unbiased opinion. I was at a public school not long ago and I can tell you that left-wing politics is present.
Secondly, allow the left to win. The last political revolution in this country was as a result of voters growing tired of Robert Muldoon’s tyranny. The left today may appear less offensive than Muldoon, but their scarily similar policies will wreak the same havoc. Six years of a Labour/Greens/NZFirst/Maori/Mana coalition should be enough to put people off for a very long time. Hopefully then an appetite will have grown for policy that really benefits everyone, and it is our job to make sure that the right bloc (in both senses of the word) have the balls to enact the reform that will be necessary.
New Zealand is a wonderful country, blessed with gorgeous scenery and typically affable people. We have gained a reputation for being go-getters, having a number-eight wire mentality, and punching above our weight. These qualities are the antithesis of the policies of mediocrity that today’s young people support. One can only hope that New Zealand overcomes this and that voters will one day allow Kiwis to be great again.