Re: [pima.nius] OPINION: If you could just suck it up, that would be noice

Noice Karlo.

 

Here is a youtube clip of John Key definitively saying; "National is not going to be raising GST. National wants to cut taxes not raise taxes." Hmmm...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiZ7qXR32QE

 

Some of my thoughts below: Cheers...Aaron

 

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If you want to grow an economy you have to grow a nation.

 

The youth have the most energy to be productive and this should be harnessed towards growth.

 

In particular the Maori and Pacific Islands youth groups have great potential and should be allowed to develop and extend this potential into new growth areas.

 

But, growth should also be based on an accompanying widening of knowledge; real knowledge of the world and a widening of experience in it. 

 

The widening of knowledge of things, the way they work and how they may be used is one thing. But a widening of knowledge of ourselves, our nation and our place in the world is the most useful.

 

Economic theorising, principles of production and consumption (and taxation) do not work on their own because people are not robots, easily definable and controlled economic units (and some of us make for terrible accountants too).

 

What does work is nation building and growth based on belief - the belief that "Yes, we can!!"

 

This is what Obama has been working on in the States. This is what we can do here too. But, New Zealander's need goals, opportunity and the freedom to work towards those goals.

 

I remember being in China and seeing people working everywhere; roadworkers, people cutting hedges, parking attendants, service station attendants; everywhere you went it seemed there was a service person there.

 

Now, of course, the Chinese have the technology to automate many of these services but they do not. Why? To keep the populace productive. 

 

There was also a free street economy at work (black market? Maybe). Yes, hawkers, street merchants, stores making and selling everything you could want - even entire streets dedicated to the selling of particular groups of products.

 

China is considered a developing nation yet the Red Giant does not have the deficits we see here. They did not follow the housing bubble, the debt and credit game; the consumerist model. NO, they followed the prepay, money in the bank, producer model. Is that developing or developed?

 

Not to say New Zealanders should all become hawkers and have stalls on every street corner but there is something to be learnt here. The point being, China (our FTA partner of which we are not fully utilising its potential), may be able to provide models of how to actually keep an economy going without falling into deficit. 

 

New Zealand on the otherhand has moved towards mechanisation and automation of services. We followed blindly into the global housing market scandal and loosened rules on borrowing and debt; so ordinary kiwis could "fulfill the kiwi dream - own your own home, buy a flatscreen TV, dishwasher, dryer and a BBQ."

 

But this was all a false economy. An economy Not built on Pproduction but built on Cconsumption and greed.

 

This is not to say New Zealand could compete with nations such as China, Japan or any of the other "tigers" and other counterparts in terms of pure material production. We just don't have the population size to match it.

 

But, one area where we can compete is - INTELLECTUAL properties, developments, capacities and inventions. Yes, the development of the fabled knowledge economy is where New Zealand can compete and succeed. But is it too late?

 

We have had talks, people have had entire conferences talking about this knowledge economy thingy. And yet, there has been no clear direction, no clear pathway, no clear window into what the development of the knowledge economy entails, what it will look like at the end and how we will get there.

 

John Key is right in putting more into "Research and Development" (as long as it does not go to cronies and is based on real potential). But, one must realise the potential in other areas also. One major one being THE ARTS; film, painting, sculpting, literature, television, music... Another is CULTURAL development/engagement and the realising of links past New Zealand's borders and into the region - the PACIFIC UNION. 

 

Some other areas and these are only a few; forest and eco-management systemes, bio-technology and alternative fuel development, waste processing systems - Reuse, Recycle, Redo...New Zealander's have the potential to lead the way and to do so with links to other countries also doing the same.

 

We will have a strong economy, a strong nation with the belief in what we can do and how we can do it. WE can do it also by being the link between the Pacific, Asia and the Americas.

 

New Zealand's foreign policies, the work it does in the Pacific and it's potential "MIDDLE-MAN" (not big daddy) role is one in which growth can succeed.

 

Tourism and education services are areas where New Zealand can renew growth. I mentioned before about the under-utilisation of the China New Zealand FTA (Free Trade Agreement). This is a part of the limited scope of the general populace. They just don't know about it or why or how we could further utilise it. They need to widen their knowledge.

 

Fifty million out-bound middle class Chinese tourists with money to burn a year has to be something New Zealand should be salivating over and actively enticing. Imagine also the numbers wishing to learn English. Imagine the possibilities for exchange - cultural exchange is the basis for economic exchange. Grow the cultural exchange and you will grow the economic exchange.

 

Not that New Zealand should limit itself to China. This is just one example. We still have the other Pacific Islands where there is an established rapport and significant connection with Pacific Islanders living right here. There is also Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, the US, Mexico, Peru, Chile...the list goes on.

 

New Zealanders have been living with blinkers on about the very region they live. Today, the only way ahead is to remove these blinkers, utilise the potential and capitalise on the gains.

 

New Zealand/Aotearoa could and should be the media and information hub of the Pacific. It could and should be the gateway from the Americas to Asia.

 

It's not merely just about transportation of goods also. It could be in the transportation and monitoring of information, the meeting place of business and political leaders, the hub of commerce, tourism central...we are after all the first stock exchange to see the light of day in the world (again under utilised).

 

Look to Singapore. This is what they have done.

 

They did it first by unifying the nation; a nation of predominantly Malaysian, Chinese and Indian. They did it by investing in their media. They did it by investing in education. They did it by widening the scope of the general populace. And, they did it by making themselves a hub of everything in South East Asia.

 

New Zealand can do the same. We could do it in our own way and to our own scale.

 

This means becoming more dynamic in our approach, accepting where we are and what we could potentially do. It also means sharing knowledge so the masses know exactly where we are headed.

 

Aren't you sick of parochial news (focused on car crashes, societal violence, police activity and polticians facebook activities)? Let's see a broadening of scope - real news, with real significance - inspiring the population to know more about the world. The media, the fourth estate, is responsible for driving belief - not just for reporting the "bad news."

 

I grew up in a New Zealand (an Aotearoa) where we led the world in bringing in universal suffrage, social welfare, green initiatives, anti-nuclear legislation, civil rights, indigenous rights - a society which saw equity, equality, the number-eight-wire mentality and the kiwi way as the basis for an attitude in which we said, "We are Kiwi. We are PAsefika. WE are Maori. WE are Asian. WE are immigrants. WE are Pakeha too. We live in the South Pacific and this is where we call home."

 

This was a society in which no-body was too rich and no-body was too poor. The middle-classes were influential and the tall-poppy syndrome ensured no-body got too out of hand.

 

On New Zealand's richest street, you used to find mixed accommodation. Yes, state housing and state tenants intermixed with some of Auckland's most wealthy.

 

We didn't blame one another for our woes and we all met up at the beach, at the pools or at the sausage sizzle. We were all in it together and we actually helped those who needed it.

 

WE lived in the "Golden weather" and life was good. Let's bring it back; Aotearoa - the Golden place we call "Godzone!!"

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pacific islands media association
pima.nius@gmail.com
aotearoa, new zealand
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