Well Said . . .

 Kiwi Cargo Cult

Here is Bruce Wills of Federated Farmers commenting on the prospect that New Zealand dairy farms are going to be sold to offshore interests:

Bruce Wills, who heads the lobby group's meat and fibre division, agrees the stance is purely pragmatic. But it is also necessary, he insists, if farming is to have a future. A former banker and valuer, he notes that debt has more than doubled in the agricultural sector over the past seven years to around $47 billion.

Wills agrees the Chinese seem to be taking a long-term view of the value of New Zealand farmland, given their concerns about feeding their own population. Although Fonterra is doing its best to capitalise on the same trend, most Kiwi farmers simply can't afford to take a similar long-term view, he says.

While a few dairy farmers are indeed creaming it, most are still deeply mired in debt, says Wills.
And the only way that debt will be repaid is if the milk payout stays at record levels for another few years yet, or through large injections of fresh capital. "Where's that fresh capital going to come from? It's not coming in great speed from existing farmers because we're still a bit cagey about what we've been through, and we're not sure what's around the corner. A bit of stuff is coming out of the cities... but the big dollops are from those countries with the cash and the real drive to secure some more food assets."

As we have all learned in the wake of the global financial crisis, the bottom line is that far too many Kiwis - in the country and the cities - have borrowed far too much money and few are in any position to borrow any more. "Sure, we've got to be careful of not losing too many of our assets offshore where we do have a competitive advantage, but we also have to recognise that we do need outside capital. We are over-indebted. We've seen what's happened to our forestry assets and our banking assets and we all look back in hindsight and say: 'What a shame we all let that go'. But basically it's our own fault. Whether we're going to learn this time, I just don't know."

No, things will not change this time around.  New Zealand is mired in the belief that someone else (society, the government, international bankers, the Chinese) owes us a living.  It is a basic human right.  If we are confronted with our poverty it could only be because we are being exploited and ripped off (stolen from) by every one else who (we think) owes us.

As a nation we will sell our assets in a nano-second to anyone who can help us maintain the lifestyle to which we have become enslaved.  We will take their money and run, probably straight to the casino or the Lotto shop--then turn around and complain that they have exploited us because they now own "our" assets.  It is the national psyche.  It is our own peculiar version of the Cargo Cult.