The Annals of Soft-Despotism

Potemkin Dialogues

In New Zealand we are familiar with the tools of propaganda-by-stealth.  The way it works is like this.  A government (usually left-wing in orientation) wants to move society towards its longer term goals.  In order to do so, it must persuade the electorate to where it becomes sympathetic with, and supportive of, its programme. 

Infiltrating the schools is an obvious method.  It can work, but unfortunately, it has a very long lead time.  Usually the current crop of politicians and government administrations have long since departed for the netherworld before the crop can be reaped.  More quick payback and progress is required.

In New Zealand the following method was employed by the previous Labour administration, led by Helen Clarke, a left-wing politician who had a very clear view of where she believed society should be heading.  Firstly, fund pressure groups whose ideology and sympathies are similar to your own.

Oliver Twist's Worst Nightmare

   

Budgets and Beggars

In New Zealand, national budgets in the parliamentary Westminster tradition are presented annually to the parliament and the people.  We feel compelled to make this rather basic point because many of the US readers may be confused, since in the United States the Federal Government can stagger on for decades it would seem without a budget stipulating spending and revenue.

Budget times in New Zealand have historically been occasionally dramatic.  When the government ran the economy more tightly than an Eastern European sphincter most folk in the country furtively huddled around the radio on Budget night waiting to see if some dramatic announcement would be forthcoming.  Sometimes instantly, whilst we were all supposed to be sleeping, the currency would be devalued twenty percent by legislative fiat.  Or petrol tax went up forty percent.  Fortunes were made or lost overnight. 

Thankfully Eastern European economics and tyranny were tossed out (at least for a time) early in the nineteen eighties, when the IMF was on the verge of declaring New Zealand bankrupt.