Josh

These numbers are big. While Ursula Le Guins quote is still true, it’s perhaps now easier to imagine the end of capitalism (or at least the neoliberal version) than when she coined it.

“The…poll…revealed that 66 percent agreed that New Zealand's economic system was not set up to effectively to address issues like housing, healthcare and climate change.

Half of New Zealanders also agreed that billionaires shouldn't exist while people still struggled with basic necessities like food.

Sixty-eight percent supported billionaires being taxed more to fund public goods like healthcare, housing and climate action.

And another 37 percent were in favour of introducing a billion-dollar wealth cap to minimise the amount of wealth any person could legally hold.”

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/588610/new-zealanders-support-more-taxes-on-ultra-rich-new-poll-shows

It’s not enough to trust “good people” to do “good things”. We should always be endeavouring to set up systems and guardrails to make the good, society-enriching decisions easier to make, and conversely the society-damaging ones harder.

That’s why I’m so initially distrustful of platforms that are set up with the best of intentions while still operating in a paradigm that makes them susceptible to the same problems that got us here in the first place.

Why I’ll keep investing in staying active on actual social platforms like Mastodon and Pixelfed, despite the issues with them, rather than other options that aren’t built with those guardrails in place.

“Remember: I knew and trusted the Twitter founders and I still got screwed. It's not enough for the people who run a service to be good people – they also have to take steps to insulate themselves (and their successors) from the kind of drip-drip-drip rationalizations that turn a series of small ethical waivers into a cumulative avalanche of pure wickedness”

https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/05/executive-dysfunction/

NZ: we have an independent foreign policy

Them: independent of what?

NZ: independent of morality, decency, humanity, and justice, among other things

#nzpol #iran

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/588587/new-zealand-not-in-place-to-make-call-on-us-strikes-in-iran-willis-says

“A day in the life of an Enshittificator”

https://youtu.be/T4Upf_B9RLQ

Chris #Luxon is very good at not answering any questions. It’s not up to the #US and #Israel to determine if the strikes on #Iran are a breach of international law. It’s up to the international community, including NZ, to determine if their very thin justifications under Article 51 stack up.

The NZ Prime Minister should be able to take a stand, either one way or the other. Not being blown around in the wind of the breath of whichever interviewer is asking him questions at the time.

#nzpol #rnz #MorningReport

Of the lessons that can be drawn from Mamdani’s campaign and now Mayoralty, one of them is talking about (and delivering) the efficient, high-quality public services that well-run, well-resourced government can provide. We see time and time again that getting the “market” to deliver what the state should provide results in over-paying for substandard services. Or being unable to deliver anything at all — Auckland’s light rail and Kiwibuild being prime examples. The state can, and should, have the capacity to plan, deliver, and maintain the high-quality infrastructure and services that modern life demands. “Maintenance is always cheaper than repair, and one of the main differences between a business and a government is that a business's shareholders can starve maintenance budgets, cash out, and leave the collapsing firm behind them, while governments must think about the long term consequences of short-term thinking” H/t to @pluralistic@mamot.fr #nzpol https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/24/mamdani-thought/#public-excellence