( Eight minute read)
Our perception of NZ is as a country of profound physical natural beauty.
This remains true.
A country long associated with nature, it was unfortunately discovered not just by Captain Cook, but by the rats of Endurance, who wiped out a lot of its indigenous feathered folk.
Isolated by its geographical position these days it is run by committees of various religious beliefs, crisscrossed by walking tracks (of world renowned), plagued by immigrants, it has spent millions on playgrounds that are full of Chinese/ Asian chatter, while the cost of living continues to go through the roof.
The Question confronting New Zealand (like most of the world with Climate Change and the advancement of technologies is it going to sacrifice its natural beauty for the sake of economic growth.
It seems to have little or no clue as to where it is going or what it wants, where to go or to do with its remaining tremendous unpolished physical beauty.
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In order to truly understand New Zealand one has to appreciate that back in the 70th it had a gang culture (The Filthy Few or Mongrel Mob) they were the unwashed, the underprivileged , the disenfranchised, poverty stricken and uneducated.
They wore tattoos of the British bulldog and roared around the place wearing helmets with the swastika, symbolism of the colonial oppression that consumed the Māori people.
They looked at the world around them and rejected all except their own Mana. Tapu is the strongest force in the Māori culture it goes hand in hand with Mana.
Now with the loss of Footrot Flats there is little genuine testimony left to the Māori culture other than in Museums.
Yes millions on playground, which are now full of Chinese chatter, surrounded by restaurants and Coffee outlets separated by charity/Hospice shops it’s no wonder it has recently become paranoid about immigration.
With a population touching 6 billion out of which 2 billion ie 32% live in Aukland and 39% of them are born overseas Aukland has become one of the most diverse city in the world, all wired to the smartphone (with a 35 kilometre traffic jam in or out of it each day) world.
New Zealand is not a country where one makes friends easily.
Its old pub culture is all but dead, with the chances of being invited for a glass of wine or dinner as remote as being invited by you neighbours how only know you as a Face ID on his phone.
These seems to me to be one of the main reasons that one finds Kiwis travelling the world.
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As with most current political rhetoric New Zealand politics is sacrificing its natural beauty for short term economic gain, pumping more Co2 into the atmosphere than all its greenhouse gases reduction programs by building motorways, 4.1 billion plus another few billion into regional infrastructure.
In the age of advancing technology these investments will deliver nothing to the next generation of Kiwis that will be saying ma te wat
It is somewhat hard to get one’s head around that there were no humans in New Zealand when the Magna Carta was signed, so the right to roam does not exist, but fishing and hunting are still almost free.
Māori people are still trying to make their way in a non-Māori world( a Pakeha world )are now asking for a separate government. Gods only know who that will work never mind evolve. However it is testament to the radiant beauty and unbreakable resilience of the Māori culture.
You can’t think you’re way towards valuing something. You have to live it. You have to experience it.
There seems to be a dull acceptance of enduring life like battery hens when it comes to the elderly in New Zealand. This might be honky dory for the older generation but not so for a generation that is now connected worldwide.
New Zealand has yet to become our country not this country.
Even with its unpronounceable Māori place name its still a long way off a Van Gogh Land.
Lack of competition in the world of super markets is keeping food prices high and the keeping up with the Joneses culture (A national preoccupation) is keeping the price of housing out of reach for most young people.
However with the arrival of the internet the question is and becoming more and more which Jones’s is it appropriate to keep up with – as money no longer gives equality.
1/3 of Aucklanders are born overseas ( Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean.)
The notorious New Zealand stag night has but almost disappeared, along with most of the sheep and now with the youth of the country migrating faster than the Kakapo went extinct New Zealand needs to reinvent the Haka.
A Haka for our country, for the protection of its natural beauty, a Tui song to the connectivity of the nation as a whole not as a colonial backdrop.
Remember a proper Māori introduction is a pepeha. ( Look it up. It brings meaning to one’s existence.) We are the planet and the planet is us.
All human comments appreciated. All like clicks and abuse chucked in the bin.
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