In the meantime, an estimated one million New Zealanders chose to leave the country. Their commitments and affiliations were to those of where they were going. That, I guess, is the way of the world. As immigrants contribute to our society, migrants from this country make their contribution elsewhere. But from where I stand there needs to be a philosophical and behavioural shift within our communities before the true value of embracing the concept of really thinking local can be realised.
Our history demonstrates the way in which Northern Hemisphere cultural, political and economic influences have dominated our society. It has conferred many benefits on our population and, albeit in a more limited way, is vital for our continued wellbeing — but we should sup with a long spoon when we engage with the financial imperialists that are associated with the global economy; and wonder about the cultural and political subversion that emanates from places north of the equator.
If we are to properly address the problems that are now evident in our society (and the world) there is a need to contemplate our history, recognise our failures, re-establish some of our traditional values, develop the confidence to moderate our expectations and the courage to make appropriate change.
Geopolitical factors associated with Global Warming, Population Growth and the growing realisation that there has been a disintegration of the social fabric of our society should give impetus to the imperative for change; and the makeup of the current Government's Cabinet, gender-balanced with strong Maori and Pacifika representation, should enhance that possibility.
Notwithstanding the precious whinge of identity political groupings, radio talkback babble, crazed theorists abroad on the internet or the middle-class media bias of the Chattering Classes (or their junior associates, the Giggling Class), I think there are now forces that recognise the value of the philosophical tenets that help form our early egalitarian society; and in the need for a greater appreciation of the environmental and sociological factors that now impact our world.
We have made radical changes in the past. Political innovation and social mechanisms that were described by some as applied lunacy formed the basis of an egalitarian society that helped form the character of our country. The political reforms of the 1890s and the 1930s provided an opportunity for post World War II generations to take advantage of what New Zealand and the wider world had to offer. But the philosophical tenets which help form that society have been demeaned and ignored; and some of the regulations which supported them, abandoned.
The genesis of those reforms arose out of circumstances that were far more severe than those that most of us have faced during these periods of Covid-19 shutdowns and the sacrifices that were made in those times were far greater.
In order to adapt to the needs of the future we need to do more than just contemplate the megatrends associated with modern technology or even adaptive changes necessitated by global warming, we should cherish that which we once had and seek the re-establishment of: the ability of all workers, with union involvement, to negotiate their wage and work conditions each year; a tax regime that will provide for proper housing (state), health and education services; and the redevelopment of a relatively coherent society that its members could reasonably believe they were part of and which would provide for the slow development of a young person's self-esteem that is more influenced by factors associated with the local community.
The concept of Matauranga Māori accords with much of what I am trying to say. The identification of the individual with the geological features associated with Iwi has much appeal to me. Māori terms such as whakapapa, hapū, tūpuna, whanau and tūrangawaewae, as I understand them, succinctly give coherent expression to what I believe Thinking Local really means. Our culture should be the expression of factors germane to our national and local geography and history. The exhortation to Think Local amounts to nothing more than meaningless drivel if it is not accompanied by that understanding.
