"I HAVE A DREAM"*

* "Tell him he's dreaming"

Is David Seymour New Zealand's version of Elon Musk in so far as they both relate to attempts to dismantle social welfare programmes, move governmental institutions and practices to private enterprise and ensure that the wealthy and privileged in our society become richer and contribute less on the backs of the poorer and less privileged?

That was a long sentence but not as a long a sentence as we will all be under if Seymour is allowed, like Elon Musk, to get away with his nonsense unchecked by a weak and ineffectual leader - Chris Luxon for us and Donald Trump for the Americans.

It seems that the only thing that these limp dicks can do is glare at their usurpers:

We have all been watching with disbelief how Trump has allowed an unelected but very rich donor to the Republican Party to take over the running of the US government. It's a slow train wreck that will have dire consequences for USA and the world as early as this year.

At home, our own train wreck, David Seymour and the ACT Party are being allowed to undermine some of our institutions to the advantage of commercial enterprise and the disadvantage of previous providers, recipients of service and benefits and I fear, our society at large.

So who are these people?

Wikipedia told me:

What are the values of the Act Party?

Principles. According to former party leader Rodney Hide, ACT's values are "individual freedom, personal responsibility, doing the best for our natural environment and for smaller, smarter government in its goals of a prosperous economy, a strong society, and a quality of life that is the envy of the world".

That's pretty innocuous but does hide some scary intentions to strip out expensive and unnecessary government spending - in their view free education, social welfare, community housing and public health systems amongst others. There's a whiff of eugenics in there not to mention some ambitions as pronounced by the National Socialist German Workers' Party in the 1920s and 1930s.

 

On a personal level, Seymour states on his own webpage:

                     WHAT I BELIEVE

The Epsom electorate suburbs of Mt Eden, Newmarket, Parnell, Remuera, and Epsom itself are overwhelmingly defined by education and aspiration. There are 30 schools in an area of only 20 square kilometres, and the electorate boundaries are almost identical to major school zones. People have come here for hundreds of years for a better life, and that continues to this day.

My own story is quintessentially Epsom. I left home to board in the electorate at age 13 because I wanted to attend Auckland Grammar. My values and policy positions reflect this spirit of aspiration through education that I believe is at the core of our electorate.

I see it as a great privilege to represent my neighbours in Parliament. I regularly knock on doors, attend local events, meet constituents in my office, and conduct scientific polling to ensure that my representations in Parliament reflect your views. I welcome your feedback through the channels advertised on this website.

After working as an electrical engineer, I spent five years working for private sector think tanks in Canada. I also spent a year working in Parliament on the Partnership (Charter) School legislation. A robust understanding of public policy is essential for being an effective MP.

I believe the role of Government is to provide essential infrastructure; insure against misfortune through healthcare, free education, and benefits where necessary; and regulate against genuine conflicts of interest, including conflicts with the natural environment.

However, we must acknowledge that every dollar spent by Government must be taken from taxpayers, every regulation restricts possibility. Abrupt and erratic Government activity erodes confidence and reduces human flourishing. My voting record in Parliament reflects a healthy skepticism of what Government can achieve once the costs of its activities are taken into account.

On conscience issues I reflect the views of the Epsom electorate. I have sponsored the End of Life Choice Act to give compassion and choice to those suffering at the end of their life. On abortion, I have unapologetically stood for a woman’s right to choose.

On law and order, we must ensure that policy is set to protect the needs of law-abiding citizens, and victims in particular, first. However, we must also recognize (sic) the paradox that effective rehabilitation of prisoners is one of the most efficient ways to promote public safety.

OK, Seymour manages, in a short statement, to contradict himself numerous times. It's as if MLK said "I have a dream .." only to go on to say that actually he doesn't sleep well and never dreams.

Thinking and writing about this I can see that this could become a series - a long one if each of Seymour's (and Musk's) attacks on socialist-leaning government policies and community initiatives are investigated.

The ACT Party does not believe in government helping the weak and the disadvantaged, seeing them as, on the one hand bludgers and a drain on the economy and, on the other hand as cheap labour that should be exploited by smarter and by definition, richer people aka ACT and National supporters.

 There's one Seymour-driven and ACT Party initiative that's playing out like that slow moving train wreck at the moment. Like with Trump's Musk-driven wreck this is interesting to watch and to expect it's obvious ending but - to the people closely involved and affected by it, it's not funny. I'm talking here about Seymour's school lunch programme.

The previous 'school lunch programme' was more of a community-driven programme than a commercial, profit-driven one. Schools shared the activity amongst themselves and the communities that they support. The inputs were results driven not profit motivated and, by and large were successful. An interesting by-product in addition to inter-school cooperation was promoting families and communities to become more involved with schools' functions and budgets. Localised provision was used and it was easier (and safer) to cater to dietary and faith-driven requirements. Everyone was happy - or, they should have been until the right wing leaning, free enterprise loving and 'where's the bottom line?' ACT Party was enfranchised. Sheesh!

What was the intention of the school lunch programme you might ask.

Well, luckily for you reader(s) I have the answer.

The former school lunch programme was delivering a dual benefit: healthier children more able to concentrate and achieve in the classroom, and healthier communities for whom the school lunch programme had become a force for social cohesion.

           - Scoop 

Now I find that interesting. There are only positives there: Health; achievement; community wellbeing; social cohesion. I like it.

Scoop and Gordon Campbell told us:

More to the point, the former school lunch programme was also a sin against commerce. Community involvement – and the inter-school efficiencies of scale – were ripping profits from the hungry mouths of corporate providers, who have now been invited to deliver a shoddier product at less cost to the government, while still enriching themselves in the process. Because hey, if you can’t make a profit from feeding hungry kids, what’s the point?

There's the rub (thanks Hamlet).

Campbell said:

The school lunches saga gets worse by the day. Bland, repetitive menus, failures in heating, failures in timely delivery, failures to deliver halal meals that are truly halal, endangering children who have known allergies by giving them food that may contain the triggering ingredients, etc etc. It's not as if this new system was sprung on anyone overnight. The private sector, for all its alleged efficiency, had been given eight months notice to get prepared, and get this right.

And:

If ACT leader David Seymour can’t/won’t now admit that this brainchild of his is a total disaster...what more evidence pray, does he need? Do children have to die in the school cafeteria before Seymour will admit the error of his ways, and revert to the old system, as previously funded?

I agree with him. Seymour is pushing his own agenda, like with Charter Schools and his Treaty interpretations at the risk of vulnerable and needy people who haven't his wealth and influence to counteract decisions that affect them.

Now you are probably, if you bothered reading up to this point (sorry Robert that I didn't include your name, mention of Jesus, Mary and The Holy Ghost and  treatise on evil) wondering how this ties in with that immature scrote Elon Musk and his current (but soon to be side-lined) enabler Donald Trump. Well, wait no longer as, if I can borrow another quote from Gordon Campbell:

"What ACT is doing – with the support of coalition partners like Education Minister Erica Stanford – is in line with an age-old method of cutting public services. First, reduce the quality of an essential service so drastically that the demand for it plummets. Then, with fewer people using the service, more “savings” can be made by cutting back further on the programme, which will end up delivering an increasingly shabbier product to fewer and fewer end users. The “savings” will be immense!

With good reason, the main focus in the school lunches debacle has been on the repetitive fare and bad taste/poor quality/inept delivery of the food, the subsequent waste, and the likely impact on the educational outcomes for children now going hungry. The related social cost has been paid less attention, but is worth considering."

I'm just glad that I had sandwiches made for me by a loving mother and the opportunity to add on a tuck-shop pie or Friday fish and chips when I was at school in the 50s and 60s but understand how difficult it is nowadays.