Verity Johnson calls out the ‘poncy urbanites’

The Editor, The Dominion Post, Wellington

23/07/ 2021

Dear Editor:

Verity Johnson rightly blames the city folks for the problem of utes, and it is a problem.  Still that doesn’t justify the Groundswell farmers looking like they are tossing toys out of their baby carriage. They need to find the systemic cultural sources of their problems instead.

Bishop and Rashbrooke have different perspectives, but neither understands the context

The Editor, The Dominion Post, Wellington

18/07/ 2021

Dear Editor:

Curious how two articles on the same editorial page refer to the ’84 neo-liberal coup in New Zealand from opposite directions but neither of which gets to the main point about it. 

Genter can easily demolish Cullen, but can she open up the ‘who are we’ question?

The Editor, The Listener, Auckland

14/07/ 2021

Dear Editor:

Julie Anne Genter, MP (transport solutions) clearly exposes the ‘tired strawman arguments’ of Sir Michael Cullen (26/6) and correctly states what everyone knows, ’70 yrs of evidence’ that adding new highway capacity does not solve congestion problems. 

And she repeats what we’ve so often heard, the correct notion that there is ‘overwhelming evidence’ that when safe, people will use low-powered vehicles.

But what she doesn’t attempt to explain is why many, including Dr Cullen, are not afraid to expose their desperation for all to see.   What will help the debate forward is to understand, and be willing to talk about, that this is a cultural exercise, addressing ‘who we are’, not a rational debate between individual egos.  In our time people sense correctly that global warming necessitates a fundamental change in the way our culture is organized, away from an ancient ego-driven consumerism led since the eighties by the global neo-liberal agenda (remember Roger Douglas in NZ?).  The terror of that realization is exposing an open sore of desperation.

Sincerely,

Richard Keller