Wealthy and Sorted, Or Sinking?

How the left/progressives can make it through the next 18 months and build something better. #BeefTrimmingsandOffal

[Tomorrow I’m speaking at a small community meeting on how the left (or progressives, or however you want to describe people who think government policy should be about more than just helping the rich accumulate more wealth) can build a movement that leads to a change of govt and a change of direction. As always I’ll be speaking in my personal capacity.]

For 18 years I’ve lived and worked in Northland as an emergency doctor. I’ve had a hand in taking care of something like 20,000 patients. I’ve raised my kids here.

I take care of a lot of patients who aren’t wealthy. Many of them are currently struggling to afford their rent and heat their homes. Some are older folks who wonder how they’ll pay council rates and afford groceries this month. I want to advocate for them and people like them. The ones Mr Luxon called “bottomfeeders”, the ones Mr Seymour called “Dropkicks”. Normal people.

I’ ve been asked to tell you “how a progressive political party wins an election”, but I can’t do that. What I can tell you is how a progressive party loses an election:

By being weak centrists.

By being a little less racist than one party, or a bit less conspiracist than another, or a bit more competent than a third.

But tepid centrism cannot improve lives, or win in the long term. Things have to actually get better for regular people.

While a forest is being burnt down, it is not enough to say: we will do slightly better than the guys who lit the fire.

People must know that things will get better. That all this destruction, done under urgency, will be fixed. That the policies of the last 20 months will end up in the bin, like a rotten school lunch, unfit for human consumption.