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Category Archives: Media
False flag logic – Part II: ‘Out, damned Jack!’
Out, damned spot! Out, I say!—One, two. Why, then, ’tis time to do ’t. Lady MacBeth in ‘MacBeth’ (Act 5, Scene 1) – William Shakespeare One of the main arguments put forward in favour of a flag change for New … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy, Media, Military, National Identity, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology
Tagged Elections, Flags, John Key, New Zealand Identity, political psychology, unity
9 Comments
On the very idea of ISIS – Part II
In the first part of this post I argued that beliefs held by individuals are not a good basis on which to analyse geopolitical events. Both beliefs and their associated collective-level behaviours are the result of other forces operating in the environment … Continue reading
Posted in Human Nature, International Politics, Media, Military, Philosophy, Political Psychology
Tagged human nature, ideology, ISIS, Media, terrorism, Wittgenstein
1 Comment
When is bias no longer bias? When it’s everything.
Is Mike Hosking politically biased? I think the answer is ‘yes’. Is our media politically biased? I think the answer is also ‘yes’. Is our society politically biased? That’s not quite so easy to answer. But for a more worrying reason … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy, Economics, Free Market, Human Nature, Media, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology
Tagged markets, Media, Mike Hosking, political psychology
3 Comments
Why Syrian refugees?
There’s two aspects to the Syrian refugee crisis that are worth thinking about a bit more deeply. That’s because both of them represent something of a departure from past behaviour. The first is the question which a few commentators, such … Continue reading
Posted in Human Nature, Human Wellbeing, International Politics, Media, New Zealand Politics
Tagged human nature, John Key, Media, National, political psychology, refugees, Syria
2 Comments
We no longer have a Prime Minister
Having just listened to an item featuring John Key on Checkpoint (National Radio) I now have to announce that New Zealand has no-one at present performing the proper role of Prime Minister. John Key could not have acted less Prime Ministerial if he had … Continue reading
Posted in Blogging, Democracy, Media, New Zealand Politics, Political Polls, Political Psychology
Tagged blogging, Elections, John Key, National, political psychology, Voting
31 Comments
A Tale of Two Tracks. Part I – A two track world
There’s plenty of interesting side-tracks to travel down in Nicky Hager’s book ‘Dirty Politics‘. But the main track needs to be kept visible. That track is actually two tracks. And those tracks amount to a highly networked web of relationships between a loose … Continue reading
Posted in Blogging, Democracy, Labour, Media, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology
8 Comments
Selling rope
There’s an anecdote, probably apocryphal, that in the early 1920s Lenin claimed that capitalism would provide the rope to hang itself. When some wag (reputedly Grigori Zinoviev, a close associate) responded by asking ‘Where will we get the rope?’ – at … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy, Labour, Maori, Media, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology, Poverty
Tagged capitalism, Elections, ideology, Internet Party, Mana Party, Media, political psychology, Voting
1 Comment
Six impossible things before breakfast
“I’m just one hundred and one, five months and a day.” “I can’t believe that!” said Alice. “Can’t you?” the Queen said in a pitying tone. “Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.” Alice laughed. “There’s no … Continue reading
Posted in Labour, Media, New Zealand Politics
Tagged Elections, Media, political psychology, Shane Jones, Voting
3 Comments
Boaster roasting
[This comes with what is often called a ‘trigger warning’. Despite the tone I always try to adopt in my posts, the issues discussed here are not mere abstractions. People’s past and current suffering can be brought back to the … Continue reading
Posted in Human Nature, Media, New Zealand Politics
Tagged human nature, Media, mental health, self-interest
18 Comments