Tag Archives: political psychology

The morality of poverty and the poverty of morality

We are moral animals. But, so far as I can judge, in politics today our moral instincts are operating in a way that generates the worst moral outcomes. Metiria Turei’s recent confession (a moral notion) at the launch of the Green … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Economics, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology, Poverty | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

Is that all there is?

Apparently, McDonald’s hamburgers are the result of the best technology that food and taste engineers can provide. All ingredients and processing events are managed to within an inch – maybe less – of their lives. The consumable item is the culmination … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Human Nature, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

While we’re talking about flags …

Here’s a few interesting bits of vexillology and imperialist sentiment that I came across when researching the previous two posts. The detailed mix of the issues of flag similarity and representations of relationships to imperialism and colonialism just gets more and … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Maori, National Identity, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

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 , , , , , | 9 Comments

On the very idea of ISIS – Part I

The very idea of wanting to explain a practice–for example, the killing of the priest-king–seems wrong to me. All that Frazer does is to make them plausible to people who think as he does. It is very remarkable that in … Continue reading

Posted in Human Nature, International Politics, Military, Philosophy, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on On the very idea of ISIS – Part I

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 , , , | 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 , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Pointless referenda I would like

Well, the flag’s well and truly come down for the start of the silly season so let’s get into the spirit of it all. Yes, time to put aside all that serious politico stuff that ‘lefties’ get so uptight about. As … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, National Identity, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Pointless referenda I would like

PMs just wanna have fun …

According to John Key it was all just innocent “horsing around“. It wasn’t, of course – as John Armstrong in the New Zealand Herald understands. And Key knew that too. All his protests to the contrary amount to him pulling our collective … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Human Nature, National Identity, New Zealand Politics, Political Polls, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments

Seven Sharp, Campbell Live and TV Ratings – The ‘Nudge’ Factor

University of Chicago economist Richard Thaler and Harvard Law Professor Cass Sunstein  wrote a generally well-received book in 2008 called ‘Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness‘. It was an accessible assemblage of very well known work in psychology … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Free Market, Human Nature, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments