I’ve been sitting on the fence about the Ihumatao protest until real clarity emerged. Ihumatao is a very tricky and dangerous piece of work placing two powerful energies in direct confrontation and conflict. There is no perfect answer to this conflict. What is clear is that like taxes, there is no such thing as a ‘fair’ grievance settlement. Some aggrieved persons will always miss out. By catering to the extremists - those leading the grievances charge - the moderates always miss out, which plays perfectly into the government’s ethic of ‘divide and rule’ in order to maintain control. The present standoff destroys any opportunity for real Maori unity, or, the Maori/Pakeha unity needed to restore equal opportunity across all sections of society, bridge the gap between rich and poor, and better share out the fruits of overall economic success. The longer this dispute goes unresolved, the more likely it is that there will be a violent outcome.
Perhaps both Maori and Pakeha have their eyes on the wrong ball? It’s true that earlier governments confiscated a lot of Maori land under one excuse or another; many of said excuses lacking any justification in present terms. And setting aside particular and personal claims by some, the site definitely holds considerable cultural and historical importance to those still supporting Maori cultural values. Perhaps we SHOULD renegotiate the terms of the alleged settlement, if only to sidestep the consequences of not doing so.
However, the only way that the historical grievances can finally be put to rest, is to ensure that PRESENT AND ONGOING grievances are resolved and laid to rest. Billions of dollars have already gone to Maori complainants, but rank and file Maori have seen little of the proceeds, and nothing of substance has occurred to redress general Maori complaints of being relegated to being second class citizens. There is nothing within the settlement debate to address this reality. Billions more can be poured onto this racial fire which will only further fan the flames of inter-tribal jealousy, and anger the Pakeha backlash even more. The Hobson’s Pledgers will be viewing this confrontation with glee, asserting this as proof of a racial apartheid system gone mad- and in reverse.
Before the grievance industry can let it go and set its sights on other issues, the underlying causes of widespread poverty, unemployment, inflation, wage servitude, and un-repayable debt must be identified and resolved. Otherwise, the cancer of long unresolved grievances will continue to plague us like an incurable social cancer that will not heal of itself.
What needs to happen immediately- and time is short- is that a Universal Basic Income must be put in place as a means of reintegrating the poor and working classes back into society. This is all important not just to Maori, but to all working class persons of whatever race or culture they adhere to. The UBI will simultaneously provide a guaranteed and transportable basic lifestyle to every person in New Zealand. Maori will benefit more than most, as the constituents most in need of the UBI. This will allow all those now unemployed in the urban centres to migrate towards the dying rural areas, with their UBI, to bring new life and new commerce to those depressed areas. With the UBI, a huge new market constituency is created, creating new consumer demand and more opportunities for commerce in the rural areas. This will ease infrastructure overload in the urban areas, and transfer a great amount of new opportunity in commerce to those rural areas. This leads, then, to the next question: How do we fund the UBI when the present tax take is insufficient to fund existing government ‘services’?
The Association of Sovereignz explains that all taxes are not equal, with some being actually counter-productive, while others bring social benefits. Income taxes and fuel taxes, for example, force the costs for all goods and services to rise. The costs of those taxes are added to the costs of all goods and services. Rising costs are triggers for ongoing inflation, higher interest rates on debt, more unemployment, and a pressure towards lower wages. Counter-productive income taxes and fuel taxes must simply be dropped from the tax mix before the UBI becomes sustainable and realistically funded.
The GST, and a proposed 30% Capital Exit Tax, on the other hand, have an opposite effect, discouraging luxury consumption, and encouraging more productive uses of discretionary income. The $30 B of ‘saved’ income and fuel taxes will grow the economy by that much, allowing debt reduction, new savings, new investments, and a huge new consumer market. This is all very deflationary, requiring the govt. to begin creating and issuing billions in new interest-free money, just to counter that deflation and stabilize the value of our money. This eliminates most speculative opportunities, driving investment towards real production of goods and services rather than fraudulent and speculative investments that better no one but the speculators. It is this new money that can fund the Universal Basic Income without taking a single dollar from existing services.
Ihumatao creates an explosive confrontation pitting an unfair historical grievance industry against an equally unfair modern status quo, in which a very small portion of society- the rich- continue to garner most opportunity and nearly all profit from the proceeds of labour. It is of huge importance that the government renegotiate a new settlement including all the original land holders of the Ihumatao estate.
But it is even more important that they simultaneously introduce the Universal Basic Income of $200 per person per week making everyone a real stakeholder in New Zealand Inc. Otherwise the grievance industry cancer will continue to divide New Zealand between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’, leading to a never ending chain of new treaty claims by disenfranchised Maori.
Had every treaty settlement dollar already paid out been otherwise channelled towards a Universal Basic Income, there would be no more social or racial grievances, as everyone would be empowered to live the life of their dreams, work how and where they chose, and benefit from/with a new equal bargaining power between labour and with capital.
Unfortunately, this ideal scenario can unfold only in the absence of all income and energy taxes wherein the economy must realize deflationary growth caused by the ‘saved’ $30 B in taxes.
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