A lovely bit of writing that I had a little hand in creating... brilliant historian Simon Schama warns against New Zealand committing a national 'suicide'
Just had to share this lovely piece with you. A friend from the US forwarded me the link having heard it on the BBC World Service. (Thanks Keith!)... Simon Schama on New Zealand via Q+A, when we had him on the programme during his recent visit for the International Arts Festival. It's a must-read.
There's a long tradition of fly-by-night visitors mis-interpreting New Zealand, but Schama has nailed it. Perhaps I say that only because he largely agrees with my point of view, but he's got his facts right (although I'd like to know his grounds for claiming that we're one of the least ethnically diverse populations in the world; I'm scpetical of that) and a well thought-through position to go with is always compelling prose. (Although you could argue that his suggestion that Nicole Kidman is an asset to Australia is also dubious!)
In essence, he picks up on the suggestion that New Zealand should merge with Australia (via the UMR poll released on Q+A here) and warns against our national "suicide".
Schama's idea that we suffer from "an embarrassment of smallness" is intriguing. He notes that our earning power has only fallen behind Australia's in the past two decades, which is hardly long-term or terminal.
He shows our proud and distinctive history, which should give us immense confidence in creating an equally proud and distinctive future.
He challenges us to cherish ourselves, celebrate and dance and chant our culture and achievments. Are we a brave enough country to follow that path? That's the question, and one I hope we can answer with confidence and purpose.
Comments (7)
It's wonderful. Thank you. But am I looking in the wrong place? Rather than "least ethnically diverse", didn't he say "least racially defensive", and if I understand him correctly, doesn't that mean the opposite? As in, we're inclined to embrace the outside world / other cultures?
Something deeper and sadder is lurking here: the embarrassment of smallness ...
It really resonates with something I was thinking about, writing the overseas investment post. Sorry to be a one-track record, and let's not discuss that here; that's for the other thread. But what I was thinking (and ran out of words to say), and what Schama has expressed so much more articulately, was -- I wonder if our overseas investment and other policies are kind of the new manifestation of cultural cringe. Same with 'Wellywood', for that matter. We thought we were getting over that, and yet, we still can't quite bring ourselves to back ourselves, on our own New Zealand terms. When the PM says he's "ambitious for New Zealand", it's becoming more and more apparent that what he meant was, he's ambitious for us to catch Australia, and be like Australia. Mines, etc. Or Saudi, with water instead of oil. Or anywhere else rich in the world. And when other countries want a piece of us, we're just so damn grateful to be liked, and eager to oblige them. I wish he would be ambitious just for New Zealand, take the good things as we find them, and work with those ...
I'd like to know his grounds for claiming that we're one of the least ethnically diverse populations in the world; I'm scpetical of that
He didn't say least ethnically diverse, he said least racially defensive.
Clearly I should slow down and read more carefully. Thanks guys! I like the piece even more now.
I see the Herald has spotted it as well - here.
Claire, you're talking about an economic cringe taking over from our cultural cringe? Interesting...
Yes.
The Australian comparison remains pertinent though: if we hadn't followed Roger Douglas's Road to Ruin, it might be Australia that was envying us. Australia is our yardstick for political effectiveness, a metric in which New Zealand economic actors, notably Brash & Douglas, have proven themselves to be utterly and tragically incompetent.
And as a result the average prospects for a young New Zealander are now simply miserable. Nor can we congratulate ourselves too much on the race issues, there are ugly squabbles brewing between the likes of Ngai Tahu & Hone Harawira, and mainstream New Zealanders. As with our economic problems, most race issues were state or council confiscations, not individual rorts. So uninvolved individuals do not take kindly to attempts to impose mass guilt, any more than Maori do for the less noble and enviable parts of their history.
No, we should not join Australia. But maybe we should subcontract our administrative functions to them - neither Clark nor Key ever had the first clue what they should be doing.
I spent the first 20 years of my life in NZ, the subsequent 30-plus in Australia. As a kid in NZ, I used to ride dirt bikes along rivers, in forests, whereever. I don't know if things have changed since, but in those times, if a council or body didn't want you to ride in places, for conservation or whatever reasons, they had to get appropriate authority to impose the ban. In Australia, the ban is the default position, you have to approach the authorities if you want access anywhere. That's struck me as the essential difference between the two countries. Australian public services, local authorities, councils, governments are all about pervasive control. I understand it, I can work with it, but I wouldn't like to see that mindset imposed on New Zealand.
"Don't they know that Poms live for the moments - and they happen all too infrequently - when the Aussies get shafted by the Men in Black?"
Yeah, sure they do. I would suggest that the Aussies getting shafted by the Men in Black has been a rather frequent occurrence of late. Shows how much the patronising Pommy git really knows! Nevertheless it’s only expected that his every word will be fawned over. You’d think New Zealanders would be tired of this debate by now, but apparently not. At least once a year or more this same issue will be resurrected, in newspapers, magazine articles and the like. I suspect it’s another symptom of New Zealand’s self obsessed culture. New Zealanders enjoy talking about themselves, but they like it even more to hear others talking about them. That is why NZ and Australia can never merge –it would deprive New Zealand of this great opportunity to indulge in navel gazing.
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