Change It Up

I n a speech on Nov. 11, 1947, Sir Winston Churchill reminded the UK's House of Commons that ' democracy  is the  worst form  of government,  except for all  those  others  that have been tried.' In a similar fashion,  capitalism  is the  worst  economic  system ,  except for all  the  others . — Matt Barnes, 2014. There is no alternative [to neoliberalism] — Margaret Thatcher, 1980s. *** It's often said that, for any flaws, capitalism is better than any economic system we might replace it with. Its most enthusiastic supporters claim the advances in human living standards since the industrial era can be attributed to capitalism, a claim which pervades popular culture . At the less enthusiastic end, capitalism is viewed as a problematic and flawed system, but when contrasted with the nominally socialist states of the 20th century, most commonly  Soviet Russia, it is considered to have been the b...

It is time to sketch out the basic premise of  Change It Up . The heart of the ideas here comes straight from a progressive form of inclusive feminism that is sometimes referred to as intersectionality (but please see Post 1 ). The structures of our society tilt the balance of power and wealth towards the people who designed them. Parallel to elsewhere, here in Aotearoa those people tend to share a long list of traits in common: they are mostly  Pākehā ,  cisgender , heterosexual, able-bodied, able-minded/neurotypical, and male. Thus, we have a political and social dynamic that subtly and unsubtly favours people in those categories, a situation that is respectively structurally racist, transphobic, heteronormative, ableist, and sexist. A few examples well-known examples:  women are paid less  for the same work as men, are  less likely to be promoted into upper management , and are far more likely to perform work that is not economically recognised or rewa...

Kia ora koutou. Change It Up is a new blog from Aotearoa about re-envisioning our political system. At the core is the principle originating from  intersectionality  that while the causes of inequities and injustices are complex, all of them share a common root: the unbalanced distribution of power in society. The result is privilege for some, disadvantage for others. The focus of this blog will be on exploring the problem of this sociopolitical power imbalance, how it shapes many aspects of culture to reinforce itself, and how we might get from where we are now to somewhere better. As this is an introductory post, let me start of with a bit of scope-setting and context. To begin, it is important for me to acknowledge who I am, especially as I tick box after box for privilege. I am Pākehā--along with my brother I am a first generation born in New Zealand to parents of European heritage. I am therefore a part of the colonisation of this country. I am cisgender and biologica...