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The Flag Debate: Oh for goodness sake

The Herald is still harping on about changing the flag despite there being little interest from the hoi polloi for doing so.

Today they have dragged up a World War Two veteran to voice his support.

And they have canvased new immigrants for their view
Nearly half of a sample of immigrants spoken to by the Herald want the New Zealand flag changed.

The new Kiwis say the current design does not represent them or the ethnic diversity of New Zealand today.

Nearly Half? That means less than half. Have people who have immigrated here have not taken our flag into consideration when making the choice to uproot themselves?

Is it a hardship to put up with our flag and are we being intolerant to impose it upon them?

Oh the Liberal mind is stuck on banalities - there are far more pressing issues than the Flag which represents the history of this nation, which despite all the noise, is actually one of tolerance and acceptance of all.

Compare how the British set up New Zealand with how the Belgians ran the Congo and you will see how it could have been but wasn't.

And that should be treasured but rewriting the past to gain advantage in the present is one of the less endearing features of liberalism and one that should be resisted at all costs.

Comments

  1. Hi Andrei,

    I am not sure there are too many people trying to "re-write history" to get a new flag. But sometimes symbols can date and need to be changed. Let's not stick with something just because its old.

    And perhaps a better comparison with Belgian Congo would be the Middle East after Churchill. May I reccommend "Churchill's Folly: How Winston Churchill Created Modern Iraq."?

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  2. The new Kiwis say the current design does not represent them...

    Er - in that case, presumably they're in the wrong country? Here's a tip, new immigrants - if you immigrate to NZ and become citizens, the NZ flag represents you from that point. If you immigrate and don't become a citizen, your old country's flag continues to represent you. It's not rocket science.

    ...or the ethnic diversity of New Zealand today.

    Many of these immigrants themselves come from countries that have become more ethnically diverse over the last 50 years. It would be instructive for the Herald to ask them whether they think their old country's flag should be altered to appeal more to ethnic minorities - my money would be on offence being taken.

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  3. No letrightout - In New Zealand there was a mostly successful attempt to move on from the tribalism that bedevils countries like the Congo and Iraq to the present day.

    That is the whole point of building a Nation and the flag is a National symbol.

    And there is a concerted movement to move NZ back into tribalism - the Iwi being given resources based upon tribal affiliation etc.

    Creating disunity over the historic flag is part of that process although the loudest noisemakers over it don't realize that.

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  4. "Creating disunity over the historic flag is part of that process although the loudest noisemakers over it don't realize that."

    I think they realise that very, very well.

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  5. Um, just what is wrong with "disunity"? Must we all think alike, act alike? Maybe we should all wear the same clothes, after all, as Ricardo Semmler said "Uniform dress leads to uniform thinking.".

    Is there no room for free thought, free will in your NZ?

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  6. Disunity is a damn sight different to diverse thinking.
    Think tribalism and Biafra, Bosnia etc. for examples of disunity.
    And "Maybe we should all wear the same clothes, after all.."
    Is a simply idiotic comment. As though variety in fashion somehow equates to the design of the national flag.....

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  7. "Compare how the British set up New Zealand with how the Belgians ran the Congo and you will see how it could have been but wasn't."

    I find this blanket statement rather silly, and it makes your later statement of tribalism burn with irony.

    The British colonised half the world, much of it violently, out of the 'white man's burden' to civilise (as you say) 'tribal' peoples.

    If you aren't trying to make a failed attempt at comparing the -supposedly- peaceful and sophisticated settlement of NZ with the Belgians in Congo, then, well, I don't know what the hell you're trying to say.

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