Who is to blame for the AntiVaxx madness we saw in Wellington?

By
Martyn Bradbury
-
56
1902
Protesters rally against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions and vaccine mandates in Wellington, New Zealand, November 9, 2021. REUTERS/Praveen Menon

89.3% of NZ has been vaccinated – these thousands of miscreants protesting Parliament with such underserved smug delusions do not represent the vast majority of us – they are the political conclusion of poor public education and welfare services alongside algorithms of hate.

They wouldn’t know what to do with ‘freedom’ if they got it.

Tino rangatiratanga and MAGA flags?

This is the most intellectually confused fuckwittery I’ve ever witnessed in NZ politics!

So who is to blame for this insanity?

National and ACT have been flirting with this extremism for at least 12months so some of their rhetoric must be challenged in light of this weeks crazy.

But that’s a surface issue the deeper focus must be on the toxic cocktail of underfunded public services, Facebook Hate Networks and an underclass of New Zealand made desperate by poverty.

TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com

These are people on the fringes, who are already down and it’s important to remember that more people vaccinated themselves on the same day as the entire country of protest.

We have lost the language of empathy and have seen the limitations of the doomsday capitalism we are enslaved by. We have forgotten the colours and the art and the bonds of our solidarity as Governments scramble to protect the health of those willing to follow the science while amputating those who won’t.

This plague had a tiny mortality rate – how can we cope with something far more lethal?

How are we going to deal with catastrophic climate events if we can’t handle staying at home for 3 months?

How can we work together when we have become so divided?

Reading the litany of confused protest signs emblazoned with swastikas didn’t make me angry, it made me pity them.

 

Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.

If you can’t contribute but want to help, please always feel free to share our blogs on social media

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

56 COMMENTS

  1. I am double vaxxed and support and encourage vaccination. I will go to all protests. Mandates arnt part of a free society. It’s the thin end of the wedge of forced state intervention which never ends well.

      • I would join your march, Trevor, if seat belts were harmful to use. Big ups to Mr Nader for this incredible initiative…..

    • “It’s the thin end of the wedge of forced state intervention which never ends well.” Trite, shallow, parisan, and utterly without context.. Well done.. You’ve managed to encapsulate the sheer stupidity, and hypocrisy of the, so called, anti fascist, anti mandate clique that displays all the hallmarks of spoilt, overindulged brats that are actually behaving in a fascist manner by attempting to impose their own idiocy upon the majority of sensible people, who simply want to get on with their lives in a rational manner as soon as it’s safe to do so… I’ve come across a decent cross section of the “newly woke”, anti vax, and those who haven’t the brains to be anything but contrarians, for no better reason then that’s what worked for them as toddlers… The “logic” that is being used has all the intellectual vigour of a half inflated helium balloon.. When one gets down to brass tacks, all we are seeing is the perfect example of mediocrities who’ve managed to convince themselves that they are intelligent… Earth to “woke geniuses” .. Can you quantify that intelligence into a coherent way forward, or is indulging in revenge fantasy too deeply embedded in you? The answer is obvious, but for once, I would like to see a justification for the waffle that has roots in rational, lucid, logical interpolation…

      • Yes Stefan, “impositions” can only be placed on them…the many-named-crowd. How dare they fight for impositions like freedom, choice, unity and so on, in this age of safety at all costs. How dare they….

    • If any of those feral anti-everything idiots at the nutter’s club* reunion yesterday bring covid into Wellington, most sane levelheaded non knuckle-dragging people will be annoyed.
      nutters club…a program on newstalkZB

  2. ”Freedom for the wolf is death to the sheep.”(Isaiah Berlin)
    Freedom to not be vaccinated is not just to risk infection for oneself but to seek the right to infect other people.

    It is akin to the southern Confederacy fighting for the freedom to enslave black people ,for employers demanding the freedom to not pay living wages.

    In case anyone noticed November 9th was an anniversary of ‘Kristallnacht’ when ”Aryan’ Germans exercised their ”freedom” to attack law abiding members of the German public.
    Time for another quote – Voltaire
    ”People who believe absurdities will commit atrocities.”

    • Anyone can infect anyone, Stevie…otherwise you are right, humanity no longer deserves freedom in any way, shape or form. Follow the dictates of our politicians from here on in, because they have a history of doing right by us, and listening to us.

      Yeah right.

  3. It sort of reminds me of the protesters at Capitol Hill, once they were in they were clueless, basically a bunch of headless morons

  4. “Who is to blame for the AntiVaxx madness we saw in Wellington?”

    Labour back in the late 1980’s when they gave up and adopted Neoliberalism. And then it all fell apart for NZ.

    Since then, consecutive governments of all kinds have ignored the tail, the undesirables, the great unwashed and they have now arrived at Parliament to give it a go!

    From only a few thousand in the 80’s and the 90’s that were missing out on the trickle-down has grown and multiplied to hundreds of thousands who didn’t make a $100k a month on their property investment(s) from the $100b Grant Roberston bazooka he and Orr dished out to the banks and the banks let the homeowners go on a rental property buy up!
    These people, mostly are not homeowners. This group is growing and has been for decades.

    They are a symptom of a failing economic, social, environmental disintegrating society and they’ve been galvanised by smarter people than are in government right now.

    Its gunna be a doozy!

  5. Co-option is a well worn tactic of fascists and neo fascists–why else did the German Nazis put “Socialist” in their title?

    Various friends have thought–WTF–when they saw Swastikas, Trump and Tino Rangatiratanga banners side by side. It was a deliberate tactic that immediately pissed off genuine Māori Sovereignty advocates. Co-option is an agent provocateur tactic whereby dissidents or lower level thinkers from existing bona fide movements are used for alternate causes.

    As Bomber said here recently, the anti vaccination crowd are as diverse as hell…from those breast fed until five years old, to white supremacists and beyond… The only link I can think of is the ascendency of supreme individualism fostered by post modernist philosophy and neo liberalism. “Me Me Me”–did I mention Me?…

  7. Well, I still care about our weak links. Peaceful protests – no problem. But my heart goes out to them all. Cult of the well intentioned, disinformed and duped. MSM should do a lot more stories exposing the shit stirring organisers and manipulators. Hold people to account and expose the bs, imho

    • Other than shutting down the internet and going back to hardcopy newspapers. Then you would need to employ proper journalists.

      This government isn’t going to do that after they’ve just paid out and bought MSM for over $200m of investments.
      They like it just how it is, on a leash and responsive.

      • ”…Then you would need to employ proper journalists”…

        Good to read your sheeting it home. I see this country in for some timely overhauls, starting with the blunt recognition of the destruction neo liberalism has done to our once prosperous and (relatively) peaceful nation.

        Peaceful changes not violent ugly changes.

        And the day when family’s stay together and are stable and nurturing environments for their children because of those changes,… and the working class are seen as vital contributors to our land and are paid accordingly.

        There is much work to be done even if we succeed in dismantling much of the neo liberal avarice,…that, … would only be the start.

        It took the Great Depression and a horrific World War Two to motivate former leaders to do the right thing,….and since 1984 we have had nothing but a long procession of shirking, greedy so called ‘leaders’ who are not nation builders and visionary’s but opportunists and blame shifters.

        A pox on them and their neo liberal treasons and thefts of the commons.

      • Denny, aren’t “they” also us? Have we lost our power? Nah! The paradigm shift is in play. Wade it out and all who live, well, tell our stories and be empowered with our heart’s momentum (as it was, before we died of oppression or covid) xx

  8. People do not like what is happening inside our Government right now…forget the anti-vaxx labels…it does not help the media is calling peaceful protest — anti-vaxx nutters/far right supporters.

  9. These “rights to freedom” groups are quislings. While we fight a war against Covid, they are virtually collaborating with the enemy!

  10. Respectfully, I don’t think they read the same news streams as you or I Martyn.
    In a small beachside community our PM loves to visit in summer, 90 or more of the “great unwashed” staged a “protest march”
    down the Main Street today.

    Among these poor wretches was one of the most successful builders on the peninsula, a successful charter captain and many wealthy property owners from what I hear.

    They don’t quote Voltaire or George Orwell for that matter, so must be unwashed, never belonged to a union, our felt disposed or downtrodden from what I was relayed, also not opposed to a vaccine. They hated Aunty Helen meddling in their lives, and thought John Key was a rich, Auckland wanker and a thief.

    What possessed them to March in protest was being told what to do. And the blame was on the most visible person through Covid, Jacinda Ardern. I did tell one of the protesters he was being a dick and to pull his head in! He just said piss of and call me when she lets you leave Auckland…

    Lots of hostile, misplaced anger around I must say

    • Yeah Nath, kinda right there is seems, – still I am deliberately refusing to use labels and pigeon holes… these are our fellow New Zealanders, they are not alien invaders, they are not pariahs but our fellow New Zealanders,… the 1981 Springbok tour was bad enough,… things will pass, even this virus. A divided ugly nation at each others throats is something we must let never happen. And for that to happen we must maintain forbearance.

      We were told as the elites opened the floodgates to massive unsustainable immigration that we must be ‘tolerant’. And even though we the public were never consulted, we were tolerant by and large. I do not like the word ‘ tolerant ‘ in this sense because it sounds too much like rolling over on your back like a submissive dog, – a convenient stance that only benefits those in power in shutting down all honest adult debate,… whereas the reminder is and should be,…that it is we the people who ultimately have that power through the vote. Not those would be ELECTED representative’s to do whatever they please.

      I prefer the word forbearance.

    • “What possessed them to March in protest was being told what to do.”

      Nah Nath, that is not the primary reason.

      Do they:

      drive on the left
      wear seat belts
      Pay taxes
      Wear motorbike helmets
      Obey the law in general
      send their children to school
      …could continue for many hours describing thousands of behaviours regulated by laws and customs…?

      They better get marching on all of those and more.

      • And marching in protest at everyone of the vaccinations they received as babies/children?
        And as children MAGA wasn’t even a thing.

    • Being told what to do pisses them off so they drive 100kph in 50kph zones? Not wearing seatbelts and texting at the same time?

      If the government had dictated that NZ would not invest in Covid vaccines but individuals could purchase it to be used on themselves would the wealthy on Main Street have been into it boots and all so they could brag around their BBQs that they indeed had been vaccinated?

      Are they reacting to (what they see as) Ardern telling them what to do to get back at their mummies who made them go to bed at a certain time, told them to tidy their rooms, told them to eat their Brussels sprouts?

      As for the teachers I’ve read about protesting about being told what to do… Kids in the schools with teachers in the ‘compulsion is bad’ brigade should demand choice on whether or not they follow dictates. With no threat of punishment of course, just as the teachers are saying.

      “You can’t make me do what I don’t believe in, it’s my right to believe something and you shouldn’t punish me for my beliefs. Certainly I shouldn’t be chucked out.”

    • Spoiled children! Like they they scooped up all the lollies from the littlies when there was a lolly scramble. Selfish sods.

  11. Whatever your opinion on vaccines, its blatantly obvious now that the modern equivalent of the national front has brainwashed the vulnerable using a form of mass hypnosis via manipulating their Facebook algorithms and targeting them in other-ways online.

    Its the modern equivalent of ‘the protocols of the learned elders of Zion’ they are now pushing, tweaked for the Corona era. Wankers using the pandemic and troubled times to try to create further instability so they can try to seize power.

    Whats scary is just how many people have gone completely down the rabbit hole this time around. Its not just the rabble, people from all walks of life are falling in.

    Aside from heavy Facebook users, those with depression and/or who use or have used a lot of amphetamines seem a lot more susceptible to being manipulated in this way.

    My question is how do we deprogram them? It seems impossible to touch the subject without hem going off into an endless rant.

  12. it’s funny isn’t it if workers go on strike some numpty will jump up and cry ‘they’re holding to country to ransom’ and yet that’s exactly what this bunch of no marks are doing…THEY are restricting OUR freedoms, THAT NEEDS TO BE HAMMERED HOME.

    I blame that other neoliberal fetish post modernism…no not all ‘readings’ have equal value as the antivaxx brigade clearly demonstrate..oh and you shouldn’t be judgmental sometimes being judgmental is essential

    • “it’s funny isn’t it if workers go on strike some numpty will jump up and cry ‘they’re holding to country to ransom’ and yet that’s exactly what this bunch of no marks are doing…THEY are restricting OUR freedoms, THAT NEEDS TO BE HAMMERED HOME.”

      Wow, isn’t that the god damn truth right there. And the unions were labelled scum, should we label these people”scum” also?

  13. Are there professional organisers behind these protest gatherings? Are there footloose types who just travel round tearing at the ties that people have attempted to make in their society.
    Some of the signs look professional. Organisation, transport, has to come into it. The location and timing has to come from somewhere. Is this being done through facebook/meta? What would people be doing otherwise?
    How can they afford to travel. – are there buses organised?
    Is it a good exercise enabling more drug contacts to be made, a busines opportunity? The people complaining aren’t there saying that they are being left to die, so it is actuallly built on positive values, so what is wrong with the heads of these people? Everyone is literate, the condition of the rest of the world is easily accessed.

    • GW, some of our vulnerable people are being duped. It’s super crafty and manipulative a.f. I’ve lost and am losing family ties over it. We AO/NZ need to unite. Please, where you can, actively assist our weak links and loved ones? Being kind will help that one. One at a time, remember? I love NZ, it’s my only home. Please help us all to gently help eachother xx

  14. Imagine being truthful Marty. It would give you more credibility. But your bigotry and white privilege betray you. As a Biden bro I’m not surprised.

    There’s probably not an anti vaxxer in sight.

    • 0800 Are you OK? Off White, please feel free to contribute to this forum. We welcome robust debate and opinion. Links to what you know help our whole community. Statements are best backed up with opinions and facts with links. Democracy in action. I hope you are ok

      • If you want facts from Off White Sinic go to the Qanon and the new Whail Oil site. As for asking if Off White is okay, well thats a very open ended question.

  15. Those protesting for ‘freedom’ and ‘rights’ are a lost cause. Covid does not care about your freedom and rights. Covid will not discriminate who it infects. You cannot tell covid it is your right for it not to infect you or take away your freedom by putting you in hospital.
    Time for the cops to disperse the tear gas and shut this whole thing down before it escalates too far. Each time the crowds get bigger and the cops stand by and watch and only arrest a handful days later. The cops are partly to blame for being soft on this lot to date.

  16. Every second term govt deals with this….

    I was looking at the crowds burning effigies of Key outside parliament during the TPPA protests and apart from the couple Trump flags it’s the same angry people with the same hysterical conspiratorial messaging about shadow governments facism and rights being taken away demanding a citizens arrest on the PM.

    It’s. The. Same. People.

    Except this time instead of populist left elements taking advantage of the anger it’s the populist right.

    Sometimes this anti establishment rage can be used by the left and when it can we like it.

    But when this rage, hysteria and conspiratorial thinking is aimed at “left wing” governments …. The sky is falling.

    It’s a bunch of anarchists and antiestablishment types who are always angry.

    Just like the tppa most of the protesters there don’t know or even care about the issue they are protesting it’s just an excuse for a f you to the incumbent.
    It never does anything but irritate the majority and the govt of the day usually gets reelected.

    All these protests do is convince the protesters they are making waves when in reality all it does is piss off the public whether it’s a left wing or a right wing cause, they don’t care about your issue you’re just inconveniencing them

    Clark called them haters and wreckers, key called them a rent a mob , Muldoon punched them over one by one.

    What it does show is this govt is no different than any other, and it’s glory days are over, will probably win a third term but it’s time now to give mp’s from 2017-2020 elections cabinet experience because times a ticking and the old guard will resign as soon as the govt loses an election and labour is gonna want as many experienced mp’s in opposition as possible, unlike the post Clark years and indeed when they got in govt and had no experience and no idea what to do with government.

    Not a big deal. Not a shock. Not facism.

    Just a good old fashioned hysterical tantrum by uniformed angry kiwi’s, we’ll be exploiting these same kiwi’s hysteria when nationals in power next , like we did last time we were in opposition.

    It’s politics. Unclench those pearls people and yes we did hype this same crowd up by telling them bunch of half truthes, lies and outright conspiracies about the the admittedly awful TPPA

    If you don’t believe me look up tppa protests and then yesterdays protests.

    Apart from the couple Trump flags, it’s the same people with the same freaked out conspiratorial messaging about arresting the PM whose selling out out country and taking our rights/freedoms/assets/country/laws away in a facist/communist/corporatist coup.

    It’s the same people.

    • Very good Corey. It’s nice to read a well written piece from somebody who has an opinion that they can support with reason. I particularly like the mention of giving experience to newer up m.p.s, for the future health of parliment.

Comments are closed.