…do not revoke revolution. Revolt against power is necessary even if we may not know how to win … do not be frightened by despair. It does not delimit the potential for joy.

— Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi, Heroes (Verso, 2015)

Latest Posts


  • Clowns to the Left, Cowards to the Right

    After something of a break from writing over the length of the pandemic, it is probably somewhat unusual for me to write here so soon after I last published something. Alas, the story that has gripped media headlines and the… Continue reading

    Clowns to the Left, Cowards to the Right
  • Who Wants to go Camping?

    As I start writing, the tent encampment on parliament grounds that resulted from “Convoy 2022” remains in place. Rain is belting Wellington and the sprinklers have been turned on in a rather spiteful effort to encourage the protesters to disperse… Continue reading

    Who Wants to go Camping?
  • The Birth of a Modern Far Right in New Zealand: The Post-War Years, 1950s-1980s

    A few years back I began what was intended to be a fairly brisk series of articles detailing the history of what can broadly be considered a ‘far right’ politics in New Zealand, with the intention of having an easily… Continue reading

    The Birth of a Modern Far Right in New Zealand: The Post-War Years, 1950s-1980s
  • Independent Socialist Media in NZ: A Quick Survey

    It probably isn’t too controversial to say that left media in New Zealand has gone through some uncomfortable teething pains this decade. Although it hasn’t exactly been in a healthy state since probably the 1990s, the mix of rapid acceleration… Continue reading

    Independent Socialist Media in NZ: A Quick Survey
  • The Roots of the Next Atrocity: Notes on the Future of NZ Reaction

    This piece will more be two separate pieces joined together, both of which I’ve been cooking up the past couple weeks but realised were too intertwined to really present separately. As such, it will deal with two very similar but… Continue reading

    The Roots of the Next Atrocity: Notes on the Future of NZ Reaction
  • Nightmare

    I’m numb in a cafe as I write this, flickers of panic for the future and my own family’s experience at Aramoana nearly three decades ago (before my birth, to be clear) are still periodically firing. It will be nearly… Continue reading

    Nightmare

Even within New Zealand it lay hidden. It was below the threshold of definition, because over most of the country it was normality itself, a shared value so common it was anonymous.

— Geoff Chapple, 1981: The Tour (Reed, 1984)