Saturday, October 11

Culture

The enduring confusion around free speech
Culture, Politics

The enduring confusion around free speech

William McGimpsey, a prominent voice of the so-called “woke Right” in New Zealand, recently posted on X a condemnation of Ani O’Brien’s open letter to the Helen Clark Foundation, accusing her of engaging in “cancel culture” for calling out Professor Peter Davis’s comments linking the Netanyahu government to rising antisemitism. According to McGimpsey, Davis’s comments […]

Rebuilding a credible Left
Culture

Rebuilding a credible Left

The Left’s increasing insistence that “It’s our turn now” (to dictate discourse, to set the terms of historical enquiry, to determine what speech is acceptable) is eerily reminiscent of the very power structures it claims to oppose.

Why I left the AI Rebbe behind
Culture

Why I left the AI Rebbe behind

I recently stumbled upon an AI chatbot trained on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson. I couldn’t have known exactly what to expect, but thought a daily teaching, harvested from the Rebbe’s letters, talks, and public addresses couldn’t hurt. For my first interaction, I pitched a theological softball. The response was eerily […]

The Woke Right are asleep to the facts
Culture, Politics

The Woke Right are asleep to the facts

A recent post by William McGimpsey reflects a deeply flawed (applaud me for not using skin-deep), ahistorical, and culturally superficial understanding of social cohesion and immigration. McGimpsey seems to argue that racial similarity (specifically being “white British”) guarantees social cohesion. But this claim crumbles under even cursory historical scrutiny. If social cohesion truly followed pigmentation, […]

When apologies and silence replace inquiries and dissent
Culture

When apologies and silence replace inquiries and dissent

We Kiwis are an exceptional bunch, aren’t we? Unlike Australia, our flora and fauna is largely incapable of killing us, our pronunciation (while admittedly lazy) lacks that harsh ocker twang. And, of course, let’s not forget we’re modest to a fault. Every nation has its enduring national myths. We tell ourselves stories in part to […]

Incongruous and Ill-Conceived: Israel as Settler Colonialism
Culture

Incongruous and Ill-Conceived: Israel as Settler Colonialism

Settler colonialism is a relatively recent political construct that seeks to dismantle the structures of nations it deems fit its model, such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the USA. Israel is considered the archetypal settler colonialist project in this ideology. Settler colonialism is a totalising worldview that ignores historical realities to push a divisive […]