…some thoughts for young people…
This was a speech given to students in Canterbury last evening.
THAT “VISION” THING
To start my speech tonight I thought I would quote a line from a song from the once highly popular television series called MASH.
You probably watch the back episodes now and then. There was a song attached to MASH and while I don’t agree with the chorus – I like some of the verses.
This was one of them:
“A brave man once requested me,
to answer questions that are key,
Is it to be or not be be
And I replied oh why ask me.”
So I have been thinking. Why ask me to give you some vision for the future?
This is a heavy responsibility on my shoulders.
What can I tell you? What do you expect? What if I put you wrong and you leave this building with ruined lives?
What if you leave intent on a life of crime and decadence?
I could never forgive myself.
Looking for an answer, as you do in these times, we turned to the Internet and found an advice service for young people – in Britain.
Let me quote from it:
Well tonight we are not going to talk about any of those topics, compelling and interesting as they might be.
We are going to talk about some of the things that confront you on a daily basis because the big picture of our lives is painted by how we tackle each day.
Someone once said life is not about the goals we seek – it is about our journey through it.
One of the most important discoveries I have made personally is that we live in an ocean of useless information, and every few minutes someone tips another bucket of it over us.
Never before in human history has so much information been inflicted on the so-called civilised societies on this planet.
Huge industries have been built on a perceived demand for this information.
You could sit at a computer 24 hours a day seven days a week, being drip fed and attached to certain other apparatus and you would still receive only a tiny fraction of the information available.
The Internet is a wonderful thing. It has allowed the creation of that phenomenon known as “blogging”.
In Wellington teams of people spend their spare time filling cyberspace with their opinions.
Now we can’t be too critical because we have set up an election blog site called www.winstonpeters.com – and there is no doubt some useful social function is being served.
But it really is like some kind of version of talkback radio. They would probably benefit more from going to cooking classes!
Even the newspapers have their blog sites and their opinion sites.
It’s getting hard to take them seriously these days because half the journalists are bloggers and many of the bloggers are journalists.
So let me give one a piece of advice that has served me well for a long time now – never believe what you see in the media.
Most of these people have an aversion to the truth unless it fits their agenda.
It is sad really, because so many people rely on them for information.
Most media a trying to play a game of join the dots but without any dots, and they wonder why they get the picture all wrong.
You see we in New Zealand have a recycled merry go round when it comes to those in the media.
Look at your Sunday newspapers – all the commentators are failed TVNZ managers, political aspirants or journalists who had been moved on from other organisations.
This is why you can never take them seriously.
So, if there was any advice to give on the topic of the media, believe a fraction of what you read and even less of what you hear!
Computers, television and the education system all seem to be gradually eradicating the ancient art of reading books.
Hands up those who have read a novel for enjoyment this year!
Various educational institutions are churning out students who do not read books.
This is a tragedy.
Generations of New Zealanders have educated themselves simply by reading books.
Thousands of them.
Some of our greatest political leaders had little formal education but they were voracious readers.
The walls of their houses were lined with books.
Books about everything.
Most of all books about ideas.
Do you know that it is now possible to leave university with an arts and a law degree without ever having read a Charles Dickens novel?
This is truly astonishing.
But perhaps a sign of the times.
Another topic I wanted to raise with you this evening is about your grandparents.
Yesterday I took part in a GreyPower retirement forum in Porirua just north of Wellington.
The age of the audience ranged from the sixties through to the late eighties.
That generation of people, and the one before them, built one of the best societies on earth.
We were ranked second in the list of developed countries.
We were regarded as some kind of social laboratory with our healthcare, education and social services.
We really cared about the common welfare of our citizens.
The senior citizens attending the forum yesterday entered a social contract with the governments of their time.
They worked hard, paid high taxes, raised their families and contributed to their communities.
In return the state agreed to help look after them when they grew old, sick or infirm.
In your lifetimes this contract was broken. Not by the people but by the governments they elected to defend them.
You are young and strong. You have your lives ahead of you.
Your grandparents are slowing down. They have made their contribution.
It is coming up to your turn.
Young people are idealists – and that is good. What better vision than to make New Zealand a great society again?
Why not follow in the footsteps of your grandparents and their parents who built this country?
Just spend a few minutes talking to your grandparents whenever you can.
In most of the world’s ancient societies the elderly are held in high esteem because of their wisdom.
Unfortunately in some other countries they are regarded as a social expense and a burden on the health system.
You have an obligation, each and every one of you, to ensure that your grandparents are treated with dignity in retirement.
They are entitled to an adequate pension, healthcare and a decent standard of living.
We in New Zealand First have always believed in looking after the most vulnerable in our society - the young and the elderly.
That is why we introduced free healthcare for the under sixes back in 1996 and have continually fought for a better deal for the elderly.
We recognise also the importance of education. We regard it as an investment, not an expense.
Education is the key to our future as a small country at the bottom of the Pacific.
It has always been our policy to introduce a universal student allowance. We are concerned about the mounting levels of student debt.
For some years we have advocated a “bonding” system under which selected students in areas such as medicine would get their fees abated in return for working in certain areas for a fixed term.
This is not new to New Zealand.
Many people gained university qualifications last century through their employers, mainly government departments.
They worked during the holidays and attended university during the terms.
In return, they signed a contract to stay with that department for a fixed number of years.
This system could be used again. All it requires is the will to do it.
As I started with a quote I would like to end with one. That great American philosopher Homer J Simpson said this about life:
“Your lives are in the hands of men no smarter than you or I, many of them incompetent boobs. I know this because I worked alongside them, gone bowling with them, watched them pass me over for promotions time and again. And I say ….This stinks!”
So if I were to give any advice for the future to you, these would be my suggestions.
1. Grab each day as it comes along and enjoy it. You never know when it could be your last.
2. Always read books – any books but especially novels.
3. Go fishing whenever you can. Apparently God does not deduct fishing time from our lives.
4. Be loyal to your friends.
5. Keep laughing.
6. Don’t keep filling your heads with useless information.
7. Don’t eat too many carbohydrates.
8. And save your Grandma – vote New Zealand First.
Thank you – and good luck.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Thanks for posting the article, was certainly a great read!
August 14th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Welcome to blogging, Winston. It’s really good that you’ve decided to communicate directly with voters like this. I realise you’re very busy in this election year, but I hope you can keep up blogging. It’s a great way to interact with voters if you take it seriously, and can have two-way dialogue with them.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Welcome to the blogsphere, Winston.
You’re unlikely to get far talking down to a blog audience. Here is why:
http://www.copyblogger.com/generational-targeting/
But then, your post doesn’t seem to be aimed at a blog audience. It appears to be aimed at a generation of people who don’t read blogs.
They’re probably happier with dinosaur media - like talkback, newspapers, and dusty novels
Good point about books, though.
August 14th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Looks like it must have been a good speech.
Regards.
August 14th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Welcome to the blogosphere Mr Peters. I’m impressed to see a party leader doing this. And I’m hoping that this will be a good opportunity to get some discussion going about the NZ First.
Bryce
http://www.liberation.org.nz
August 14th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Classic
August 14th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
That’s awesome you’ve started blogging Winston. I hope you’ll keep at it since Rodney’s stopped.
August 14th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Welcome to the blogosphere Winston.
Just a quick question arising from your speech - when you say “So let me give one a piece of advice that has served me well for a long time now – never believe what you see in the media.” - does that include the proliferation of media releases from right across the political spectrum?
August 14th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Congratulations for this goodwill speech and some policy clues - but I wish - or I believe - you could fire up even more youth enthusiasm by pointing out the new way into the future to make all the desirables of yesteryear more available in a better sustainable through allocating the NZ Super Fund to personal accounts, so our young are really aware of building up something also for themselves through their supportive contributions to our retirees today.
Winston, the economc basics are still the same as they were in 1997, we should not give up on that cause!
August 14th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Haha - do you have a demerit system here Winny,as I am always in the pooh?
August 14th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
good post dude
August 14th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Interesting, my previous post is still waiting in moderation and yet a later post (paul scott) has been released ?
August 14th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
good on ya D4J!! We miss you you know!!!
August 14th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Interesting……………. In today’s society where freedom of speach is king, why are there only positive posts from the left wing lackies that hang around looking for intellegent snippets, that woefully fall short on the intellegent and are just the ramblings of a has been and a man with short persons disorder!
August 14th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Good to see more Parliamentarians joining the blogging world!
Oliver
August 15th, 2008 at 6:58 am
“They are entitled to an adequate pension, healthcare and a decent standard of living.”
Well then make super means tested. Super is being paid to those who don’t need it which is taking money from the most vulnerable.
August 15th, 2008 at 7:20 am
Classic, Winston has a blog.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
What makes you think it’s Winston blogging? Cutting and pasting last night’s speech is something a staffer would do, not Winston. So perhaps keep your ‘welcome to the blogosphere’s’ a bit muted…
August 15th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Simon, you have a point - I am one of those embarrassed by lower income workers having to pay for my NZ Super - but I agree with all in GreyPower, that we are entitled to it.
The trouble is, it is only a political entitlement, with our specific contributions of 1/6 in the pound having been consumed by ourselves, through govt. welfare policies not balanced by taxation, but taxpayer, not assets backed, debt.
To rectify this, our NZ Super Fund should be allocated to Personal Accounts which, as long term investments, will not only contribute to our accelerating economic growth, but ultimately finance the whole NZ Super of higher income earners for the rest of their lives after age 65 - to the delight of our lower income workers not having to contribute to their super anything anymore.
Comments for or against, please?
August 15th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Simon, you have a point - I am one of those embarrassed by lower income workers having to pay for my NZ Super - but I agree with all in GreyPower, that we are entitled to it.
But isn’t there another fair and effective way without means testing, to rectify that?
August 15th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Welcome to the world of blogging, Winston!
August 15th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
yes it might be cut and post but it is still a good article,its funny and its whimsical, NZ first will get 5% ..Helengrand will be gone and Peters will be able to moderate the NAT Government.
August 15th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
gee whiz, I hope some if you people actually remember, or research what happened to NZ, NZ economy, but more importantly NZders during the last National regime. READ National’s manifesto, not just look and listen to the meadia. What Winston says is true, it always is - the news these days is like the Woman’s Weekly, pseudo sensational and full of adjectives. Delve for the facts - the facts will set you free. Go Winston!!
And, respect the oldies in our communities, look after these people, they don’t need to blog, they listen, and don’t need to be ‘heard’ in cyberspace, Most still know their neighbours and talk to them, grow their own vegetables, always have been ‘organic’ and ‘recycle’ because they come from a time when youi had to make do, you were hungry and you had to look after each other. They don’t need to know about carbon footprints and other wastes of money, because most are frugal and any sort of waste is abhorrent.
And, why say Winston and NZ First can only get 5%?? Why is this party not considred a threat to any other party??? It’s the media rubbishing Winston and NZ First. Why?? Because Winston shows them up for the shallow, hypocritical fools they are.
And when NZ First holds the balance of power, do they get the deserved respect?? No. Again, the media try to dish Winston at every turn.. Listen to what is being said - the media, the news .. there is so much rubbish out there. Be selective and question what you hear. The truth is out there.
GO WITNSON!!! Kia kaha
August 15th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Winston, you cease to amaze me. I have one question, as i see you paid a visit to Canterbury Uni, what are you actually going to do (or support) in way of the universal student allowance? Your thoughts on this would be appreciated - and no doubt interesting.
Winston says “If you read the speech Sam you will see that New Zealand First has always supported a universal students allowance. Students in my day could get holiday jobs that helped finance them through university but with the increase in fees and lack of well paid jobs it’s harder these days. I worked in the freezing works and as a labourer to help pay my way.”
August 15th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
There is a lot of inter esting advice here so far, but the question has not been answered yet: What did our democratically elected governments do actually wrong, for us to slip down so far? Remember, it started during the good old days under Holyoake. What was Muldoon’s biggest mistake, with our backing? Can’t blame Rogernomics for that, because it started much earlier?
August 16th, 2008 at 8:24 am
I find it very sad that Mr. Peters is always regarded with the majority of people and the media as a “corrupt” person.
I for one disagree. Everyone is whining and everyone is crying. But everyone (ie media) seems to live in some perfect world where they focus on the personaily of choice and forget everything else.
There is more in the news in the news about Mr. Peters than the crime going through our streets.
The only ones who seems do have some policy about changing out streets is NZ First. Compare that to our good friends at the Greens, who promote drug use and (obviously) the crime that comes with it. Yes, lets legalise dope and be a bunch of jolly stoners and leave this country to rot.
And our glorious leader, who seems to not care.
We have no rights of self defence, we have no right to protect ourselves even in our own homes. Everyone out there is something one thing or another, be it weed or crystal-meth. I am shocked by how openly this is happening, and the lack of power (and will power) for the police to act.
And still we sit here debating the FTA with China and their human rights policies, yet we seem to forget how our own human rights are being taken away from us by the gangs of our community. We also care about the Russians and their evil deeds, which is to say their protection of their own citizens. We seem to live in an age where everything that is happening is seemingly forgotten in favor of what gets the headlines and the ratings.
I agree with what is said in the above blog that you shouldn’t trust what you read and even less of what you hear.
Politics has always seemlingly been about lies, deciet and corruption. And we are seeing it every day and night, whether we choose to notice it or not.
So why not take the decent people of the politics in NZ, trumph up some charges just before election and have a play date with the media.
I just wonder why no one has brought our glorious leader’s fun-filled motorcade driving into the arena yet.. Have the people forgotten?
On allowences, I am a big supporter of NZF policies on the matter. I was forced to leave law school because I could not afford it. The best I ever got was the living costs loan, I was un-supported by my parents and now I work for minimum wage. And I can tell you, I am not the only one.
I shall leave it at that. This comment is feeling like its longer than the blog.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
How do you know it is not Winston blogging, Simon Scott? Why doesn’t Helen have a blog as well? As for dusty novels - all good writing has a place. Frankly, I didn’t even know what a “blog” was until recently. At least on this blog, the posts are not mocking and rude.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:53 am
[...] blog http://www.winstonpeters.com. Being a young 26, I was interested in the first post on the page ‘…some thoughts for young people…‘ to see what he had to say and what wisdom from his years he could impart. I guess good on [...]
August 19th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Thanks for this; really great to read - and a lot of it makes sense. Great to see you have your own blog, should create some interesting discussions. Excellent.
August 20th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Why do we persist in thinking about elections as a 2 Party race - this is MMP- a third party could race through the middle if voters used their vote strategically.
August 23rd, 2008 at 8:52 am
Yes Winston, I can put my hand for reading a couple of books this year: “The Hollow Men” and “Absolute Power”. Both of these books should be read by voters before the election. Some might say that they are not realy factual, if that was the case someone should have ended up in court by now.
You are right on the mark Anne Martin, when this country wakes up to how MMP works we will get better Government. The National Party are slow learners, they could have been the Government since MMP was introduced if they were up with the play. While National and the “Tweety Pie” Party are trying to burn Winston’s house down we could see a repeat of the last election. Two months is an eternity in politics. Jim Bolger had it right when he said “Bugger the Polls!”.
September 11th, 2008 at 11:32 am
WINSTON PETERS YOU DESERVED THE DONATION.
YOU HAVE WORKED VERY HARD ALL YOUR LIFE.
WINSTON YOU DESERVED THE DONATION.
YOU ROCK WINSTON, YOU ARE A NICE PERSON.
My name is Mark and I love watching you on the news.
Peace out Winston YOU ROCK!!!
October 8th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Still no opinions & discussion on whether allocation of the NZ Super Fund to Personal Accounts is socio-economically desirable and visionary, or irrelevant or worse. NZ First may lose its leadership potential, if neglecting to clarify this issue as constructively innovative, or not.
Winston says: This site is also for discussion of ideas. Others should feel free to comment on your suggestion. Our policy document (available on this site) makes some broad statements in this direction.