Bennett's War on Welfare

There’s a set of right wing claims that are seldom said in the same breath, but when you put them together they add up to a very nasty attitude, and a dangerous flirtation with open fascism.

The claims are usually directed at those who are not well off and who in various ways are at the mercy of others. Their predicament is no fault of their own, there simply are not enough opportunities being created.

Sometimes the right-wingers externalise their own hatred by labelling beneficiaries "bludgers," completely ignoring the fact that most beneficiaries would prefer not to be dependent on the state for their survival.

Here’s the basic sentiment often expressed by right-wingers:

1.    We don't want to rent houses to them
2.    We don’t want to feed them or their children
3.    We don't want the state to house them using our taxes
4.    We don't want the state to waste our money educating them
5.    We don't want to employ them because they're not educated

What these claims add up to is the wish to subject a large section of the population to absolute exclusion and impoverishment.

Labour leader Phil Goff said:

"The Government thought that unemployment would be dropping - it's been dropping in Australia. In New Zealand, 1000 extra Kiwis a month are becoming unemployed.

"John Key's challenge to me was to show him the money - I'll do that. He should show us the jobs," he said.

Being that such social dysfunction as that proposed by National is immoral and unjustifiable, it seems strange that those who argue for their already failed policy act like they speak for everybody. They don’t… thank god for that.