Monday 2 October 2006

Another race 'debate'

Politicians seeking only headlines and self-advancement are hardly the people to whom one should look for insight or intelligent debate, as the ongoing 'debate' about Don Brash's comment on full-blooded Maoris demonstrates once again. "You're cancerous!" "You're evil!" "You're a Nazi!" Of either insight or intelligence there is none.

That said, Brash's main point is correct:
But it is quite wrong to argue that, because Maori are over-represented in negative social statistics, the 'Crown', or the Government on behalf of all New Zealanders, has somehow failed to discharge its obligation under the Treaty.

If Maori New Zealanders die more frequently from lung cancer than non-Maori do, for example, it is almost certainly because Maori New Zealanders choose to smoke more heavily than other New Zealanders do ...

Similarly if there are relatively few Maori at the Auckland Law School - and that despite preferential arrangements for Maori - that is not a failing of the Government, but a result of decisions made by individual Maori. Nobody would suggest that because there are relatively few European New Zealanders in the All Blacks, there has been a breach of the Treaty.
And these comments by G-Man are right on the money:
The basic message: You get lung cancer? It's because you smoke. You go to prison? It's because you commit crimes. You can't get into University? It's because you don't try hard enough. [You can't make the All Blacks? You're not good enough.]

If you want to blame anyone, look at the guy in the mirror.
Right on the money -- unlike however the vapid and pathetic headline-mongering from Winston Peters et al. But there's just too few votes, aren't there, in telling people that their own failures are their own fault.

LINKS: Don Brash: Aid according to need, not race - NZ Herald
The art of politics - G-Man Inc.

RELATED: Politics-NZ, Politics-National, Politics-Winston First, Racism

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

And these comments by G-Man are right on the money:
[The basic message: You get lung cancer? It's because you smoke. You go to prison? It's because you commit crimes. You can't get into University? It's because you don't try hard enough.]

Excellent comment from G-Man. I am aware that the Auckland School of Medicine has an annual quota for Maori & Pacific Island students. Quota is fine, however what amazes me is that political correctness has crept in to the candidate selection process.

All New Zealand candidates are required to achieve a scholar status from High School exams before their applications to the Med School are considered.

For Maori & Pacific Islanders (PI), the entrance level is lowered down to perhaps a B-grade average on final year High School exams to be considered. I find this ridiculous. If Maori & PIs don't achieve a scholar status, then they should NOT be admitted to the Med School at all. Physicians require a high-level of intelligence to carry out their job in diagnosing patients that deals with situations of live or die. Those physicians who have low-level intelligence in the medical field don't belong in the profession. There are some Maori & PI medical doctors who are excellent at what they are doing, because they got to Med School as scholars from high school and continued with that high-level achievement through out their years of study until completion of their MBChB medical degrees. Also there are lots of Maori & PI doctors who have graduated with MBChB degrees just barely passing the 50% marks for every papers and every levels throughout their years of study.

My brother's GP did his MBChB medical degrees at Auckland and completed in about 11 years. Minimum requirement for an MBChB medical degrees is only 6 years. The reason this guy did his degrees in 11 years, was because he repeated almost every level when he first enrolled. Repeated the first year, repeated the second year, repeated the third year and so forth. In my view that this doctor should not have been awarded the MBChB because, his level of grades shows of what happens when he diagnoses patients. There have been some complains about him to the NZ medical council over the last few years for malpractice. I have urged my brother to change his GP.

My point here, is for the government to stop being political correctness and canned these preferential treatment to Maoris & PIs. There should be no quota to the medical school allocated to Maoris or PIs. All candidates that are admitted to the Med School must show a high academic achievement regardless of skin color. If some Maoris & PIs showed that they are in the top end of the academic achievement scale, then they deserve their place at Med School, but not given to them just because the government has a policy of preferential treatment.

Anonymous said...

FF: Did you see last week's episode of 'Eye to Eye' as per a previous NotPC post?

It defied logic to watch the likes of Tariana Turia and 'Treaty Educator' (whatever the fuck that means but I sure as hell have my suspicions) Mike Watzisname blatantly try to justify the unjustifiable, ie that Maori cannot be racist. Quite breathtaking in its anti-reason.

I thought Lindsay Perigo conducted himself with aplomb .. God knows I'd have struggled to remain polite.

That's the thing about this. It's a total shut-out of any opposing view having merit. Classic Thought Police stuff.

There is no debate. There can be no debate.

There is no war with Eurasia. There has never been a war with Eurasia.

phil_style said...

IS there any recognitino for the role that your environment plays in determining your 'sucess' (wharever that means in life). I agree we individuals in this country have been excused of their responsibilities in many cases, but I think there' a balancing Act.

Just see the previous post on how appearance influnce your chances with the ladies!!!! LOL

- ujskey

KG said...

I thought the remarks Brash made were utterly unremarkable--just commonsense, obvious observations.
For those to be twisted and condemned as "racist" and "evil" speaks volumes about the standard of political debate in this country.And about the people who made the remarks.
It's time for politicians to grow up and try a little honesty for a change.
The whole leftist house of cards is built on denial and distortion of the truth and it's costing NZ dearly.
What the hell are they scared of

leelion said...

You'd think the way to beat racism would be to ignore race and focus on the individual regardless of race, colour, ethnicity etc.

Yet the opposite has happened. The antidote to racism appears to be to make a person's race a huge issue.

Racial quotas in universites and terms like "African American" for example.

Can anyone understand the logic of the left?

KG said...

"Can anyone understand the logic of the left?"
Nope. Because the left doesn't operate on logic--leftism has more in common with religion than political philosophy.
Faith, Comrade!

Anonymous said...

Leelion, you said it. Your first paragraph is the answer.

But the left can't have that, because the key is 'individualism'.

And that is contrary to (their philosophical) 'collectivism'.

Anonymous said...

Sus said...
[FF: Did you see last week's episode of 'Eye to Eye' as per a previous NotPC post?]

Sus, yes I did see that 'Eye to Eye' episode with Mr. Perigo in it. Perigo's debate made sense, while Turia & Smith were just babbling all night with non-sense arguments. Halfway thru the show, I turned the mute button everytime Mike Smith & Tariana Turia were making comments, which were nonsense and illogical.