Category Archives: Political Psychology

The morality of poverty and the poverty of morality

Posted on 6th Aug, 2017 by Puddleglum

We are moral animals. But, so far as I can judge, in politics today our moral instincts are operating in a way that generates the worst moral outcomes. Metiria Turei’s recent confession (a moral notion) at the launch of the Green … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Economics, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology, Poverty | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

Who’s afraid of ‘radical’ politics?

Posted on 31st Jul, 2017 by Puddleglum

As the 2017 election approaches the question has been asked of ‘the left’ in New Zealand – Is it time to ‘go radical‘? It’s a question especially relevant to the Labour Party given recent polling. But it’s almost exactly the … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Free Market, Human Wellbeing, Labour, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Is that all there is?

Posted on 7th Dec, 2016 by Puddleglum

Apparently, McDonald’s hamburgers are the result of the best technology that food and taste engineers can provide. All ingredients and processing events are managed to within an inch – maybe less – of their lives. The consumable item is the culmination … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Human Nature, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Of bewildered herds

Posted on 13th Jul, 2016 by Puddleglum

The oldest war in history is that between the people and those who have hoarded power to themselves. Predictably – perhaps inevitably – the latter eventually gain a sense of entitlement to the power they have hoarded. In days gone by … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, International Politics, Labour, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Of bewildered herds

While we’re talking about flags …

Posted on 14th Mar, 2016 by Puddleglum

Here’s a few interesting bits of vexillology and imperialist sentiment that I came across when researching the previous two posts. The detailed mix of the issues of flag similarity and representations of relationships to imperialism and colonialism just gets more and … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Maori, National Identity, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

False flag logic – Part II: ‘Out, damned Jack!’

Posted on 11th Mar, 2016 by Puddleglum

Out, damned spot! Out, I say!—One, two. Why, then, ’tis time to do ’t. Lady MacBeth in ‘MacBeth’ (Act 5, Scene 1) – William Shakespeare One of the main arguments put forward in favour of a flag change for New … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Media, Military, National Identity, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

On the very idea of ISIS – Part II

Posted on 19th Oct, 2015 by Puddleglum

In the first part of this post I argued that beliefs held by individuals are not a good basis on which to analyse geopolitical events. Both beliefs and their associated collective-level behaviours are the result of other forces operating in the environment … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, International Politics, Media, Military, Philosophy, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

On the very idea of ISIS – Part I

Posted on 19th Oct, 2015 by Puddleglum

The very idea of wanting to explain a practice–for example, the killing of the priest-king–seems wrong to me. All that Frazer does is to make them plausible to people who think as he does. It is very remarkable that in … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, International Politics, Military, Philosophy, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on On the very idea of ISIS – Part I

When is bias no longer bias? When it’s everything.

Posted on 13th Sep, 2015 by Puddleglum

Is Mike Hosking politically biased? I think the answer is ‘yes’. Is our media politically biased? I think the answer is also  ‘yes’. Is our society politically biased? That’s not quite so easy to answer. But for a more worrying reason … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Economics, Free Market, Human Nature, Media, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Pointless referenda I would like

Posted on 1st Sep, 2015 by Puddleglum

Well, the flag’s well and truly come down for the start of the silly season so let’s get into the spirit of it all. Yes, time to put aside all that serious politico stuff that ‘lefties’ get so uptight about. As … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, National Identity, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Pointless referenda I would like