In the shadow of the Holocaust at the end of WWII, the world passed a raft of United Nations/Geneva conventions to ensure that states could “never again” inflict such horrors on a racially defined population. Well, such horrors are happening again. Hundreds of thousands of innocent men, woman and children are being systematically butchered for the crime of being born Palestinian. Hunger has been weaponised, and mass starvation is being live-streamed into our homes.

In the blackest of ironies, the perpetrator of these horrors is the state of Israel, the homeland of the people victimised by the Nazi regime. The world that rushed to give Israelis refugees a home – on someone else’s land - 80 years ago seems barely able to summon a whimper of protest this time around. They’re even bungling the whimper. Earlier this week, New Zealand signed up to a a joint letter – endorsed by 28 nations in all - calling on Israel to end its inhumane actions in Gaza, and to allow humanitarian aid to flow freely into the territory. Fine words, but without anything – eg the threat of economic sanctions if Israel fails to comply– to back them up.

In a ham-fisted attempt at even-handedness, the letter also called on Hamas to “immediately” and “unconditionally” release the remaining hostages. By making that call, the signatories are ignoring the main reason why the ceasefire talks have bogged down. With reason, Hamas has held out for some commitment from Israel that if Hamas releases the remaining hostages Israel will not (a) immediately resume the genocide (b) build new Israeli settlements in Gaza that permanently displace Palestinians and finally, that Israel will (c) withdraw its troops to some agreed positions, to create a a breathing space in which a negotiated form of Palestinian self-governance in Gaza can take shape.

Does New Zealand have any problem with any of those Hamas pre-conditions – and if so, why? By simply making a call for an “immediate” and “unconditional” release of the hostages, New Zealand is dodging all the key questions about Gaza’s future. The only future prospect that we are mentioning is the “two state solution” that ceased to be a feasible concept 25 years ago, and which the Israeli parliament explicitly rejected last year.

In that sense, the Israelis are right. The letter that New Zealand signed is disconnected from reality. And the realities we are choosing to ignore concern the future governance of Gaza. Plainly, Israel cannot be trusted to decide that for itself.

Free market follies

At times, it is pretty hard to see what good the “free” market is doing for most of us. The usual responses – we all benefit when global commodity prices are sky high and anyway, what can you do about it? – are inadequate. Wouldn’t ordinary citizens be better off if local food distribution was severed from the dictates of global markets?

Yes, it would involve some form of price control – either directly, or by breaking up the supermarket duopoly, in order to create genuine price competition at the retail level. Theoretically, it would require a brave government to demand that the local price of some food staples (eg butter, cheese) be set at roughly 80% of the overseas price, as discounted via a basket of cost estimates for overseas freight and distribution and all the other inputs that go into setting the current retail price of the same produce in say, London.

No doubt, our lack of genuine competition at retail level is compounding this problem of “global price capture.” Yet as things stand, we get screwed by the global commodity price, only to be screwed again at the supermarket checkout. The current situation seems to be neither free, nor fair.

No doubt, any local price ratio would be imperfect, but so is the status quo. It costs as much here (or more) for stuff that’s grown here, as it does after we have shipped the same produce across to the other side of the world. That’s a sign of significant market failure. It calls for an intervention.

Obviously, our farmers benefit from high global commodity prices. Good for them. But waiting for trickle down economics to dribble that good fortune on down (via farmers spending in the local economy) is wishful thinking. It takes a very long time, if ever, for spending in the retail economy by Canterbury farmers to arrive on the doorsteps of homes in south Auckland. People can die, waiting. In the meantime, the “free” market is imposing these kind of cost increases on households:

The price of a block of butter is now 120 percent higher than it was a decade ago, Stats NZ said. In the year to June it was up 46.5 percent to $8.60 for a 500g block.

Despite the very high returns they are currently getting, our farmers do not seem to be spending up large in the wider retail economy. Instead, they’re reportedly using their earnings to pay down debt, and to repair/replace/upscale their farm inputs.

Forcing New Zealand consumers to pay as much, or more as people are paying in Britain for our produce is an outrage. By treating maximum gains from foreign markets as our top priority, we are putting essential food products beyond the reach of many New Zealand households. That makes no moral sense.

Nor does the fact that the best of our produce is being sent overseas, while local consumers are being expected to pay steep prices for inferior, unripe examples of – for example – green kiwifruit, which used to be an affordable fruit staple. When politicians say that’s just how the market works, they’re speaking from a comfort zone that many of us can barely imagine.

Footnote: Mainstream economic theory and practice takes for granted that consumers and workers should be treated as cannon fodder. Unemployment, reduced wages and reduced household spending are routinely touted as a good way of combating inflation. In reality, it creates stagflation, the malady that’s keeping our economy stuck in recession, or perpetually on the brink of it.

The policy focus is exclusively on the demand side of the economy. Unfortunately, both National and Labour seem averse to fighting inflation (and predatory pricing) by targeting the supply side of the economy. That would mean taking on the supermarkets and the banks. Fat chance. Those who profit from the status quo prefer to keep the “free” market rigged in their favour.

Epstein, Trump’s BFF

If you Google the words “Trump, Epstein” and then hit “ Images” you will find any number of photographs of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein hanging out, chatting, yukking it up, attending weddings together and generally acting like the best of pals. Somehow though, the media is now being asked to prove that a relationship existed that is on the public record for all to see.

The gang that regularly used to hang out with Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and a very large number of very young women included Trump, Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew and several prominent boardroom CEOs. Yet apparently, the same MAGA crowd who think that the Democrats ran a massive paedophile ring out of a NYC pizza parlour are suffering from cognitive dissonance when being asked to connect the dots between Epstein and Trump.

Now it may be that Clinton and Trump dutifully respected their marriage vows while in Epstein’s company. Maybe any and all lapses were with young women legally of an age to consent. But regularly hanging out with a known sex trafficker – and Trump is on the record as noting Epstein’s sexual preferences ran to very young women – hardly gives Trump the moral high ground. Especially when Trump put so much political significance on the alleged links between the Democrats, the deep state and Epstein.

It isn’t what Trump did that is his current problem. By now, even the MAGA crowd must know that Trump is a corrupt degenerate. It is the cover-up that seems to be hurting him. The faithful are beginning to realise that Trump was lying to them before, and is lying to them now, about his links to Epstein. Gracious. What other untruths might their hero be telling?

Mysterious r&b

The New York musician known as Dawuna – birth name Ian Mugerwa – has carved out an interesting niche. He makes low fi soulful r&b that feels timeless, understated and yet naggingly catchy. He’s like Prince on serious downers. Here’s the new single “ Love Jaunt.”

Dawuna is best known for his Glass Lit Dream album released toward the end of 2020. At the time, his music had seemed like a soulful Jai Paul meets Burial hybrid - and while that mix is about as good as it gets, the album reached only a small, fervent audience. Here’s the “Ape Prince” track:

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