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Own Your Future: A Liberal Vision for New Zealand in 2017 by David Seymour, Stephen Jennings
simonmee's review
2.0
Ron Mark has always lacked the class of his idol.
...sorry, what was that? Own Your Future firing a another Libertarian salvo into the war of ideas?
The problem is "fiscal creep", which isn't just an unkind name for Michael Cullen.
...oh, full of 2017's hottest takes, you say, with wounding blows against an Member of Parliament who *checks notes* retired in 2008?
You have a book. You wrote it. It's about your ideas. It's your opportunity to sell yourself. To show all those comments about you as "weird" are misplaced. But hey, if you want to share your thoughts about a grandiloquent diva or up themselves Green MPs then fine, make it about personality... ...if you think that is your area of strength.
God's Invisible Hand in the Gaps
Own Your Future sets out the basic principles of the ACT party over a range of policy areas. It's generally deregulatory, flattening the tax rate, tough on crime stuff. After all, welfare saps the will to live and plan a meaningful life, and it is a tragedy.
No problem. I'm not equipped to judge ACT's policies on their technical merits. To get the credit out of the way, the libertarian viewpoint has validity at the personal level, such as euthanasia (which Seymour owned) and cannabis legalisation.
The interesting part from my perspective are the gaps. For Seymour, the housing crisis will be solved by removing the rural/urban boundary. We don't need to intensify in David's heritage protected Epsom electorate because most cities get less dense over time a statement bereft of context or citation.
Seymour's transport solutions includes letting Uber run wild and tolling roads (a step towards privatisation that is elided over) but it doesn't go further than that, other than driverless cars are on their way... ...someday... ...probably.
Apparently salary expectations can determine immigration policies, thanks to the sanctity of market forces... ...except for Pacific Islanders doing cheap seasonal work... ...thanks to the sanctity of something other than market forces?
All politicians create universes in which their policies work. Paying Councils GST revenue to approve building consents might not be any worse than how KiwiBuild performed. But assuming past trends will apply to future, or that technology will magically solve issues feels like an abdication. And that is my main problem with Libertarianism, the idea that someone other than the government will solve the issue. Yet what if no one does? It's not like I can vote privately owned bastards out.
Own Your Future sets it right out in the title - don't come crying to us. It is somewhat worse than that, with implied non-market biases towards existing inner suburbanites and seasonal employers.
A great showman, if nothing else
Beyond the swipes Seymour takes at individuals, I really do wonder about Seymour's personability and to what extent he "gets" wider New Zealand.
None of our towns are more than a short drive from the ocean after work on a Friday might reflect his experience, but not mine, nor those in dozens of other such towns.
It sure is annoying people a few years out of their studies hit the $70,000 threshold for the highest tax bracket. Those earning closer to the average wage of $50,000 must be gutted to hear about that.
It's so hard when your daughter is stuck in a leaky home. If only you could subdivide a few spare acres so she could build her own home, amirite?
We can criticise the cult of personality. But Own Your Future is Seymour shouting to us that he doesn't have the common touch of Key or Ardern or, frankly, even English. "Weird" is an unfair way to describe Seymour, but this book hardly dispels that slightly unnerving aura he projects. Maybe others have nothing else than being a great showman, but what does Seymour have?
...sorry, what was that? Own Your Future firing a another Libertarian salvo into the war of ideas?
The problem is "fiscal creep", which isn't just an unkind name for Michael Cullen.
...oh, full of 2017's hottest takes, you say, with wounding blows against an Member of Parliament who *checks notes* retired in 2008?
You have a book. You wrote it. It's about your ideas. It's your opportunity to sell yourself. To show all those comments about you as "weird" are misplaced. But hey, if you want to share your thoughts about a grandiloquent diva or up themselves Green MPs then fine, make it about personality... ...if you think that is your area of strength.
God's Invisible Hand in the Gaps
Own Your Future sets out the basic principles of the ACT party over a range of policy areas. It's generally deregulatory, flattening the tax rate, tough on crime stuff. After all, welfare saps the will to live and plan a meaningful life, and it is a tragedy.
No problem. I'm not equipped to judge ACT's policies on their technical merits. To get the credit out of the way, the libertarian viewpoint has validity at the personal level, such as euthanasia (which Seymour owned) and cannabis legalisation.
The interesting part from my perspective are the gaps. For Seymour, the housing crisis will be solved by removing the rural/urban boundary. We don't need to intensify in David's heritage protected Epsom electorate because most cities get less dense over time a statement bereft of context or citation.
Seymour's transport solutions includes letting Uber run wild and tolling roads (a step towards privatisation that is elided over) but it doesn't go further than that, other than driverless cars are on their way... ...someday... ...probably.
Apparently salary expectations can determine immigration policies, thanks to the sanctity of market forces... ...except for Pacific Islanders doing cheap seasonal work... ...thanks to the sanctity of something other than market forces?
All politicians create universes in which their policies work. Paying Councils GST revenue to approve building consents might not be any worse than how KiwiBuild performed. But assuming past trends will apply to future, or that technology will magically solve issues feels like an abdication. And that is my main problem with Libertarianism, the idea that someone other than the government will solve the issue. Yet what if no one does? It's not like I can vote privately owned bastards out.
Own Your Future sets it right out in the title - don't come crying to us. It is somewhat worse than that, with implied non-market biases towards existing inner suburbanites and seasonal employers.
A great showman, if nothing else
Beyond the swipes Seymour takes at individuals, I really do wonder about Seymour's personability and to what extent he "gets" wider New Zealand.
None of our towns are more than a short drive from the ocean after work on a Friday might reflect his experience, but not mine, nor those in dozens of other such towns.
It sure is annoying people a few years out of their studies hit the $70,000 threshold for the highest tax bracket. Those earning closer to the average wage of $50,000 must be gutted to hear about that.
It's so hard when your daughter is stuck in a leaky home. If only you could subdivide a few spare acres so she could build her own home, amirite?
We can criticise the cult of personality. But Own Your Future is Seymour shouting to us that he doesn't have the common touch of Key or Ardern or, frankly, even English. "Weird" is an unfair way to describe Seymour, but this book hardly dispels that slightly unnerving aura he projects. Maybe others have nothing else than being a great showman, but what does Seymour have?
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