All around me on social media I can find like-minded people if I choose to. People who, for the most part, think like me at least in terms of their anger towards the Prime Minister's conduct in destroying any sense of freedom Kiwis thought they had. But they aren't like me. Not at all.
There are three kinds of people in New Zealand.
There are the ones that we think of as sitting on the left. When they are upset they threaten to bomb things, they arrange marches and protests full of screeching university-educated idiots (most of whom wouldn't know their arse from their elbow, truth be told). They organise, they take action. They use the system against itself. And they like chaos. They would replace tyranny with chaos in a heartbeat.
Then there are the ones who like to think they are on the right. Conservative, often Christian, vocal on social media and great letter-writers to newspaper editors but predominantly passive. They arrange websites, they blog, they make the effort to attend the odd non-violent 'family-friendly' protest in the park, and they make up witty, intellectual tweets to let the world know they are "just madder than all hell about this!" They will often support conservative minor political parties or the National Party but they do not fight tyranny. They are thinkers, but cowards.
Then there is the third group. They are neither firmly left nor right. Nor are they simply sitting on the fence. They are the majority. They sit on constantly shifting sands in the middle. It shifts in accordance with current events, as the group critically reassesses its position on the basis of usually quite sound information and rational judgement of the facts. These are the new memers. Not very good at memes, and certainly not graphic artists, but we generally understand the sentiment behind them. This group is made up of everyday people who are neither an agent of chaos nor an intellectual coward. Most are employed or self-employed, many are retired. If needed, they might rise up. They are a threat to both left and right. They cannot be controlled easily because they think free of any specific political or ideological motivation. They are often scorned for not complying with one of the other two groups. The best strategy so far developed has been to call them names, like "conspiracy theorist" or "white supremacist". There are a few oddballs, sure, but for the most part group three are neither of those things - they just have an uncanny ability to recognise the other groups' overreach into their lives and rail against it. The big question for this group of citizens, greater in number than all the others put together, is: "How far will you go?"
It's a question few will answer out loud. I doubt that many people have considered it, and those that have are probably no closer to having a firm answer. They won't know until the time comes.
I recall years ago talking to a single mother who had become the unfortunate target of drug dealers who thought (erroneously, I'm told) that she had become an informant for police. She lived alone with her child, in a State house, in a normal neighbourhood. But she was a target. She had the good fortune to somehow manage to acquire a friend of a friend who was a former soldier. She never said what sort of soldier he was, but he sounds like a somewhat interesting chap.
Within a week of hearing of her plight, our friendly mercenary had installed a phone for emergency use under each bed in the young woman's house, with all the wiring running underneath the house so it couldn't be seen from the inside. Every means of entering the property was alarmed to trip as soon as a footstep fell on home soil. One switch at night was the only thing she needed to set the alarms after the child was in bed. Every door was reinforced, and bolts were added to the windows and doors of her child's room to prevent anyone entering it without a struggle. Over time, the child was given it's own attack dog, trained to not just guard but to proactively engage with the body parts of intruders. Our single mother friend was armed with, and taught to use, a shotgun, a rifle, a handgun, and one hand grenade to use only in particular circumstances. Guns and ammo were hidden all over the house. Yes, New Zealand. This was in sleepy little New Plymouth!
The most extraordinary thing she told me was how her attitude had to shift. She had initially been surprised at the weight of the hand grenade, and afraid of it. It was after all an explosive device. She was instructed that if a group of men came for her house, she was to stand at the window and wait until they were as tightly grouped as they would be likely to be, then pull the pin and lob it into the middle of the crowd and get away from the window and under the bed. Apparently in every crowd there is always some idiot whose first instinct is to catch whatever is thrown, until they realise what it is - by which time its too late. Many hours were spent by this young woman, who had never been involved in anything of the sort, contemplating if she would ever be able to throw the hand grenade or fire any of the guns, knowing they are weapons meant to kill.
She eventually decided that yes, in defence of herself and her child, she would be prepared to take a human life. She later would consider it a life-changing moment for her. Nothing was ever the same once she had made that awful decision. She saw people in one of two ways thereafter. Either friend, or foe. There was nothing in between. Friend should be protected, foe dispensed with. She tells me she has since met "almost a hundred" others just like her.
Does it bother you that there are people like her out there in New Zealand? Does it bother you that there are people who will not hesitate to kill in the name of freedom from fear and tyranny, and self-protection? Not gang members or drug dealers, but everyday New Zealanders. It should. All of them sit in group three. They are us. They will not act unless they have to, but if called upon to do so they will not hesitate.
We come here with no peaceful intent, but ready for battle, determined to avenge our wrongs and set our country free. ~ William Wallace. September 11, 1297 before the Battle of Stirling Bridge.All it will take is the emergence of a leader who has the same rational, action-oriented desire to restore New Zealand to the way things were and should be again. So, who among you will stand? Who among you has the ability to strategise, to plan, to motivate your fellow citizens, to execute your plans?
Who among you will be our hero, New Zealand?
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