Champagne socialists

Karl du Fresne, a respected columnist of the Dominion Post took to task Bob Harvey, former Mayor of Waitakere for claiming that he is a socialist. Socialism, according to du Fresne is synonymous with economic failure, and gives the Soviet Union, North Korea and Venezuela as examples of these. Whatever you say about these countries, the Soviet Union developed from a backward peasant society into a powerful industrial society within a generation. It did so with great brutality, with oppression of human rights, But you can't deny the astounding economic progress the country had made over a life time, hardly economic failure. Venezuela achieved virtually universal literacy and health care over a remarkable few years, universal health care that the great bastion of capitalism, the United States is still arguing over and is yet to achieve. As to North Korea, a country ruled by a ruthless autocratic dynasty can hardly be claimed as socialist. In New Zealand socialism has achieved universal welfare benefits, social equity,built homes for the working man and the underprivileged, Built a network of efficient hydroelectric and thermal power plants, ran an efficient rail network that was ruined when it was privatized, a national air line that had to be rescued from bankruptcy under its privatized owners. New Zealand had efficient state managed marketing Boards, the Dairy Board, the Meat Marketing Board, that enabled  New Zealand agriculture to weather the loss of its main market, the UK. New Zealand also had the opportunity to develop industries with State support, the railway workshops were  efficient and versatile enterprises, the Air New Zealand workshop serviced aircrafts from all over the world, the Think Big projects of the 1970s and the socialist ventures of the 1960s would have changed the economic profile of New Zealand so that the country would not now be entirely depended on the price the Chinese are prepared to pay for milk powder. Socialism served New Zealand well, capitalism, like colonialism made New Zealand depend on outside forces. It is corruption that at times undermined socialism, as excessive greed undermined capitalism.