Link to article with discussions of apocalyptic theory, hyper-capitalists, neo-colonization
This whole article, about seeing New Zealand as an escape pod for the apocalypse, is A Lot. It... it captures a lot of feelings I have, and not just about that particular subject.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/feb/15/why-silicon-valley-billionaires-are-prepping-for-the-apocalypse-in-new-zealand
cont
In all, I think that article is possibly the best representation of NZ, physically and mentally, that I've ever read. The description of our amenability to malign but important outsiders due to any such attention feeling like a cat getting it's tummy scratched is spot on.
It also mentions the lefty prevalence of "it's fine, we have Jacinda now", despite that being due to the nationalist Winston Peters (although he comes across better than he should by being in opposition to Peter Thiel).
@tfproxy @abe_e_seedy I make so many Canada / NZ comparisons but the parallels are so striking it's a whole thing
@abe_e_seedy i am sorry that peter thiel might someday mar your perfect landscape of sheep :(
@abe_e_seedy I want to read this but I earnestly think it will be too depressing. I was actually thinking about this a lot while we were gone because of your dad's hero worship of Elon Musk
@abe_e_seedy what is it with tech douchebags and the Pacific Ocean, anyway
@angrboda I actually found it more hopeful than the intro implies, but even so the reason I tagged it like that is because it definitely at least flirts with some dark concepts, so it's super fair to avoid.
Plus it's pretty long, so it's not something you can just read quickly on your phone at your desk or anything
Continued discussion of that link, although not with that focus
eg, "I was standing next to Byrt, who’d picked me up from the airport and, in a gesture I would come to understand as quintessentially Kiwi, dragged me directly up the side of a volcano."
Ang and I joke that visitng NZ can be summed up w/ "climb this hill, it's important to me". The article then includes a photo from almost the exact same spot as one I took with her.