NEWSHUB PROMOTES SOCIALISM

Newshub has published an article suggesting that safeguarding New Zealand from climate change could mean seizing the means of production. Does Duncan Garner know?

NEWSHUB would not exactly be the first, or even the second, website you might go to when looking for articles condemning capitalism and promoting socialism. But an article doing exactly that appeared on the website just today. Its an interview with American architect Bill Fleming, in New Zealand for the Festival of Architecture.

Headlined 'How socialist urban design will save New Zealand from climate change', the article opens with a sentence that could easily grace a socialist website or blog: 'Safeguarding New Zealand against the devastating impact of climate change could mean seizing the means of production.'

It goes on to say : 'US landscape architect Billy Fleming has a radical vision for the country's future if it's going to survive rising sea levels and extreme weather, and it involves the dreaded s-word: socialism.

The article is written by Sophie Bateman and David Harvey, both listed as video digital producers and who have been with Mediaworks for the past two years.

Write Bateman and Harvey : ' For Fleming, socialism is inextricable from the issue of climate change. Capitalism, with its relentless growth demanding more and more of the Earth's resources, is inherently incompatible with sustained human life. Things need to change, and they need to change fast.'

They observe that Fleming is a 'vocal proponent of the Green New Deal the ambitious legislation put forward by progressive politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and says urban design will play a key role."

The Mediaworks stable of television and radio stations are largely hostile to anything that resembles left wing politics so its refreshing to see an article like this appearing on the Newshub website, home to the dreary right wing opinions of people like Duncan Garner and Mark Richardson.

Best piece of work Newshub have published this week, possibly this year...