Solidarity and encouragement

It’s been a tough couple of weeks.

I’ve been plagued with self-doubt, wondering if anything I do makes a difference. I’ve felt powerless in the face of wave after wave of terrible policy from the current government, awful consultation rounds based on flimsy premises, lawmaking that privileges the already wealthy, and politicians utterly disinterested in how their lawmaking practice impacts on ordinary, everyday people.

And then, like a hero rising, Mihingarangi Forbes emerges with this stunning interview clip:

@notmyprimeministerWay to go Mihi. Exposing the little rat. #davidseymour #nzpolitics #nzlabourparty #tepatimaori #fypnz #nzfyp #nz #newzealand #newzealandtiktok

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Alongside this, ‪@thebasement.nz‬ on Bluesky reminded me of Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan’s 3.5% Rule:

no government has withstood a nonviolent movement that sustained active participation from 3.5% of the population. This threshold, while not a universal guarantee, highlights the power of mass mobilization. For example, in a country of 100 million people, 3.5 million participants could tip the scales - a feasible number for nonviolent campaigns but rare for armed rebellions.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, a country that has approx. 2.7 million people enrolled to vote, 3.5% of this number is 94,500 people. If we took our entire population figure of 5.2million, that figure rises to 182,000.

Over 100,000 people marched on Hīkoi mo te Tiriti. Over 300,000 people submitted in opposition to the Treaty Principle’s Bill. This is what active participation looks like.

And it all reminded me that I am not alone. It reminded me that there are many, many of us who are resisting colonial fictions and who utterly reject the false promises of neoliberalism, exploitation, and trickle-down theory. We are part of wider movement who ‘get it’, who want a better country, who support Indigenous rights, and who are actively working to prevent the very wealthy few from exploiting both our land and our people.

That encouragement was just what I needed to pick myself up and carry on. Hopefully you find it just as motivating as I did.