Today is Waitaingi Day: so named because in 1840 the confederation of chiefs of Aoteoroa ceded soverighty to the British Crown. They were driven to this because of their awareness that the French and Americans were preparing to set up colonies in NZ (The French did at Akaroa about a year later) and they had developed trust and respect in the British Resident.

The British were seen, and I would say they were correct, as the least bad bunch. The British did not really want to do this. They sent a Naval Captain out to regotiate: the treaty was written in haste, varies depending on which text you use (Maori or English) and it remains a source of conflict and litigation.

Any thoughts of attending any celebration has gone. The local rag-tag of failed socailists and their followers demonstrate, loudly, and the correct response is to leave it alone.

The one group I pilty today are the Maori leaders. They are working, quite hard (and across party lines) to set in place a change of culture — away from dependency and towards entrepreneurship, creativity, and a pride in work. For the middle class, this is working, but for the long tail (and it is long) of people who have no skills, there is a continuing dependence on the Domestic Purposes Benefit and the dole.  But this is an ongoing task, done quietly, over a long time. It is not dramatic. There is no one posing on the barriers. It is not romantic. And the simple are seduced by that most noxious of memes: Take it from whitey and the uncle Toms.

But throwing money at this problem has not work. We have tried. We have had progressive taxes, butting 67 cents in the dollar: we have used protection, we have regulated so that Maori have entry into the trades and professions of power. But the problem is getting worse, not better.

While the underclass (Lumpenproleriat) has decreased for the other ethnic groups in New Zealand, it has increased for Maori. The rest of us have tried to help. But you cannot impart a spine where one is missing.