Watching the leader’s debate last night was both revealing and disturbing at the same time.

I have no idea who hit who with a bed leg, but that doesn’t surprise me. We all know a lot of funny business goes on in politics.

What really surprised me was that Christopher Luxon spends $60 a week on food.

The average New Zealander is spending at least five times that on food and coming away with the basics. Stats NZ revealed recently that food prices are 8.9% higher in August 2023 than they were in August 2022.

Whose to blame for food increases? It all comes down to a combination of things including annual inflation across all OECD countries; extreme weather events destroying crops; and a supermarket duopoly.

What this all points to is a broken system. In fact the commerce commission recently found that Countdown and Foodstuffs are making $430 million a year in excess profits.

Frankly that is little short of unethical in my view. It is hardly surprising however, because that is how market capitalism works. The greatest motive is profit and it is also the end game. Capitalism is about exploitation – of humans, environments and animals. It cares little about hungry mouths (or the ‘bottom feeders’ as Luxon likes to call them).

What didn’t surprise me at the leaders debate was that no one talked about the elephant in the room: capitalism. Capitalism is the root cause of systemic inequality, poverty and environmental destruction.

Back to Luxon before I go on a journey down the inherent downfalls of late stage market -based capitalism. No one wants to talk about the elephant.

Luxon also said something last night which so far seems to have fallen off the radar. He talked about the fact that he didn’t want people to be ‘languishing on benefits’.

Languishing means to be in a state of despair or stagnation. To be empty and powerless. It is about unpleasantness; an unwanted situation; loss of strength and motivation.

Gosh. This to me this was one of the most revealing parts of the debate. The view that Luxon has of people on benefits is a very deficit-based one. One would hope that he never finds himself in such a position. Mind you, if he is only spending $60 a week on food it will leave him a bit left over for rent.

There are many reasons that people find themselves needing to be on a benefit of some sort. It does not mean that they are languishing.

Yet Luxon has repeatedly indicated his disdain for beneficiaries. In August 2022 he was quoted as saying, “You’re not going to get rich sitting on welfare and being confined to welfare all your life”.

As if they don’t know that.

At the end of the day, capitalism is a brutal system that is going to hit you hard over the head (with a bed leg) unless you happen to be wealthy. Wealth comes from private ownership and is fuelled by self-interest, competition and free markets.

Neither Labour or National are challenging capitalism per se as a way of running the economy. Furthermore, the brutal fallout of capitalism includes poverty, gaps between rich and poor, inflation in the costs of living and unfair access to what should be public services (health, the legal system and education).

Labour will champion policies that soften the blow of an unfair capitalist system. National will just hit you over the head with (you guessed it – a bed leg).

It all depends really on what kind of society you want to live in. I want to live in one based on collective and not individual interests. I want free public health services that work and an accessible education system for all. I want to put people, animals and the environment over profit. I want to address climate change so we have a livable future.

Capitalism is at the heart of the issue here. We won’t see any genuine change unless we address the elephant in the room.

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