Summarised by Centrist

Trendy causes are being used by political parties to manipulate kids who may be swayed by emotions rather than facts.

“In reality, running a Government can’t be vibes based. It has to have some level of grey and technicality,” according to political commentator Haimona Gray. 

Gray observes how children may form their political allegiances through events like the school Climate Strike and reactions to news coverage on the recently announced Public Service cuts. 

The former, ostensibly focused on climate issues, seamlessly morphed into a platform for various left-wing causes. 

The event was led by a coalition comprising Toitū Te Tiriti, Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa, and School Strike 4 Climate. This coalition presented demands, which match the policies of Te Pati Māori and the Greens. 

Amid what amounts to a day off from class, Gray asks should school students who participated feel compelled to support all these demands?

“Chloe Swarbrick, Aotearoa Liberation League, and TikTok politics show a subjective perspective on the world, and do so while using the language of righteousness. Kids are bright, kids can learn really quickly, but kids aren’t across all the details. These kinds of appeal to emotion are lazy manipulations of this fact,” he says. 

Read more over at Punishingly Haimona

_{Image: Archives New Zealand}