(no subject)

[labellementeuse]

More on David Lange, because he's all over the paper and I was talking to a friend in class today and she didn't know who he was, and I find that horrifying, that any young New Zealander, that any New Zealander who wishes to call themselves that does not know who David Lange. Because, you know, he did things wrong and he made mistakes but ultimately what we will remember about him was the greatest thing right that he ever did, that maybe any Prime Minister of New Zealand ever did, which was his speech at Oxford University, 1985, where he argued on the international stage that nuclear weapons were morally indefensible. I wasn't even born then, but I am still... I still feel this sense of pride, that this New Zealander was able to stand on the world stage and make a difference, and he really did.

So: Here Russell Brown says a bit about the speech and New Zealanders. Public Address also holds the transcript of his speech at Oxford, which I reccomend that you all read- the second page is the better one, by the way, so read the whole thing. It's a skilled piece of rhetoric, if nothing else, and fascinating in light of today's politics but also, it's so iconic, it's so much a part of New Zealand. And I believe in it, and I think if more New Zealanders had read this speech, if more people worldwide had read this speech... well.

X-posted to nz_in_the_world and kiwi_ljs

Also: Even David Farrar and Aaron Bhatnagar (right-wing bloggers) have managed to say nice- occasionally very nice- things about Lange. Admittedly it was economically a very liberal government. Nevertheless, some right-wing bloggers (and Australian Prime Ministers. WTF, John Howard?) would find themselves basically unable to say anything nice about iconic Prime Ministers in the opposing party so, you know.