Conformity – New Zealand’s one defining value

What are New Zealand values? Some members of NZ First want to compel migrants and refugees to sign up to them but have been a little vague as to the detail, beyond ‘‘respect for gender equality, religious freedom and New Zealand law’’.

I’d fail that test, not having much respect for gender equality nor New Zealand law. Oscar Kightley wrote that the only value that really mattered was the ability to take the piss out of one another, which is sweet. But wrong.

The range of acceptable opinion and behaviour in Godzone is very narrow. If you step outside it there is immense social pressure to get back into your lane.

We like non-conformists so long as they aren’t threatening. Sam Hunt is a benign and mostly irrelevant figure. He’s embraced. Don Brash’s views have stepped outside of acceptable bounds and he’s being shunned by polite society.

Back in June I briefly shot to fame when I refused to bow to the baying hordes demanding that I shut down a fireworks display at my property. The furore wasn’t over damage to horses. No one cares about other peoples’ horses. It was outrage that I refused to submit to the whims of a cackling handful of the sanctimonious. A friend who is a partner at a law firm commented he’d have been forced by his timid peers to cancel the show. Not because they’d have cared, but because we commercially and socially shun those seen as too outspoken.

One of the things I admire about our American cousins is their willingness to hold to their values in the face of public opprobrium. That doesn’t happen here. We suppress our opinions in order to remain safely beige.

We value conformity and acceptance above integrity, honesty or friendship. Those are our values.