Letter to New Zealand’s richest man
What have you done for me lately?
Kia ora Graham,
Photo by fikry anshor on Unsplash
The reason I’m writing to you is that I’m hoping you’ll help me better understand the society in which we both live.
Until I googled you, I knew little about you apart from the fact that you were wealthy. You will know nothing about me – I doubt you have read my books (though I hope I’m wrong). I’m interested in why you, a wealthy individual, just gave a large chunk of cash to the major right-wing political parties in New Zealand. I’d like to understand your views and actions, not judge them.
You have a few years on me but we’re probably in similar shape, so we consume a similar amount of the planet’s resources - food, water and oxygen. As human beings, were indistinguishable, we’re peas in a pod. In fact, if we ignore wealth (and the faux status it brings), you and I are ubiquitous members of society. Two of many. Nothing special.
According to Wikipedia, a source I love to use now I’m out of academia, you “worked as a tow-truck driver and as a panel beater after leaving school at age 16”. Those are both tough, physically demanding jobs and, correct me if I’m wrong, not that well paid. That was in the 70s so you were likely a union member – was that a positive experience?
Today, according to the NZ herald which cites the NBR, you are worth $12B. That’s a staggering number to get your head around – that’s twelve thousand million. You’re a millionaire twelve-thousand times over. That heaps.
It won’t surprise you, since we haven’t met at black-tie galas or yacht-club soirees, I haven’t got that sort of money. In fact, I have the millstone that is a mortgage (literally a death pledge) weighing on my finances. Banking is one of the rankest industries on the planet, unless you’re a billionaire.
I digress.
What I seek to understand is why you donated a considerable sum of money (in the context of political donations) to the National, ACT and NZFirst parties. “In total, National has received $400,000, ACT $200,000 and NZ First $100,000 from Hart and his companies.” I know it is chump change for you (an apt term) – the calculator on my computer tells me, as a percentage, it is so small it has to use powers to the negative which I struggle to comprehend. In layman’s terms - bugger all.
I can, of course, try and interpret your motives. The political parties you have supported will introduce policies favourable to you, thus your financial position will improve. Do you see it as an investment? Is it a straight-out purchase – cash for chumps? If it was, in my opinion, you’ve paid well over the odds.
Without hearing from you, it appears your actions are solely about money – getting more of it. I would have thought you have enough money. I mean, you can’t spend the money you have, not decently. You can fritter it away by buying an island, but what does that say? If billionaires focused on helping fix climate change, you wouldn’t need a bolt-hole in the Pacific. Bezos and Musk think they’re going to live on Mars – Theil already is.
Have you read the quote by Ralph Waldo Emmerson?
To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
I’m sure you can tick most of those boxes yet come up a country-mile short of what you could have achieved. You are in a position to do great things, to be remembered as someone who did great things. Hemingway wrote, “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self”. Imagine how many tow-truck drivers and panel beaters could have improved lives.
I have no doubt this blip in human history, neoliberalism (late 70s to about 2030), will go down as the egocentric-rapacious period – a time of greed and selfishness led by the greedy and selfish. The billionaire space-race encapsulates the stupidity and obscenity of the time. The phrase that I think epitomises our current period is – what have you done for me lately?
What have you done for me lately?
Not, what can I do for my fellow woman/man? Not, how can I improve society? Not, how can I improve the human condition. Not, what do we need to do to “leave the world a bit better”. What have you done for me lately?
I fear we have indoctrinated a generation, maybe two or three with this selfishness. It is a selfishness that the planet cannot satisfy or sate. As we exhaust the planet’s resources, there isn’t enough “stuff” to go around. Yet what do the political parties that you are trying to help into power want – economic growth. Act’s Simon Court says there is no climate emergency – you gave money to these clowns.
Why?
If it’s not just to make more money that you don’t need, if there’s a different reason, I’d like to understand.
I doubt you will reply to this letter, I doubt you will read this letter, but my interest is genuine. In a far worse position than you – only financially I add with emphasis – I strive to make society better for all citizens while trying my best to live and provide in the society we have. I try and ensure the society, country and world my grandchildren live in is not the one we are currently bequeathing – in realtor parlance, it’s a fixer-upper at best.
As Grace Marks, my lead character, is fond of saying, ‘sometimes someone needs to do something before nothing matters’. You could be that someone.
Riley Chance