Patu a te hunga, kua patua: navigating conflict online

13/11/2023

I deleted my Bluesky account today.

I posted a few thoughts this morning.

The first thought was dialling down the performative outrage and getting to work. The focus was on personal healing and supporting the most vulnerable in our communities.

The second set of thoughts were around why ACT’s anti-Māori and anti-Tiriti policies might produce unintended consequences: in particular, the opposite effect. For instance, not every iwi ceeded sovereignty, the principles themselves are a judicial creation, and the Waitangi Tribunal’s kaupapa series is literally compensating for failures in the Crown’s own policy advisory system. So in return for very poor problem definiton by ACT, the incoming government is about to enter into legal arguments, it may not win, while having its social license tested. That will make governance much harder than it needs to be.

I had two accounts disagree with me: most everyone else was supportive and interested. Then, it started. I got a stream of emails to my personal and work email addresses. A few nasty ones. But mostly from the dullards, dunderheads and muppets. Mostly from the extreme right, but the progressive left too.

Fark it. I am done. I’m done with social media. I’m done with hashtag #NZPol.

I put up with the puddingheads across the last administration. But, I will not put up with them for the next three years. I prefer my peace. I also prefer my kōrerotia underpinned by he tikanga me ona ngā kawa.

I am happy to agree to disagree: me whakaaae, te whakahē.

I am also happy to point out to others that their issues may not be my issues: e hara i ahau, tō ake take.

But I will not giving my time and energy to people who are hurt, and try to hurt me and my whānau: patu ai te hunga, kua patua.

Done. Also, ka kitea koe e au.

Disclaimer

These are my evolving thoughts, rhetorical positions and creative provocations. They are not settled conclusions. Content should not be taken as professional advice, official statements or final positions. I reserve the right to learn, unlearn, rethink and grow. If you’re here to sort me neatly into left vs right, keep moving. I’m not the partisan you’re looking for. These in...

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