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Public trust in government, business, media and NGOs around the world plummets, according to survey

Public trust in government, business, media and NGOs around the world plummets, according to survey

The global PR agency Edelman has released its 17th annual trust and credibility survey. Here's a press release summaring its results:

The 2017 Edelman TRUST BAROMETER reveals the largest-ever drop in trust across the institutions of government, business, media and NGOs. Trust in media (43 percent) fell precipitously and is at all-time lows in 17 countries, while trust levels in government (41 percent) dropped in 14 markets and is the least trusted institution in half of the 28 countries surveyed. The credibility of leaders also is in peril: CEO credibility dropped 12 points globally to an all-time low of 37 percent, plummeting in every country studied, while government leaders (29 percent) remain least credible.

The Trust Barometer found that 53 percent of respondents believe the current overall system has failed them—it is unfair and offers little hope for the future—while only 15 percent believe it is working, and approximately one-third are uncertain. Even the elites have a lack of faith in the system, with 48 percent of the top quartile in income, 49 percent of the college-educated and a majority of the well-informed (51 percent) saying the system has failed.

The gap between the trust held by the informed public and that of the mass population has widened to 15 points, with the biggest disparities in the U.S. (21 points), U.K. (19 points) and France (18 points). The mass population in 20 countries distrusts their institutions, compared to only six for the informed public.

“The implications of the global trust crisis are deep and wide-ranging,” said Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman. “It began with the Great Recession of 2008, but like the second and third waves of a tsunami, globalization and technological change have further weakened people’s trust in global institutions. The consequence is virulent populism and nationalism as the mass population has taken control away from the elites.”

Current populist movements are fueled by a lack of trust in the system and economic and societal fears, including corruption (40 percent), immigration (28 percent), globalization (27 percent), eroding social values (25 percent) and the pace of innovation (22 percent). Countries coupling a lack of faith in the system with deep fears, such as the U.S., U.K. and Italy have seen the election of Donald Trump, the Brexit vote and the failed Italian referendum.

The cycle of distrust is magnified by the emergence of a media echo chamber that reinforces personal beliefs while shutting out opposing points of view. Respondents favor search engines (59 percent) over human editors (41 percent) and are nearly four times more likely to ignore information that supports a position they do not believe in.

“People now view media as part of the elite,” said Edelman. “The result is a proclivity for self-referential media and reliance on peers. The lack of trust in media has also given rise to the fake news phenomenon and politicians speaking directly to the masses. Media outlets must take a more local and social approach.”

There is evidence of even further dispersion of authority. A person like yourself (60 percent) is now just as credible a source of information about a company as is a technical (60 percent) or academic (60 percent) expert, and far more credible than a CEO (37 percent) and government official (29 percent).

Of the four institutions, business is viewed as the only one that can make a difference. Three out of four respondents agree a company can take actions to both increase profits and improve economic and social conditions in the community where it operates. Moreover, among those who are uncertain about whether the system is working for them, it is business (58 percent) that they trust most.

Yet business finds itself on the brink of distrust, and perhaps most concerning for business is the perceived role the public sees it playing in stoking their fears. A majority of the global population surveyed worries about losing their jobs due to the impacts of globalization (60 percent), lack of training or skills (60 percent), immigrants who work for less (58 percent), jobs moving to cheaper markets (55 percent) and automation (54 percent).

“Business is the last retaining wall for trust,” said Kathryn Beiser, global chair of Edelman’s Corporate practice. “Its leaders must step up on the issues that matter for society. It has done a masterful job of illustrating the benefits of innovation but has done little to discuss the impact those advances will have on people’s jobs. Business must also focus on paying employees fairly, while providing better benefits and job training.”

Other key findings from the 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer include:

  • Trust in business (52 percent) dropped in 18 countries, while NGOs (53 percent) saw drop-offs as high as 10 points across 21 countries.
  • Employees, on average, are trusted 16 points more than CEOs on messaging around employee/customer relations (53 percent), financial earnings (38 percent), crises (37 percent), innovation (33 percent), industry issues (32 percent) or programs addressing societal issues (30 percent).
  • Half of the countries surveyed have lost faith in the system, led by France (72 percent) and Italy (72 percent), Mexico (67 percent), South Africa (67 percent) and Spain (67 percent).

Trust in traditional media fell 5 points to 57 percent, the steepest decline among platforms since 2012, followed by social media (41 percent), which dropped three points. By contrast, online-only media (51 percent) received the biggest bump in trust at five points.

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Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.

70 Comments

Trust - Something to be earned and not taken for granted.
Once lost, very hard to regain.
Given the way that the general public have been lied to and had the wool pulled over their eyes by politicians, spin doctors and the corporate PR industry it is no surprise. This is a natural consequence and nothing less than these purveyors of "truth" deserve.
I do feel sorry for the decent, probably less forward individuals in these sectors who are honest but get tarred with the same brush.

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I can't believe that the media STILL has this anti-Brexit/ Trump thing going on!!!!

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You should see the Anti-Trump stance because of his Anti-Abortion decree.

Versus Women's Rights a Global monumental wave building on Facebook.

You ain't seen nothing yet.!

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Absolutely who does he think he is!!! Everyone hates Trump! Holllywood hates him, The media hates him, Most Women hate him (Globally), The Scots hate him, Most educate Americans hate him, Mexico hates him, Canada hates him (But they're too nice to publicly admit it yet), Europe hates him, The Brits hate him; naturally they can't stand anyone who is too egotistical (But they can't admit it yet until the trade deal). China hates him and the list goes on...

Basically only sheep and the those who think they're are elitist can tolerate him.

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You forgot George Soros - he really hates him. And ISIS.

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CJ099,

Re your final sentence;Zachary Smith and Ted Stanton think he's wonderful and surely their opinion outweighs all these others,don't you think?

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When he repeals Roe v Wade then you can say he is anti abortion but removing funding from organisations that promote abortion overseas is not in, my book, being antiabortion. It was an economic decision. In fact I read later that the Netherlands is to start contributing to such organisations. So at least it can be said that other countries are now going to pick up the slack

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The media is showing how complicit they are by their relentless attacks on Brexit & Trump.
They will never stop this - they are furious that the viewpoints and people they backed have lost popular support. The truth is now unpalatable.

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Truth or alternative fact?

The top-secret TPP free trade agreement was one of the worst trade deals ever crafted by Washington’s pay-to-play culture of corruption, Feierstein stated Read more

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"The TPP was deliberately crafted to ensure a form of "globalization" so that these same corporations who designed the "rules" could operate in the dark with total impunity while stripping member nations of their sovereignty and denying consumers of all their rights and protections, Feierstein explained."
.
The powers that masterminded the TPP and similar global systems will eventually wear down Trump and at that stage will form the overall replacement system. Trump, as rough as he is and with all his faults, is really the last stand for a free West and other values.
.

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The hell he is, you could get out of the TPP without going all totalitarian on people, especially women, he has guaranteed himself absolute hatred from women whose rights he is removing, and he deserves every bit of it. It won't be hard for corporations to "wear him down" he is part of their world, for crying out loud. He is not doing what he is doing for the American people, he does not care about people, he only cares about somehow becoming some sort of demi-god.
Within a few days of taking office, he and the Republican Party are clearly displaying signs of fascism.

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He has a mandate from the people of the USA, they voted him into office, he is doing what he said he would.
You are obviously still believing what you read in the MSM.

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I am not keen on alternative facts to be honest, now tell me what you think Trump and the republicans will be dong with the USAs abortion laws, this could help you https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-lawmaker-no-abortion-access-would-f…
Please take particular note of the following paragraph "House Bill 948 would ban and criminalize abortions at any stage, direct state officials to ignore “any conflicting federal” laws, and would no longer exempt pregnancies as a result of rape, incest or fetal abnormalities. The bill would remove the exception for abortion in the state’s penal code for criminal homicide, meaning that women and providers could face charges as serious as murder for the procedure"
I doubt anybody mandated the Trump and the republicans to make an all out assault on women's LIVES!!

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You might like to run a wee rule over this as well http://www.rense.com/general37/fascism.htm there not much of the criteria here does not apply to Trump and the republicans.
I won't be surprised if you come back with alternative facts, of course, such as Trump hasn't said that torture is effective etc

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Are you disputing the fact that Trump won the US election? Even CNN has reluctantly admitted this inconvenient truth.
The fascism is really being displayed by the protesters as explained in this clip
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D7iWaUoMCko

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No I am not disputing that FACT, I am expressing my view in which I am not alone that the guy is a liar, he is unhinged and very dangerous. I see all of the elements for a dictator being displayed by him. People are NOT going to stop keeping this front and centre, and good on them. Again have a look at that list that describes what fascism and maybe even one by one tell how each one does not apply to Trump - a couple of them don't, but I see the potential for all of them to apply.

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MB, then get it from the horses mouth if you don't believe MSM
Trump has just hinted that he will reinvade Iraq and take the oil; and regrets seizure of the oil did not take place in 2003.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/transcript-abc-news-anchor-david-muir-in…

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He probably deep down, understands that Trump lies like a flatfish

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Oh and I expect Daesh are laughing their chest bumps off at some of this. They WANTED wanted Trump as pres, they WANT all out war, their philosophy is an end of days one and they are craving war.
It should have come as no surprise that so many people have cut and run, endangered and even lost their own lives trying to get the hell out of it. It also comes as no surprise that potential and real terrorists have hidden themselves among it all.
It is a dilemma, tarring all Muslims with the same brush, will, in the end, only make it worse. I seriously do not know what the answer is, other than to say, the human race would probably be better off if we all came to understand that believing in imaginary sky friends is completely potty.

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..your'e on fire this morning PocketAces...good stuff. I'll leave you to it, saves me the trouble:)

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Too right, you're on fire. Every society has it's disenfranchised who are disgruntled with the political system and often resort to violence. The modern economic systems have created many more, evidenced by the equity gap. This time round though radicals who have employed violence as a political weapon against governments and used social media to broadcast their actions and message, are empowering those disenfranchised to act, when historically they perhaps would not.

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Trump repeatedly promised in his election campaign to release his tax returns, he now refuses .That comes from him, is a fact, and is not an invention of MSM.It should stay on the front page rather than be forgotten as yesterday's news(which is what Trump is desperately counting on).
How was that not an enormous and very significant lie?? such non-disclosure is designed to conceal his multibillion dollar conflicts of interest, which will overlap with his family and those of the ultra-rich he has surrounded himself with.
He is cleverly and successfully distracting attention from this by banging on about torture and walls etc.
It is up to MSM to report facts and keep on doing so; they are the main defence against what is happening, the Democrats are supine, as are the Governments that Trump threatens.

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While this is true, voters see no alternative. What do you suggest should take the place of the present corrupt system?

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A much more transparent, honest and accountable system, for better minds than mine to devise and implement.

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Going totalitarian on Women? Nonsense, That would be Saudi Arabia where all Women have a Male Guardian, can't leave the house without a Man & where Women still can't drive a car thinking it damages their reproductive organs.

"So the Reform Party now includes a Klansman—Mr. Duke, a Neo-Nazi—Mr. Buchanan, and a Communist—Ms. Fulani. This is not company I wish to keep." - Donald Trump in 2000.

The Woman who led the Women's March on Washington is Muslim activist (Linda Sarsour) who advocates Islamic Sharia Law, Women's March in Germany chanting "Allahu Akbar".

Trump verbally attacked a Republican in 1999 for being a "Hitler Lover", allowed Jewish & Black customers in his Palm beach club in the 1990's when others didn't.

Trump left the reform party in 2000 due to former KKK member David Duke joining the reform party. Trump denounced the KKK & David Duke.

Trump is a former registered Democrat & much more Moderate than his Republican predecessors.

Trump held a LGBT rainbow flag at one of his rallies.

Trump allowed Caitlyn Jenner who's Transgender to use the toilets in his buildings.

Fascists don't hold LGBT flags nor allow Transgender people to use their toilets in their buildings.

Fascism? The Left is acting more like the Fascists wanting to blow up the White house like Madonna thought of & assaulting people they assume as 'Nazi's' unprovoked on the street like Shia Labeouf.

Nazi Germany assaulted people on the street too. The Far-Left group like Antifa,Black Bloc etc are the new Fascists who assault people unprovoked on the street.

Anyone that believes Trump is a Fascist is a absolute fool who hasn't researched Trump's political history, Trump also believed in Universal Healthcare.

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Madonna saying something stupid does NOT mean the left wants to blow up the whitehouse!!!
Anyone who does not see how Trump and the republicans are not expressing traits of fascism is a fool
Trump and the republican party are not showing totalitarian tendencies to just women.
I think you might need to read that list again, you do not have to be exterminating people to show the tendencies that have to that sort of thing in the past

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The Left generally wants to blow up the White House now that Trump occupies it & many Leftists have tweeted death threats of wanting to kill Trump.

Madonna is just showing the general attitude of the Left in America today which wants Trump dead.

The way the Left is going with DNC chair candidates trying to now silence White People's opinions & racial politicas, Even Americans who consider themselves Liberal are now seeing the Democratic party imploding.

Totalitarian tendencies to women? Examples?

It seems You seriously haven't looked at how women are treated in the Islamic world have you? Women are damaged for life due to acid attacks by Men in Islamic countries.

A Woman was beaten to death in Afghanistan by a large male mob for allegations of burning a Quran & had her body set on fire.

Women can't go out in Public in Iran without wearing a Hijab, Women in Islamic countries having "modesty police" watching what they wear in public.

Women in the Islamic world are generally stoned to death for adultery & for being raped. in Saudi Arabia you have your hand cut off for stealing, public beheadings.

Women are publicly lashed in Islamic countries. Muslim Parents threw acid on their daughters face just for looking at a boy.

What traits of Fascism is Trump & the Republicans expressing?

You have no idea what totalitarian tendencies towards women are.

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I will just illustrate what I know about Islam by one thing here, I think you may have confused the Hijab with the Burkha or niqab, I know much, and I am one of the first to decry the actions of radical Islam, I am an atheist so I look at all religion with something of a jaundiced eye. I have to edit myself sometimes as my natural instinct is to find the whole bloody lot outright laughable but I accept not all think the same as I do.
Later on I will post that entire page describing fascism and I will say what I see as qualifying Trump. I have work to go to.
To keep yourself amused in the meantime
https://www.facebook.com/4wardUSA/videos/1151650244926300/

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MADONNA want to blow up the Whitehouse so it can go along side other things she has blown up.
Several marriages
Many relationships
Her lips
Her breasts
and her relationship with her son.
Next it wil be your career.

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"Going totalitarian on Women? Nonsense, That would be Saudi Arabia where all Women have a Male Guardian, can't leave the house without a Man & where Women still can't drive a car thinking it damages their reproductive organs". - Can you guys not see, that this sort of thing, any sort of thing, is not a case of all or nothing, and yes, authoritarian regimes tend to have sentiments of male domination.
Donald Trump of 2017 seems be a totally different kettle of fish than Trump of yore, yes I do know that he ONCE espoused Universal Heallthcare and I wait with baited breath for the day he tells us that is what he is going to do. Flip flop estraordinaire and let us judge what we see before our eyes - TODAY
On the LGBT stuff, again Trump is proving to be an enormous hypocrite by aligning himself with a party that is crawling with anti LGBT such as his vice president, why don't you wonder why he chose that guy as his running mate in the first place. Can you not see something is a bit out of place here? He has no principles, he can just change them to suit the occasion.

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Well the Left is the even bigger hypocrite aligning themselves with supporting the ultra-conservative religion of Islam which still executes people for being LGBT in 10 Islamic countries in the world & followers that widely believes that homosexuality is an abomination & illness.

Most Islamic countries in the world either imprison LGBT or executes them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_in_Islam#/media/File:World_laws_pert…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_at_the_United_Nations#/media/…

52% of British Muslims believe homosexuality in the UK should be illegal.

Male domination? It's much more than male domination in the Islamic world.

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The trouble with you is that you are lumping every Muslim with the craziness that is radical Islam. I know it is difficult, I find it difficult, but you cannot tar every single Muslim with the radical brush, because, you know what, THAT is what will make them so.

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Wrong, It's the general view of most of the Global Muslim population that homosexuality is an abomination. It's okay for a Muslim to lie "Taqiyya" if it benefits Islam.

Homosexuals are killed in the Islamic world as soon as they are publicly exposed. A Turkish newspaper covering the Orlando Shooting had a headline that read: "Death toll rises to 50 in bar where perverted homosexuals go".

Just as it was the general view in the West 50 years ago that homosexuality was generally wrong.

The trouble with you is seeming to think that Islam in general doesn't hate Gay's which absolutely false, One Gay Palestinian who has family ties with Hamas sought asylum in Canada fearing if he was deported back to Palestine he would be killed by his parents for being Gay so he got asylum in the U.S. instead.

A Gay Muslim man was widely attacked by Muslims on Twitter for claiming that he is both Gay & Muslim.

Most Islamic countries imprison or execute people for being LGBT. The punishment under Islamic law for leaving Islam is death & the same for being Gay.

Radical Islam? Islam's founder (Muhammad) was radical throughout his life. Muhammad raided caravans, destroyed 300+ idols in Mecca, allowed his men to marry their slaves,had women of the men he killed as his concubines, beheaded a tribe of Jews (Banu Qurayza) & married a 6-year old (Aisha).

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If we are going to delve into history I hope you are prepared for a whole lot of stuff about "Christians" as well. Islam has a long way to go in many respects but this sort of hate speech just makes you as bad as the radicals, it is far better to speak WITH those who want the change.

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I'm not a Christian so why would anything you say on Christianity affect me? nice try lol.

The difference with Christianity today is that it isn't cutting peoples heads off nor killing women or gays. Christians aren't killing people in the name of Jesus nor God.

Jesus was a hippie who died on a cross.

Bad as the radicals? LOL what a ridiculous thing to say as I'm not killing women for adultery nor killing people for being gay or killing secular bloggers.

I'm just delving to the truth on Islam's founder Muhammad who was a illiterate tribal warlord & wasn't any different to ISIS or Al-Qaeda. Islam is a religion built on empires such as the (Islamic Caliphates,Ottoman & Mughal Empires).

40% of the World's Muslim population are illiterate just like Muhammad, I guess Muhammad being their ultimate inspiration worked out.

Hate speech? looks like I just ran into a SJW.

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PocketAces - it seems you do not realise that abortion is legal in the USA but is able to be made illegal by individual States. Nothing has changed for Americans. Trump has stopped the USA funding abortion services overseas from the USA taxpayers that Obama had reinstated one week into his Presidency. Abortion is legal in NZ so is homosexuality etc so no idea why NZ women ( I am one) are getting their knickers in a twist over this. If you want an argument, then why not fight for different methods of co
ntraception to be made free in NZ? I would support that.

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Trump advocates punishment for abortion, I think it is reasonable to expect some sort of action in the near future to back this up, after all, he does what he says, apparently.

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Trump advocates punishment for abortion, I think it is reasonable to expect some sort of action in the near future to back this up, after all, he does what he says, apparently.

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Trust Professor Spoonley
Population stagnation

http://sciblogs.co.nz/guestwork/2017/01/25/demographic-disruption/#comm…

He's not a migration shill. Really he's not!

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We should not be seeing population stagnation or decline as a problem, seeing it is exactly what the planet needs. If it can fall without us resorting to all out war, then all the better. We have the opportunity with technology to prosper without growth in our numbers, if we just make the damned effort to do it

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You are right. If you analyse all the countries in the world, the only correlation between economic growth rate/capita and population growth is slightly negative. I.e. those with the lower or negative growth rates do slightly better, so given all the other problems that ever increasing population growth rate brings, a decreasing population would be the best thing for the world. We have nothing to fear, Germany has managed very well for years with a decreasing population.

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Spoonley. Oh dear. The man does not get it. Academic rigor not. He never even considers the advantages of a stable population.

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The developed countries don't benefit from large inflows of people yet progressives push the line that they do (as does Eric Crampton for the NZ Initiative). Meanwhile we become more diverse and society looses it's cohesion. Watch Johnathon Haidt on Youtube.
......
With these surveys Wallace Chapman, Katherine Ryan etc may realise that just because they are in a safe space and don't have to read the deplorable comments their preaching is falling on deaf ears.

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Tony Alexander, Chief Economist at the Bank of New Zealand, says:

The world is moving away from the guilt-focused victim-seeking liberal agendas of the past few decades towards individual self-interest, nationalism, liberal criticism, and a challenge to political correctness.

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be great to think the world was willing to move toward something more positive.

ask not what your country(society) can do for you, but you can do for your country(society)...

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In a way the American people did ask themselves what they can do for their country and the answer was elect Donald Trump.

It would have been wonderful if the people in the Women's March Against Trump had got up on the podium and asked this question. Instead we had the likes of Madonna and Ashley Judd and a host of odd people ranting on like lunatics. Unbelievably vile creatures. We have a coalition of women, the LGBTQIA, BLM, illegals and others screeching, "ask not what I can do for my country, ask that White males just shut up and go away and die". One of the main leaders of the Women's March, Linda Sarsour, is on the record as stating she wants Sharia Law for America.

In an environment such as this it would be foolish for just one group to adopt such an attitude as you suggest. They have declared war on us and only our complete submission will satisfy them. It's going to be quite a struggle. That's why we need epic leaders like Trump.

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Zachary,

"That's why we need epic leaders like Trump". I find that remark truly bizarre and in fact,distasteful. I believe that I have a decent understanding of the forces that have led so many Americans to vote for him,but that people like you with no skin in the game should view him favourably,is to me incomprehensible.
This is a man to whom lying comes as naturally as breathing,a misogynist,a racist and and a believer in state authorised torture. If these qualities make him epic,then I suppose you have a point.

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Weak-minded chickenshit authoritarians love having a bully to grovel to, and egg on to oppress the people they hate. How pathetic and cowardly does someone have to be to freak out over equality and civil rights for all.

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"Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments"
I assume this policy applies to commenters from all viewpoints?

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Zac and Link, you might be missing a point. Consider the possibility that Trump is actually peripheral to the actual problem. The general population has had a gutsful of the untouchable corruption of the mainstream political establishment, and the media are accessories to to this but play both sides. Despite being a member of the Republican Party Trump's record of refusing to play by the 'rules' presented exactly what they wanted - to turn the current establishment on it's collective head. If Bernie Sanders or one of the two independents had been less conventional, and more rebellious to 'conventional wisdom' they may have had a better chance.
the problem as is obvious, is that giving such a rebel that much power is fraught with danger if when the chips are down, they are unable exercise restraint.

I guess a good debate for America to have would be to discuss his copied (from Reagan) election slogan "Lets make America great again". What makes any nation "great", and specifically what does America need to do to be a "great" nation?

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If you haven't already, you might enjoy Dan Carlin's non-partisan 'Common Sense' political podcast. One of the themes he returns to over and over is the underlying problem of the system becoming ever more corrupt (principally the expanding influence of donors and lobbyists not subject to checks and balances), and the danger of gradually downgrading the balances and safety valves in the system. Point being, cut off the re-balancing mechanisms and safety valves, and the only way to reform the system becomes violence and revolution.

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That has happened time and time again, all through history, and it basically boils down to, the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. The poor have nothing left to fight back with.
It will happen again. At the moment, the poor have been silly enough to elect one of the rich to represent them, they will wake up to it.
The problem facing humans IS technology and overpopulation of the planet and us realising that we are screwing the one and only planet we have. These are challenging times requiring intelligent solutions.
Trump and the Republicans pretending these things are not the problem will only soothe the masses for so long, and they are only soothing -half of the population, they have a huge problem keeping that one up, although there is always force, and I do not think that Trump and the republicans will turn their backs on that option when it becomes clear its not really working for them. They will use law, legislation and media blackouts and such to achieve this, perhaps, rather than reverting to violence, but it will leave violence as they only means to counter it.

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I agree, there is nothing truly admirable about the Don.

However, he has reignited the right and for that he must be commended.

All these people protesting him are the most vile, useless, misinformed and hypocritical branches of society and the MSM seems to validate their preposterous positions. On the daily we see a new SJW being absolutely ruined with logic by the most unassuming opponent. They say that the Don is ruining science and intellect, well if you listen to any of the arguments that the majority of liberals regurgitate, you would soon see that that ship has long since sailed.
It reminds me of the 99% protests; a group of disorganised and fundamentally misinformed and misguided rhetoric bashers protesting the wrong things.

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Readers should know that this comment is over the line (by a margin) and that the ZS account has been blocked. He and I have had a private conversation about the reason. In that he said "You could, perhaps, let the others know I have been sent into exile as I will be unable to.  You can say it is a mutual and convivial decision."

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Can I just say, that I really think we need to see what people like him are saying. In a way, by silencing him, you are doing a bit of a Donald Trump. You probably won't misconstrue my meaning there.

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I one way, I don't disagree. As I said to him off-line, I found his articulation of the way he thinks useful to understand alt-right thinking.

But what is the point of having basic civil standards if we are to be selective on when to apply them? That is fair to no-one, not to readers who use respectful argument, nor those who lose their commenting privileges when they go over the line. I want a respectful discussion of arguments here. We need to use the same standard for everyone.

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I think you have done him a favour, too much posting can be bad for you mentally, you can get drawn into things and go a bit overboard.

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"individual self-interest, nationalism, liberal criticism, and a challenge to political correctness " I don't think that was meant to be a good thing, especially seeing how it isn't.

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Add to the list of 'unreliables' the SA Government which has thoughtfully engineered a series of electricity blackouts over the past year, including the State-wide 'black system' in late September.

The cause is a toxic combination of heavy subsidies for renewables (paid for every kWh regardless of whether needed or not), which have driven out most synchronous generation from the State, and reliance on an across-the-border interconnector which, sensibly, 'islands' (shuts off) SA when it feels itself to be in danger.

With

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Since the end of WWII Liberalism has been the dominate philosophical movement within the Western World. One of these impulses was a distrust of authorities and tradition. So many of the traditional institutions have been gravely weaken such as the Church and family. The problem is that like every revolution it does not stay where it was supposed to. Distrust is spreading because institutions like government, media, business, and academia have constantly lied to us to advance their own agenda. We have probably reached the high point of the shrill liberalism that had its way for the last few years.

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You know with all the distortions in reporting by the media , there is little wonder that we don't trust the media , particularly political reporting , where the media simply distorts what was said to suit their own views, agenda or narrative .

Thats not reporting , its lying .

For example when I hear a certain TV1 political reporter it often bears zero resemblance to what the policitician actually said .

I have had to go onto the internet to check what was actually said , only to find that they have reported a pack of lies , not just alternative facts or views or interpretation , but lies.

As a result I don't watch TV1 news , ever, as they dont have any credibility with such lying and deceitful reporting .

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Our local news is rubbish, stopped watching it a while ago now. The only thing worth watching is Al Jazeera.

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Yesterday I was updating a set of lecture slides on matters to do with the science/policy nexus to include a cartoon about 'alternative facts'. Presently, John Key was my 'star' example politician with his BBC Hardtalk interview and his "yes we are 100% pure, clean and green" defense. Thankfully, just when one truth-twister leaves office another pops up to play the part, eh?

Anyway, I decided I'd better imbed a hyperlink to the TV interview wot brought us this delightful new turn of phrase, "alternative facts".

It was the first time I'd seen the whole interview segment versus the 'clip' of it that MSM resprayed a million times over. It was a bit of a revelation;

http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/conway-press-secretary-gave…

It was the'... but hey, you guys told the first porkie...' bit that I hadn't seen before. You can see why the new Administration doesn't trust them. It's just not good enough for MSM to get such a "fact" wrong themselves.

So we have the Administration fact-checking the media and the media fact-checking the Administration. The greatest show on earth :-).

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Oh Zachary,
I forgot to add that in addition to all his other 'epic' qualities, Trump does not believe in Climate Change and views it as a Chinese plot. I can only assume that you share his views.

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I think it's the anthropogenic part of CC that is the sticky point.

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Peter Thiel was granted NZ residence in 2006 under the Labour Government but no mention of that in our mainstream media. Instead the hit job on this man continues because he donated to Trump's campaign.

So is it any surprise people cannot trust the media. In the days before Internet and alternative news sources I naively thought the MSM were unbiased and presented an impartial view.

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Yep, it was reported in MSM - residence in 2006 and citizenship in 2011. Toby Manhire's article, for example;

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11…

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Trump is about Christianity and being against the World and Evil.
Trump is against political correctness that the media promotes, yet evil forces well ahead in the polls turned into love with an impossible overwhelming miracle win at the polls.
Trump's Winning attitude is needed in NZ.

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"Trump is about Christianity" Are you serious? This is a confirmed abuser of women,an out and out racist,a believer in torture,someone who is happy to mock the disabled,an inveterate liar and you consider him a Christian. If he's a christian,I am glad I'm an atheist.
You are also incoherent;the first sentence is quite meaningless.

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Jesus turned over chairs and tables in anger when people where gambling in the house of worship. To be a Christian you have to be against the World and it's evil so that is why Trump is disliked and mocked.

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