spinofflive
memefeat

PoliticsAugust 2, 2017

An illustrated guide to New Zealand politics meme pages

memefeat

Getting young voters engaged in political discourse is a challenge no NZ party has yet cracked. Could memes save the day? Madeleine Chapman leads a guided tour. 

At age five, most children are able to detect sarcasm and identify it as humour. By age ten, they’re able to differentiate between sarcastic and ironic humour. And somewhere in the middle, they’ll learn how to read memes.

Like a language, memes are harder to pick up as you get older. Not everyone will look at a photo of Kermit the Frog sipping tea/leaning on a wall/looking out a rain covered window and immediately know it’s supposed to be funny. Some will just ask what Kermit the Frog drinking tea has to do with your couple friends who post break up statuses and then get back together. Being 23 years old and working in media, I find myself in the sweet spot of having grown up alongside memes as they’ve evolved. I don’t need to learn them. But I have eight older siblings, at least six of whom are familiar with only the most rudimentary of the form. So when I want to make a meme mocking one of them and post it in the family group chat, my choices are limited to images and captions that are very on the nose.

It’s hard to classify meme knowledge as a skill but it’s certainly something that younger generations seem to understand with ease while oldies just see sub par photoshopping of stock images.

A great bad meme

Like every good meme, allow me to segue clumsily to New Zealand politics and the 2017 election. I’m not invested in politics. Until very recently, my political frame of reference revolved around the fact that in 2014 the rich, white lady whose house I cleaned once a week while studying was a vocal National supporter and also casually racist on more than one occasion. So I voted Labour.

While I am of course concerned about social issues and how we can solve them, the language and fluff that surround every policy only makes me lose interest. Maybe I’m just an idiot. If I am, then I’m not alone. At the last general election, 64% of 18-24 year olds were enrolled to vote and 46% voted. Because New Zealand politics is boring. Not the issues and the ideas, but the execution. Look at the campaign ads. The only reason those ads have been watched at all is because they were meme’d.

Over the past few months, I’ve occasionally seen a local political meme pop up in my newsfeed. Most of the time I’m not entirely sure of the context of the joke but just knowing the meme format is enough for me – or anyone else – to understand it. I’ll usually have a chuckle and scroll on by, not realising that I’ve just unintentionally engaged in New Zealand politics. Unless you have friends who love a good political column or meme, it’s worryingly easy to live your life completely void of political discourse. Which is why political meme pages are more important than anyone, even the page admins, realise.

Political memes – good and bad, intentionally or not – are out here teaching the completely clueless some basic policy knowledge before the election. And it’s relevant knowledge, because the memes are made by young people and therefore whatever bias they have towards particular parties will be based on common areas of interest for the younger generations.

Never heard the name David Seymour? Don’t know what the fuss with Metiria Turei is all about? Don’t know who has good policies for young people? Trawling through the endless political columns will help with some analysis but for foundation knowledge, political meme pages are pretty good. Here’s a tour through New Zealand’s best.

NZ swing voters against dogmatic party affiliated memes

As the name would suggest, these memes don’t discriminate. All parties and policies are targeted, though it would seem the administrators have a bone to pick with Gareth Morgan because The Opportunities Party are subject to some harsh burns. They’re also more critical of the left because memes are just so easy when your party is imploding (Labour, until very very recently). But overall, there’s a youthful balance, meaning everyone is scrutinised and NZ First is bad.

 

This meme might not seem very political but personality goes a long way in politics and this is a pretty accurate summation of the political leaders’ likability. A vital first step in political engagement is knowing who the hell everyone is. While it would appear that the administrators aren’t big fans of the National party, they’re nothing if not realistic.

I had just assumed that Labour would have a good immigration policy but after seeing this meme I decided to look further into it (I asked someone at work who knew what he was talking about and he explained why it was bad). Political engagement achieved!

Never one to shy away from sweeping generalisations, non-partisan memes also work to give a broad, slightly harsh, idea of what kinds of people vote for which parties.

Backing the Kiwi Meme

I don’t know who runs this page (or any meme pages) but it is, unofficially, a Labour operation. Considering most young people would be left-leaning, its attacks on National and Act’s David Seymour are particularly popular.

Tell ’em, Ryan

Using “the ground is” instead of the traditional “the floor is” [see above] cements the below meme as out-and-out Labour, ie trying to engage with the youth and almost getting there. Luckily for them, David Seymour is easily the most memeable MP so it’s still good, all the while giving important and relevant policy information to potential student voters.

Freshly Picked Green Memes

Like the classic hippy Greens, the Green memes are less critical of other parties and more wholesome support for the likes of Metiria Turei and Chloe Swarbrick. Wholesome memes are generally not as funny as edgy ones but as the party most likely to appeal to young voters, perhaps a bit of self love is what’s best.

But they’ll still go after the big dogs.

Kanye West Lyrics Explain NZ Politics

I was extremely late to the (political) party on this one, but it’s quickly become my favourite meme page. It doesn’t offer any political opinions, simply pairs a Kanye West lyric with a current political story. It’s so simple and yet so informative. Having become popular in the lead up to the 2014 election, the page went quiet and has only recently sprung back to life. I’m holding out for a “Just killed another career, it’s a mild day” lyric over a photo of Labour’s logo and Andrew Little.

In a rare meme move, the images don’t work on their own but require the caption explanation for context. This brings it a little closer to actual news but still keeps the joy of a dank meme. It’s genius.

An oldie but a goodie

Not all political memes are created equal

Unfortunately for all of us, sometimes you have to look past some truly terrible memes in order to find the good stuff. For example, after Jacinda Ardern was named as Labour’s new leader on Tuesday, Kim Dotcom (former politician lol) shared a terrible meme without crediting its creator Paul Le Comte, and Richie Hardcore (young political person) shared a bad meme t-shirt. Even I know that those five people have almost nothing in common besides being white.

Should’ve kept the sword in imo

Remember, kids, just because it looks well-executed, doesn’t mean it will make any sense. Sometimes – in fact, – the worse the meme looks, the funnier it will be.

The way in which we share information is rapidly changing and while politicians shouldn’t necessarily adopt memes as a vehicle for information (nothing worse than a Dad meme), they’d do well to realise that engaging with the youth vote requires a different approach.

Memes aren’t for old people and certainly not for politicians. As if to prove my point, former Labour party leader David Cunliffe just tweeted his endorsement of the Bye Bill atrocity. But memes are the future, whether you think they’re funny or not, and they’re unintentionally teaching ‘the kids’ about politics. So next time you’re feeling a little lost in local politics, head over to a friendly meme page, crack open a cold one, and get scrolling.

(Image: NZ swing voters against dogmatic party affiliated memes)
Keep going!
kiriallan4lead

PoliticsAugust 2, 2017

Labour’s emerging star Kiri Allan on the day of chaos which elevated Jacinda

kiriallan4lead

‘On Monday night I was scratching my head about how to inspire Labour supporters. And then along came Jacinda. I’ve known her since I was a teenager, and we’re claiming her as an East Coaster’, writes Kiri Allan in the latest instalment of her candidate diary.


Read more candidate diaries for the Spinoff here


They say a week in politics is a long time. BS! Everything can change in an instant and 24 hours is an eternity. As a first time-candidate living in the East Coast I am finding that politics is an emotional rollercoaster like no other.

I met Jacinda when I was 19. I was a second-year law student at Victoria University, Wellington and she called to asked if I wanted to intern in Helen Clark’s office. I thought it was a hoax call. Then Dot Kettle called me. She was Helen’s third in charge, I think, at that stage. I thought my all Christmases had come at once.

I was a rugged, idealistic 19-year-old with dreadlocks, living away from home, in the foreign environment that was law school, and I was being asked to intern in New Zealand’s most popular leader’s office. That was Jacinda Ardern’s doing. Now, 14 years later, she’s my new boss. Jacinda excites me. She excites lots of people I know that say they aren’t “political” and tend not to vote. Also, as a side note, we claim her here in the East Coast. She spent time growing up in Murupara and her boyfriend is from Gisborne. So, yup, I’ll call it: Jacinda is going to be our first home-grown prime minister – and we are proud.

On Monday night, I was scratching my head about how to inspire a gathering of Labour Party faithful at a film fundraiser they had organised for me at the Whakatane movie theatre. We had just had a number of polls released that put us at 23-24%, some of the lowest results Labour has had. I ended up talking frankly about how now was the time to put in the hard yards if we wanted to change the government. It was a tough speech to make as everyone in my team who are working so hard knew, as I did, that at 24% it would be tough to get me into parliament on 23 September.

Yesterday morning, at 4am, I found myself messaging a few of my fellow candidates and colleagues. At 5am, I was reading thoughtful responses from colleagues about where we, the Labour Party, were practically at and how the political scene was playing out in New Zealand. At 6am I was fielding calls from colleagues and was glued to the radio – a position that, by and large, lasted most of the day. By 7am, media had started making contact to see “whether the rumours are true”.

At 10am, I was emotional watching Andrew Little as he officially resigned as leader of the Labour Party. I have had the opportunity to get to know Andrew over the course of this campaign and I have the utmost admiration and respect for him. Andrew is genuine, he cares and he is driven by honest values. He’s not the kind of guy to let ego get in the way of doing what’s right. Andrew made his decision to resign today based on his values: the party was struggling, we weren’t looking like we could change the government, and he stepped aside. Ki a koe e te tangata rongonui, ka nui te mihi ki a koe.

At 12pm, at a roadside stall in Taneatua, together with a group of passionate volunteers, I hunted down a spot that had reception to watch Jacinda’s first speech as Labour leader. Jacinda Ardern and Kelvin Davis – what a team! Jacinda: young, passionate, smart, eloquent and inspirational. Kelvin: rural, rough, with a heart for people and not afraid of doing the hard yards to get the job done. This team is dynamic and I’m excited to be a part of the 2017 Labour team going into the election.

At 2pm, I was speaking alongside Green candidate Denise Roche at a First Union Stop Work Meeting in Whakatane and made the announcement that Jacinda and Kelvin were the party’s new leaders. The workers applauded. I had offers of volunteers and fences for more billboards to hang. I checked my phone after the meeting and had a handful of new people offer their voluntary services to the campaign – people want change.

But, the topic of the day aside, there are two matters that are glaringly obvious to me right now. The glue of our party are our members, our volunteers, our people that get up at the crack of dawn to put the signs up and sit at stalls; and second, our party faithful are out there because they genuinely want change for the good of our communities – and, right now, our communities are struggling immeasurably.

I live in one of the most beautiful parts of the country. But this month reminded me that our part of the country needs a positive change more than ever.

Five young people killed themselves in the past couple of weeks in the East Coast. It’s been termed by some, the “week of death”.

I witnessed what looked like an attempted methamphetamine deal occur the other day. An older male to a group of young kids. The kids didn’t fall for the deal and I told their uncles the fella’s name who seemed to be trying to peddle that deathly stuff to those kids. I’m sure that situation has been dealt to.

 

The neighbour of an 81-year-old nanny called me, upset because the Housing New Zealand home that the nanny lives in is really cold. She has been in hospital in the past for pneumonia. I visited the house last week and she’s right: it is very cold. There was no insulation under the carpet, there was condensation on the windows and visible mould patches. She’s fastidiously clean too. But the house is just cold. She’s 81.

I went into the house of a family. There were 10 adults living in the small three-bedroom flat plus kids. I’m not sure how many kids. The house was too full to cope with the number of people living there.

There aren’t enough jobs in the East Coast, small businesses are closing, Methamphetamine use is an epidemic and the social net that once caught kids like myself, is stretched too far and thin. Stuff like this – the unsexy stuff playing out in tonnes of families throughout the East Coast, doesn’t really get a lot of airtime. It’s yucky. It’s depressing. It’s killing our kids. Every day I’m on the campaign trail, this is what I’m seeing, hearing and feeling.

We have to be better, we must do more, and we must change this government. I’m afraid to see what will happen if communities like mine here in the East Coast have to endure another term of the status quo. The National government has shown over the past nine years that they are not prepared to do enough to deal with the growing gap between the haves and the have nots, and help communities like ours – ones where parts of it are struggling to survive.

Thank you Andrew for your leadership over the past few years, and for your humility in calling it a day when you thought it was time to step aside. Thank you Jacinda and Kelvin for stepping up to the challenge – you are both ready, and so are we, your team. We are behind you 100% and will do everything in our power over these next seven weeks to change this government – because our people need it.


READ MORE OF THE SPINOFF’S COVERAGE OF LITTLE’S RESIGNATION AND ARDERN’S ELEVATION


This content is entirely funded by Simplicity, New Zealand’s only nonprofit fund manager, dedicated to making Kiwis wealthier in retirement. Its fees are the lowest on the market and it is 100% online, ethically invested, and fully transparent. Simplicity also donates 15% of management revenue to charity. So far, Simplicity is saving its 6,500 members $1.5 million annually. Switching takes two minutes.

But wait there's more!