In bed the other day, I scrolled upon a reel of every stupid thing that has been said in the House of Parliament by the 54th government, and boy was some of it stupid. While yes, a large amount of it was funny, most of it was hugely inappropriate for government officials to be saying in a legal house of the government, and points to them behaving and coming across more like teenagers than people who should be running our country. Some of this included “marinated slop” (Shane Jones in reference to a Labour statement) “all delulu and no solulu” (Christopher Hipkins to the National party), and even Winston Peters asking the house speaker if he “wanted an answer or wanted to hear [his] stupid voice”. Why has this behaviour suddenly become acceptable? I believe this is heavily linked to American election campaigns, and the type of behaviour that has been ‘allowed’ for the people that lead our country. These statements are not regular parliamentary quips intended to make a point, they are Gen Z targeted phrases and interjections that platform them for a wider and younger audience. Leading up to the election, this has been far more obvious (and somewhat painful) as both parties create painful memes and videos that are intended to draw a younger audience in to vote. What this all comes down to is just politics trying to be ‘with the times’ and failing miserably. All I can say is that this election, vote for whatever party has memes that make you laugh the hardest, because that’s all that matters at this point.
