Matisyahu's Blog

The chair for my desk has arrived after ordering it in the early hours of Monday this week and it actually turned out to be smaller than expected which is a good thing. The website said it was 82cm wide, 82cm deep and the seat height is around 42cm high which left me concerned that maybe it would be too big for the place where I was going to put it (thus requiring me to move the furniture around to make it fit). I think the measurements they give on their website was the box itself because the seat height is around the same as my previous seat and the width and depth isn’t anywhere near around 82cm but I’m happy with the dimensions and it is very comfortable.

I’ve finally got my lounge room looking like I want it to – natural colours, use of wool, cotton, wooden furniture which gives the space a cosy feel which will be great during the winter.

As for dinner tonight, I’ll be popping down to the supermarket and I was hoping to have some Silverfern Farm lamb rumps along with a salad or maybe some roast vegetables. I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get there – I guess the other option is to have some venison with plum sauce.

On the matter of politics, I was watching the following video:

And it reminds me of the same sort of logic that took place regarding how neoliberalism would result in world peace – the idea that if we created a world where we’re so intertwined, so interdependent that no one would be stupid enough to blow up the whole system that it would secure long term peace. The whole argument being derived from the idea of rational self interest or more correctly the assumption that prosperity being the motivating factor for leaders of individual countries. There is a small problem with that thesis, as we’ve seen that firstly not every nation is motivated by the same incentives and when you have a situation like the United States where a moron like Trump is voted in then the system that was dependent on rational self interest now has an irrational person in a position of leadership who upends the system.

What amazes me though is this idea that the United Staes can be trusted given how Trump has made it clear that even countries that the United States has agreements with are simply being ignored. The United States has a free trade agreement with Australia but that didn’t stop Trump from imposing tariffs onto the Australian exports to the United States. If the president can just unilaterally decide to walk away from a treaty then what does it say about any of the other treaties that the United States have signed up to? why would anyone take seriously the idea of having an agreement with the United States when the current president or a future president can just walk away the moment it becomes politically inconvenient without the legislative body going through the process of debating and the repealing the legislation that enabled the treaty to be enforced.

From the New Zealand perspective we (both National and Labour led governments) have attempted to get a free trade agreement with the United States without much success. When one considers how the United States have treated the Australia, given that there is a sign treaty, maybe this is the moment for both major parties in New Zealand to wake and stop wasting time believing that a free trade agreement is just around the corner. Let’s assume that through some divine intervention that there was a free trade agreement with the United states – how do we know it won’t be undone by the next president? let’s assume that the next president signs up for the CPTPP – again, what stops the president just deciding unilaterally to walk away from the agreement?