New Zealand has been ranked No. 2 in the National Post's Western Surrender series, which evaluates five Anglosphere countries on their adoption of progressive political and cultural ideas that undermine Western civilization. The series argues that a project to reject history, prioritize group identity, and embed these concepts into laws and institutions is reshaping the West.
Kamloops Story Ignites Debate in New Zealand
When unconfirmed reports emerged about 215 unmarked graves at the former Kamloops residential school in British Columbia, the story reverberated strongly in New Zealand. In 2021, the nation of 5.3 million was already conducting a royal commission into historical abuse of children in state care, many of them Māori. The Canadian narrative, according to the article, turbocharged the local debate through woke politics.
For many New Zealanders, the Kamloops story felt familiar, as similar ideas had been circulating across the Anglosphere. New Zealand, a major exporter of agricultural products, is a significant importer of North American cultural trends.
Following Canada's Lead
The article contends that if Canadian voices invoked colonial genocide and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau found the claims compelling enough to keep flags at half-mast for nearly six months, New Zealand's gatekeepers followed ideological suit. Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who resigned in January 2023, was criticized for aping Trudeau's nation-shaming approach.
The story notes that even as the Kamloops claims became increasingly dubious, the certainty behind them did not diminish. During the same period, New Zealand developed its own set of assumptions about national history, often labeled as woke.
Manifestations of Woke Politics
New Zealand's version of moral panic appeared in endless battles over language, fringe causes amplified on social media, and a fixation on gender—a term popularized by New Zealand-born sexologist John Money in the 1950s. These trends gathered under the algorithmic imperative of combatting racism at all costs, according to the article.
The Western Surrender series ranks countries based on their embrace of progressive ideology, with New Zealand placed second. The series previously featured Canada and Australia, with England and the United States also included.
