Cynthia Tucker - Why The World Looks To New Zealand -- And Not US

[DonViejo]

March 23, 2019 10:59 pm

The United States used to be the nation that others around the world admired — the trend-setter, the standard-bearer, the first among equals. But we’ve given away our place at the head of the table. Now those of us who long for a pluralistic democracy — where diversity is respected, the common person is valued, civic virtues are upheld, and compassion and empathy are prized — must look elsewhere for examples.

In the aftermath of the horrific terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, that small and unassuming island nation has become the model. Its prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has been the embodiment of the nation’s grief, empathy and support for the victims. Having respectfully donned a hijab when visiting the sites of the attacks, she has frequently expressed the view that Muslims are valued New Zealanders, that violent extremism will be hunted down and rooted out, that her nation will continue to embrace ethnic and religious pluralism.

Contrast her righteous indignation — she has said she will never speak the killer’s name, denying him the notoriety he craves — to the tepid response offered by President Donald J. Trump, who could not bring himself to explicitly condemn the white-supremacist ideology that motivated the attack. That’s no surprise. Trump has aligned himself with overt racists and is infamous for his Islamophobia.

New Zealand’s welcome example, however, extends beyond the symbolism of Ardern’s hijab and the riveting gestures of support from ordinary people, including impromptu performances of the haka, a traditional war dance of the indigenous Maori. Ardern has announced a national ban on military-style semiautomatic weapons, high-capacity magazines and any firearms parts that would allow shooters to modify weapons into terrifying machines of mass slaughter.

The suspected gunman is an Australian who traveled from that country to carry out the attacks; he had purchased firearms in New Zealand. Though it is not clear whether those were the weapons used in the attacks, he may have bought guns in New Zealand because Australia has stricter gun laws that would have made it difficult for him to purchase similar firearms there.

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http://www.nationalmemo.com/why-the-world-looks-to-new-zealand-and-not-us/

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