The real worry has to do with the removal of dissent by stealth. A healthy society is one where critical discourse is celebrated as a given. New Zealand currently enjoys a climate of dirty politics, where the person is bagged for holding a contrary view to the right wing narrative. Where individuals may be arrested for no other reason than for holding alternate views to the hegemony of the state apparatus, or by being and acting in places contrary to the dominant opinion. The last society that I witnessed behaving in this manner was Thatchers Britain in the 80's. Her gunboat diplomacy saw the ruination of a public welfare state, unionism, nationalised public service infrastructure and a war with Argentina over scrub land on the other side of the world. The resultant gap between the rich and poor growing ever wider.