Neil Ballantyne
@neilballantyne.bsky.social
Social work academic at the Open Polytechnic of Aotearoa. Preoccupied with data justice, the social impacts of AI and anticapitalism.
The results of this survey are very encouraging open.substack.com/pub/jasonhic...
How popular is ecosocialist transformation?
New study shows strong majority support.
open.substack.com
December 6, 2025 at 5:30 AM
The results of this survey are very encouraging open.substack.com/pub/jasonhic...
The cost of data centres and how to fight them www.kairosfellows.org/fightdatacen...
Organizer guide to fighting data centers — Kairos Fellowship
www.kairosfellows.org
May 15, 2025 at 6:12 AM
The cost of data centres and how to fight them www.kairosfellows.org/fightdatacen...
The RSW contribution to ANZAC Day. For peace, justice and a world without war.
reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2025/04/25/p...
reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2025/04/25/p...
April 24, 2025 at 10:45 PM
The RSW contribution to ANZAC Day. For peace, justice and a world without war.
reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2025/04/25/p...
reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2025/04/25/p...
"At times like this, those of us who strive for peace, justice and human rights can feel powerless to effect change. But, thanks to a members' bill sitting in our parliament awaiting selection, we can make a difference" reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2025/03/20/c...
Call to action for Gaza
The Israeli state has broken the hard-won ceasefire on Gaza and recommenced its campaign of bombing the Palestinian population of the overcrowded Strip. Israel’s refusal to move to phase two of the…
reimaginingsocialwork.nz
March 20, 2025 at 1:21 AM
"At times like this, those of us who strive for peace, justice and human rights can feel powerless to effect change. But, thanks to a members' bill sitting in our parliament awaiting selection, we can make a difference" reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2025/03/20/c...
Elliot Crossan writes "Huge profits are being extracted every year from working class communities in Aotearoa, all to benefit shareholders of overseas banks and insurance companies that we have no democratic control over." substack.com/home/post/p-...
Is NZ as Stable as Luxon Claims?
By pursuing cuts, selling off assets to multinationals, enabling ACT's attacks on the Treaty and cutting back on climate commitments, Luxon is guaranteeing that NZ will not be stable for long.
substack.com
March 15, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Elliot Crossan writes "Huge profits are being extracted every year from working class communities in Aotearoa, all to benefit shareholders of overseas banks and insurance companies that we have no democratic control over." substack.com/home/post/p-...
My response to the government's Investment Summit reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2025/03/15/o...
On political economy and billionaire bolt-holes in Aotearoa
While politicians, pundits, and the media tell stories about politics, economics, and society as if they were distinct spheres of influence, the working people of Aotearoa are acutely aware they ar…
reimaginingsocialwork.nz
March 14, 2025 at 10:14 PM
My response to the government's Investment Summit reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2025/03/15/o...
Unpicking predictive AI thebullshitmachines.com
INTRODUCTION
thebullshitmachines.com
February 13, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Unpicking predictive AI thebullshitmachines.com
Grace Blakeley's @graceblakeley.bsky.social message on the transformational change needed in the UK should also be heard by NZLabour. Say no to neoliberalism 2.0 #RollbackRogernomics www.instagram.com/reel/DF73Ebh...
Login • Instagram
Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.
www.instagram.com
February 11, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Grace Blakeley's @graceblakeley.bsky.social message on the transformational change needed in the UK should also be heard by NZLabour. Say no to neoliberalism 2.0 #RollbackRogernomics www.instagram.com/reel/DF73Ebh...
Reposted by Neil Ballantyne
In 2014, I wrote an essay on the rise of "algorithmic regulation" / "lean start-up" imaginary in government circles. In it, I argued that Silicon Valley's recipe for government efficiency would - at best - yield the "Singaporization" of liberal democracy. But there were much worse options.🧵 below
Why the internet of things could destroy the welfare state
Tech pioneers in the US are advocating a new data-based approach to governance – 'algorithmic regulation'. But where does this leave governments, asks Evgeny Morozov
theguardian.com
February 6, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Reposted by Neil Ballantyne
“The number of bills passed completely through Parliament under urgency, without even select committee scrutiny – it has set a record stretching back at least as far as 1987.”
#nzpol
#nzpol
The Government has forced more legislation all the way through Parliament under urgency in its first 400 days than any since at least 1987.
Govt smashes record for laws passed without select committee scrutiny
newsroom.co.nz
January 29, 2025 at 6:21 AM
“The number of bills passed completely through Parliament under urgency, without even select committee scrutiny – it has set a record stretching back at least as far as 1987.”
#nzpol
#nzpol
Reposted by Neil Ballantyne
She’s starting to get it now. A really important read.
“So a fringe party supposedly committed to freedom of thought seeks to impose its ideologies on Parliament and all other political parties in perpetuity, and to set themselves up as the ‘mind police’ to enforce this imposition.”
#nzpol
#nzpol
Anne Salmond: Hayek's bastards
The summertime call for submissions on a revived Regulatory Standards Bill got Dame Anne Salmond reading and connecting the dots of neoliberal campaigns
newsroom.co.nz
January 20, 2025 at 7:33 PM
She’s starting to get it now. A really important read.
Reposted by Neil Ballantyne
“Why is the Kiwi economy such a disaster?”
“JP Morgan economist Tom Kennedy couldn't avoid a hint of understatement when noting that "NZ's economic performance is much worse than previously thought" with "no redeeming features in the detail". www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12...
“JP Morgan economist Tom Kennedy couldn't avoid a hint of understatement when noting that "NZ's economic performance is much worse than previously thought" with "no redeeming features in the detail". www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12...
New Zealand's recession shows how the RBA dodged a bullet
New Zealand's economy has slipped into one of the developed world's worst recent recessions, but it seems like the Reserve Bank of Australia is avoiding the same mistakes.
www.abc.net.au
December 30, 2024 at 8:26 PM
“Why is the Kiwi economy such a disaster?”
“JP Morgan economist Tom Kennedy couldn't avoid a hint of understatement when noting that "NZ's economic performance is much worse than previously thought" with "no redeeming features in the detail". www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12...
“JP Morgan economist Tom Kennedy couldn't avoid a hint of understatement when noting that "NZ's economic performance is much worse than previously thought" with "no redeeming features in the detail". www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12...
Reposted by Neil Ballantyne
"Never mind that the tax cuts were shit and the hospital promises were lies, the NZ public has been caught like a possum in the headlights with a blitz of austerity and bad policy that’s hitting everything, everywhere, all at once." diary-of-a-butterfly.ghost.io/the-annus-ho... #NZPol
The ‘Annus Horribilis’: Politics, protest and the hijack of New Zealand
For Aotearoa it was a year of unprecedented political bad faith, conflicts of interest and naked deception.
diary-of-a-butterfly.ghost.io
December 28, 2024 at 1:36 AM
"Never mind that the tax cuts were shit and the hospital promises were lies, the NZ public has been caught like a possum in the headlights with a blitz of austerity and bad policy that’s hitting everything, everywhere, all at once." diary-of-a-butterfly.ghost.io/the-annus-ho... #NZPol
As the darkness deepens, and it will, we strengthen our resolve to work for the dawn. For our whānau, for the whenua for our mokopuna. reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2024/12/29/t...
The night is darkest before dawn
As a Pākehā Scotsman who spent most of his festive seasons in the northern hemisphere, I associate Christmas (and Pākehā New Year) with a time of darkness and renewal, with a pivotal pause and refl…
reimaginingsocialwork.nz
December 29, 2024 at 9:28 AM
As the darkness deepens, and it will, we strengthen our resolve to work for the dawn. For our whānau, for the whenua for our mokopuna. reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2024/12/29/t...
Reposted by Neil Ballantyne
If AGI is simply an AI system that generates $100 billion in profit, it might be farther away than even the critics believed.
Leaked Documents Show OpenAI Has a Very Clear Definition of ‘AGI’
We finally have a real definition of the elusive
gizmodo.com
December 26, 2024 at 8:46 PM
If AGI is simply an AI system that generates $100 billion in profit, it might be farther away than even the critics believed.
“Patriotic millionaires”…hmmm. www.wired.com/story/people...
People With Extreme Wealth Should Give It Away—or Be Penalized
The gap between the ultra-rich minority and the vast majority has never been greater. But a wave of activist millionaires is asking for higher taxes.
www.wired.com
December 24, 2024 at 7:53 PM
“Patriotic millionaires”…hmmm. www.wired.com/story/people...
Reposted by Neil Ballantyne
Recommended Christmas reading; then you’ll be able to spend your Christmas arvo food coma writing your own submission instead of whatever else it was you were going to do.
melanienelson.substack.com/p/jane-kelse...
melanienelson.substack.com/p/jane-kelse...
Jane Kelsey Submission on the proposed Regulatory Standards Bill
A guest post by Emeritus Professor Jane Kelsey, sharing her in-depth knowledge of neoliberalism and the Regulatory Standards Bill
melanienelson.substack.com
December 24, 2024 at 5:44 AM
Recommended Christmas reading; then you’ll be able to spend your Christmas arvo food coma writing your own submission instead of whatever else it was you were going to do.
melanienelson.substack.com/p/jane-kelse...
melanienelson.substack.com/p/jane-kelse...
Reposted by Neil Ballantyne
My prediction in @wired.com: 2025 is the year of AI agents.
The coming psychopolitical regime "directs the environments where our ideas are born, developed, and expressed. Its power lies in its intimacy—it infiltrates our subjectivity.
We will be playing an imitation game that ultimately plays us."
The coming psychopolitical regime "directs the environments where our ideas are born, developed, and expressed. Its power lies in its intimacy—it infiltrates our subjectivity.
We will be playing an imitation game that ultimately plays us."
AI Agents Will Be Manipulation Engines
Surrendering to algorithmic agents risks putting us under their influence.
www.wired.com
December 23, 2024 at 10:21 PM
My prediction in @wired.com: 2025 is the year of AI agents.
The coming psychopolitical regime "directs the environments where our ideas are born, developed, and expressed. Its power lies in its intimacy—it infiltrates our subjectivity.
We will be playing an imitation game that ultimately plays us."
The coming psychopolitical regime "directs the environments where our ideas are born, developed, and expressed. Its power lies in its intimacy—it infiltrates our subjectivity.
We will be playing an imitation game that ultimately plays us."
What we need in Aotearoa today is not an appeal to “middle New Zealand” (whatever that is) but a broad-based populism of the left that shifts the so-called centre away from neoliberal norms towards an open, democratic form of socialism. reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2024/12/20/k...
Kotahitanga: From above and below.
It was good to read that Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer suggested that we “get past ourselves” and collaborate with others, highlighting ongoing policy coordination with …
reimaginingsocialwork.nz
December 23, 2024 at 10:15 PM
What we need in Aotearoa today is not an appeal to “middle New Zealand” (whatever that is) but a broad-based populism of the left that shifts the so-called centre away from neoliberal norms towards an open, democratic form of socialism. reimaginingsocialwork.nz/2024/12/20/k...
It's a little odd seeing my former workplace – University of Strathclyde, Faculty of Education – now converted to luxury flats. www.onthemarket.com/details/1623...
Plot 327, David Stow 327 at... 3 bed apartment for sale - £595,000
Cala Homes - Jordanhill Park present this 3 bedroom apartment for sale in Plot 327, David Stow 327 at Jordanhill Park Jordanhill Park, Glasgow G13 1PP
www.onthemarket.com
December 23, 2024 at 8:40 PM
It's a little odd seeing my former workplace – University of Strathclyde, Faculty of Education – now converted to luxury flats. www.onthemarket.com/details/1623...
Reposted by Neil Ballantyne
Europe: "For a continent that once saw itself as a middle way between the unbridled market capitalism of the United States and the various authoritarians stationed farther east, it’s a bitter irony that it now seems headed for pale imitations of both." www.nytimes.com/2024/12/22/o...
Opinion | Europe Had a Terrible Year, and It’s Probably Going to Get Worse
The continent’s parlous economy and ascendant far right foretell a grim future.
www.nytimes.com
December 23, 2024 at 5:51 AM
Europe: "For a continent that once saw itself as a middle way between the unbridled market capitalism of the United States and the various authoritarians stationed farther east, it’s a bitter irony that it now seems headed for pale imitations of both." www.nytimes.com/2024/12/22/o...
"New Zealanders must ask themselves whether they want a minor party’s libertarian ideology to shape the boundaries of legislation, government action, and judicial interpretation, even after Act is no longer in power" e-tangata.co.nz/comment-and-...
The ‘dangerous’ bill flying under the radar | E-Tangata
“Individually or together, these two bills would entrench libertarian preferences in New Zealand’s constitutional framework. They would also obstruct the consideration of Te Tiriti in future lawmaking...
e-tangata.co.nz
December 23, 2024 at 2:50 AM
"New Zealanders must ask themselves whether they want a minor party’s libertarian ideology to shape the boundaries of legislation, government action, and judicial interpretation, even after Act is no longer in power" e-tangata.co.nz/comment-and-...
Reposted by Neil Ballantyne
❄️🦌 Enter a winter wonderland with Sierra On-Line's "A Computer Christmas" (1986). 🎄💾 This charming vintage software showcases early PC graphics & underscores the importance of preserving our digital history.
Enjoy the full classic. ➡️ archive.org/details/sier...
#preservation
Enjoy the full classic. ➡️ archive.org/details/sier...
#preservation
December 22, 2024 at 9:50 PM
❄️🦌 Enter a winter wonderland with Sierra On-Line's "A Computer Christmas" (1986). 🎄💾 This charming vintage software showcases early PC graphics & underscores the importance of preserving our digital history.
Enjoy the full classic. ➡️ archive.org/details/sier...
#preservation
Enjoy the full classic. ➡️ archive.org/details/sier...
#preservation
A more detailed article on Erik Olin Wright's work is linked below. The article argues for the value of emancipation over empowerment as a concept to convey an authentic commitment to human liberation. doi.org/10.11157/anz...
December 22, 2024 at 10:12 PM
A more detailed article on Erik Olin Wright's work is linked below. The article argues for the value of emancipation over empowerment as a concept to convey an authentic commitment to human liberation. doi.org/10.11157/anz...