Too High, Too Low or Just Right [2004]
Some people worry that Kiwis don't aim high enough. Resourceful and entrepreneurial we may be, but few of us seem to want to be Bill Gates. A nice lifestyle business will do - so there's time for fishing. New Zealanders almost all want the same things:- good health and great jobs, nice houses and happy children, great relationships and wonderful holidays. But few seem to want much more.`
So despite the belief that we box above our weight internationally*, and that New Zealanders don't know what they can't do, many also believe that New Zealand's egalitarian culture stifles ambition. Only 31% of us believe that New Zealand is one of the most advanced countries in the world. We look at the 15 or so above us, not the 150 below us. And you can't discuss Kiwi aspirations for very long before somebody mentions the tall poppy syndrome or our cultural cringe.
Even New Zealanders' levels of personal
well-being, which is measurably the equal of countries such as Australia.
UK and the USA, is seen as some kind of drawback. Opposition politicians
worry that New Zealand's per capita income is lower than countries like
Australia. And though many of us exhibit a lot of the same post-materialist attitudes as leading countries like Holland and Sweden, our version of
the Protestant work ethic tends to discount the value of that quality
of life. 60% of 18 to 64 year olds would rather strive to be the
best I can be than take it easy and have a good life.
Italicised passages reflect common New Zealand sayings
"Many also believe that New Zealand's egalitarian culture stifles ambition"
