From the Archive: "Another Perspective Against the Rural Retreat"

Originally published November 3, 2013.

Modern Survival Online republished an article about the financial collapse in New Zealand in 1984, and the aftermath. The author lived in a rural community. The first point she made was that as the government cut back on jobs and benefits, it did so first in the rural communities where it wouldn't receive press coverage. She writes:

One night the new government withdrew all subsidies from the farmers. We had a plant nursery and about 60% of our turnover was from servicing the farmers. Overnight the farmers closed up their check books and stopped buying anything. Within weeks the forestry employees lost their jobs. They had bought about 20% of our stock. The local town used to service the farmers and the forestry workers and all the small businesses cash-flows were similarly effected further impacting on each others cash flow as the money ceased to flow through the community. Other rural areas had the same problems and as the coal mines were shut down and the railway employees lost their jobs things became dire. Many rural businesses sunk without trace and rural communities suffered.

But she also writes about the social deterioration, starting with the ostracization of those who lost their jobs due to the government's financial "restructuring." But it became worse, although not as bad as Argentina and Russia experienced:

The local rural community got nasty. People got picked on socially. This was particularly so when newcomers – those who had moved in to the community in the last 25 years, still had jobs and the old timers lost theirs. Male violence against women sky rocketed. But it was all private violence. It didn’t spill out into the streets. When a woman was raped or beaten up in the home, it was understood to be her fault, not the males.

It was not a nice place to be and we, along with many others went to the city. There was still the promise of work in the cities, though it didn’t eventuate to much. There we looked after each other much more. We were all in the same boat. There was probably violence hidden behind closed doors, but I didn’t hear about it. We struggled from week to week, sought work where we could get it and took the chance to get an education when work wasn’t available. 

She sums up:

 It was hard, hard, hard. But we didn’t think to bug out to the country – we went from the country to the city instead. We went to where we hoped we could find work. We went to where the resources were.