Rikkitic:

 

I think it is arrogant and disrespectful to be dismissive of this sense of unease just because some people are not able to articulate it properly.    

 

It is difficult to have a reasoned discussion with people who cannot articulate their perspective. Perhaps that is why the protests consist of doing things like seditious vandalizing MP's offices, disrupting traffic by sitting on motorways, and throwing sex toys at Ministers. There's no coherent argument in any of that.

Meanwhile, there certainly are issues to discuss. As with any negotiation, trade-offs need to be made. In the TPP, NZ has conceded things that aren't ideal for us and there may well be a price to be paid for being part of the agreement. But historically much of NZ's wealth is derived from trade, and that will continue to be the case in the future. Being excluded from the TPP would significantly limit our future trade prospects. Of course, there are important questions that deserve discussion, such as: who gains/loses from the TPP? whether or not the trade-offs are worthwhile? and is the process reasonable? Unfortunately in amongst all the shouting and throwing, there has been very little actual discussion.