responsibilities of criticism

I may be an unconventional journalist, but I still have ethics and beliefs. When it comes to social criticism, I don't think it's necessarily incumbent on the critic to have solutions to the problems they identify; that's the domain of policymakers and legislation. Like with this lobbying series that RNZ is running - Guyon mostly identified the problem, but left the solutions part to the policy wonks. I wish I had that sort of access, but Chloe doesn't even reply to most of my emails, and fobbed off Gary for months. - To whit: I spent big chunks of the last few years reaming out the large arts institutions*, yet I'm not really interested in sitting on boards or lecturing. If I was inside the tent, I'd end up discovering privileged information that would make it difficult to publish criticism - which is exactly what my enemies want 😤 While I'd like to do some investigative journalism, most of this stuff was observational, and rooted in my lived experience (or the stories people confided). - I've got solutions when it comes to drug policy, though, and I guess I am inside the tent in that space thanks to my Election 2020 theatrics. That's what I'm personally invested in: the club idea, and running a drug-friendly party scene where the dealers are part of the scene. I realise the debate about whether the club would reduce harm is a live one, but I think it'd be more realistic for doubters to talk to Mike (Gary's brother) about his experiences in Amsterdam than to use the Daktory as *the* example. ... The Daktory was illegal: of course it had a criminal element, and that scuzziness wasn't what Wellington necessarily wanted, though I thought the outlaw vibe was a lot more fun than smoking weed at home. And it had hundreds of members. I think that's the easiest lever to pull re: reducing harm - smaller clubs. Dakta's franchise idea isn't my cup of tea: I think everyone should design their own social club. It made for great TV, though. 😀 - *but only the ones I thought were problematic - I didn't say anything bad about NZ on Air or APRA.