By the standards of his t

By the standards of his time, Galileo was often willing to change his views in accordance withobservation. In order to perform his experiments, Galileo had to set up standards of lengthand time, so that measurements made on different days and in different laboratories, could becompared in a fashion that could be repeatedly duplicated. This provided a reliable foundationon which to confirm mathematical laws using inductive reasoning.Mätauranga continuumIn the course of their isolation over a period of nearly 1350 years Mäori 12 emerged with theirown view of the world. In the absence of any contact with peoples of different cultures, Mäorideveloped distinctive understandings of the world they occupied. Tüpuna Mäori used theirintellectual knowledge to name and categorise hundreds of plants and species of insects, birdsand animals in Aotearoa New Zealand.Our understanding of Mäori society sits within the mätauranga continuum that has evolved overthe centuries and is encapsulated in the comprehensive definition of the world view offered bythe late Reverend Mäori Marsden.Priest and philosopher, Rev Marsden left for our contemplation the following statement on“worldview”:“Cultures pattern perceptions of reality into conceptualisations of what they perceivereality to be; of what is to be regarded as actual, probable, possible or impossible. Theseconceptualisations formed what is termed the ‘world view’ of a culture. The World (sic) viewis the central systemisation of conceptions of reality to which members of its culture assentand from which stems their value system. The world view lies at the very heart of the culture,touching, interacting with and strongly influencing every aspect of the culture.” 13He complemented this with the following:“(T)he Mäori does not and never has accepted the mechanistic view of the universe whichregards it as a closed system into which nothing can impinge from without.” 14This comment appears to be addressing the approach of Galileo to the exclusion of culturalvariables; suggesting that rather than falling captive to the logic of exclusion where there is noplace for kaupapa tuku iho, Mäori call upon the logic of inclusion.A consequence of Mäori refusal to accept the mechanistic view of the universe as described byRev Marsden is that this logic places Mäori society in a position where multiple and alternativeperceptions can be not only entertained but respected. The logic of inclusion emerges.12 Durie, Mason (2003) Launching MäoriFutures p14 Regarding the settlementof these islands, there is DNA and otherevidence that “a significant colony ofMäori settlers was firmly established someeight hundred or so years ago.” by 1200AD.13 Royal, Te Ahukaramu (2003) The WovenUniverse: Selected Writings of Rev, MäoriMarsden, pp177-178.14 Royal, p178.15 Whatarangi Winiata, Perspectives onPartnerships – National Library of NewZealand Treaty of Waitangi Seminar,Wellington Feb 1999.Dual economiesDespite the fact that tüpuna Mäori developed complicated religious beliefs and comprehensivevalues systems, there is no Mäori word for what we now describe as economics or the economy.We understand that economics is a system of management that provides governments andothers with a framework to manage society.There would be little argument from Mäori whether they are representing whänau, hapü, iwi orsome other röpü Mäori that their people are their wealth. Whilst the accumulation of individualwealth is a primary motivator of western economics; the health and wellbeing of their people isthe compelling factor in Te Ao Mäori.The following statement is as true today as it was when Professor Winiata said it at a NationalLibrary seminar in Wellington over a decade ago. 158

“Aotearoa New Zealand has a dual economy. There is the Mäori economy; there is the westerneconomy. The unemployment experience, the level of training, the age distribution, the healthexperience, the housing condition, the degree of diversification and liquidity of the assetbase and so on are quite different between the two economies. Each economy requires quitedifferent prescriptions to prosper.”The prescriptions of the Mäori economy maintain that Mäori will behave in one of two ways,they will:(a)strive to maximise financial returns subject to the expression of kaupapa tuku iho; or(b) seek to maximise the expression of kaupapa tuku iho subject to financial requirements.Quantitative economics - Gross Domestic Product (GDP)Governments, economists and economic development groups manage community wellbeing witheconomic indicators that reflect what the national economy requires to prosper. That is:• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – market value of all goods and services made within a year;• number of business units – the ability to generate goods and services;• industry and sector activity – who and how money is generated;• number of car registrations – consumption of goods and services;• balance of trade – the difference between how much we import and export;• building consent numbers – an indication of market demand for construction activities;• occupancy rates in tourism – money brought into the local economy; and• retail sales figures – consumption rates.The saying “money makes the world go round” comes to mind because that’s exactly what theseindicators are measuring - money movements within a community, region or nation. Moneyis the form of measurement or ‘unit-of-account’ used by the western theory of economics tomeasure the wealth of regions and nations.GDP refers to the total market value of goods and services produced within a given period ina country. It is often used as a monetary or economic measure of a country’s performancein production over a given period. For example, an increase in GDP is celebrated as a sign ofeconomic progress.Clearly, GDP is essentially a measure of economic progress because it can capture onlyproduction or consumption of goods and services during a period of time. Hence, non-marketactivities such as volunteer or unpaid work, externalities such as pollution caused in the processof production, loss of leisure or family time due to extra hours of work done, the time spentdoing volunteer or community work and so on are not accounted for in GDP calculations.In order to challenge effectively the mistaken assumption that economic growth necessarilymakes us ‘better off’; the new measures must go beyond adding indicators to create a neweconomic accounting system that includes social and environmental benefits and costs. GDPbasedmeasures of progress are challenged on the grounds that they:• count the depletion of a country’s natural wealth as if it were economic gain;• make no qualitative distinctions, so that crime, sickness, accidents, pollution, disasters, warand other liabilities may spur economic growth and contribute to “progress”; exclude thevalue of unpaid voluntary and household work;• ignore the value of free time, leading to the anomaly that overwork and stress spureconomic growth and are therefore mistakenly counted as signs of progress; and9