Talk:John Minto

Mana Party
He's not actually in the Mana party, I'm almost certain, so have changed this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 119.224.22.94 (talk) 22:16, 11 May 2011 (UTC)

removing political opinion disguised as fact
If you could enumerate which areas of my addition are factually incorrect, I can remove them (or amend them with correct information). Likewise if you think I've put a 'spin' on any particular bit of information, please let me know. Duncan bayne (talk) 02:08, 22 January 2008 (UTC)


 * The comments in the article about the value of Minto's house are totally irrelevant to his political opposition to private ownership *in the means of production*. It might be relevant if the house was a rental property and Minto was a commercial landlord, but in fact this is his residential home address we are talking about here! kiwisocialist (talk) 04:45, 28 January 2008 (UTC)


 * In the supplied quote J.M. doesn't mention private ownership in the means of production; he simply refers to "property rights" and "enforceable property rights." If your objection was merely to the inclusion of the value of the property he owns, why would you not simply remove that line, rather than the quote in entirety?  In fact, you are attempting to soften the impact of his statement by implying that he was only referring to a particular class of private property.  In addition you are attempting to conceal the hypocrisy of his actions w.r.t. property rights, which is relevant given his public political activism.  Duncan bayne (talk) 00:08, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

I've removed the section again per WP:BLP. If the material is added again without consensus reached, I will request that Duncan bayne be blocked. This is trolling and point-scoring, and is completely unacceptable on Wikipedia.- gadfium 02:52, 29 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Would you care to explain to me just which parts of my addition violated WP:BLP? Clearly the quote from Minto's own op-ed can't be in violation - it is a direct quote from his own writing, preserving context, and is highly relevant to his public political activities.  This being so, why did you remove the entire section? Duncan bayne (talk) 03:44, 29 January 2008 (UTC)


 * I have reinstated the quote, having clarified the presentation, changed the title, and removed any mention of Minto's property holdings. That should satisfy your concerns in the meantime, although I still contend that his property holdings are relevant to his political activism, & so should be included in his biography. Duncan bayne (talk) 03:53, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

This is not a place for you to argue with a column published by Minto. Nor is there any point in republishing his articles without commentary. If you can find a reputable source commenting on his column, that may be acceptable. However, that source must be published in a reliable medium - not a blog. You would also have to be careful of undue weight - since the article at present occupies little more than a screenful, and his position on property is not what he is known for, I can't see how you can establish relevance without breaching this, unless you expand the article considerably to mention his lengthy political career. Don't forget the reliable sources.- gadfium 05:02, 29 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Minto is a Marxist & heavily motivated by that ideology; his criticism of post-Apartheid South African governments is driven primarily by the fact that they are not sufficiently socialist. Likewise, his criticism of private education in his capacity as a member of the QPEC is driven by class-warfare ideology.  I think it is essential that his Wiki entry reflect this fact, for the fact that he is a Marxist is as relevant to his life, politics & activism as the same fact is for Lenin.  How would you suggest I go about expressing this within his bio page?  Must I play the role of his biographer, & write a detailed summary of his entire political history, in order to introduce the nature of his political motivations? Duncan bayne (talk) 05:27, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Please supply evidence on this talk page that he is a Marxist. I have no problem with him being described as a left wing activist, but I don't know that he has any specific ideology.

However, you are clearly coming to this article to push your own point of view, rather than to make the article better. This is the wrong approach to Wikipedia. If you cannot be neutral on an article such as this one, please restrict yourself to editing articles that you can be neutral about.- gadfium 05:42, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Personal Impressions
This person was either loved or hated in NZ due to his stance. I met him twice: the first time during a demonstation during the 1981 Springbok Tour, and the second time a few years later when he and a few colleagues were demonstating outside a business with South African sporting links. I wrote a few letters to the editor in the Auckland Star through the '80's opposing his viewpoint as I beleived that he had been instrumental in bringing New Zealand to the brink of civil war over 1981, plus I supported South Africa's anti-Communist stance. But my visit to South Africa in 1987, plus watching South Africa's change of regime in 1994, made me molify my views of this man somewhat. He fought for a cause, and though I certainly don't agree with how he did it, given the strife of 1981, he did it because he thought that the cause was right. Expatkiwi Happy days Johnny! What did you expect? Thabo and his mates actually implementing any of their promises? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.160.10.11 (talk) 08:35, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Recent Edits
I'm adding this article to my watchlist as the recent edits were written by an anonymous user with a clear bias. Thanks to Gadfium for cleaning that heading up a bit. Also the fact that Minto's house was bought up suggests something to do with Whaleoil who once published pictures of Minto's house online, again concerning. Bactoid (talk) 06:33, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150924083600/http://www.qpec.org.nz/Access_to_Ak_Uni_-_mr_-_12_December_2007.doc-html/ to http://www.qpec.org.nz/Access_to_Ak_Uni_-_mr_-_12_December_2007.doc-html/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100519150837/http://www.shaharpeer.co.il/pages/sitecontent.aspx?id=12 to http://www.shaharpeer.co.il/pages/sitecontent.aspx?id=12

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Real job?
I assume Minto at some point held a job- probably as a uni lecturer or something, but at some point he may have had a real job. Do we really have no sources to document such things? 203.109.212.103 (talk) 09:40, 28 January 2018 (UTC)