The first Labour Government, you'll recall, in 1935, responded to the ravages of the Great Depression with compassion and practical wisdom. The fourth Labour Government, in contrast, responded through ideology and blind devotion to neoliberal economic theory. The former tradition helped the many survive a massive disruption and its success settled public policy, even National Party policy, for the next 50 years; in stark contrast, the revolutionary tradition adopted by Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson favoured the few and left abandoned a lost generation of New Zealanders, cynically cast adrift as no longer economically viable.