Grant that the typical New Zealander is a myth, a mere figment of a statistician's imagination. Yet precisely because of the lack of human extremes in this country a large number of people are remarkably close to this fictional average. Some description of the "typical" New Zealander is therefore likely to give a fairly accurate picture of our way of life and our values. And it at once becomes clear that the biased and uninformed criticism of overseas visitors may err on the side of politeness rather than frankness.

New Zealanders are first and last, totally and completely, bourgeois. Even by Australian standards, practically every pakeha would be grouped as "middle class." Most of our essential characteristics spring from this fact. First, a negative puritanism. Secondly, an equalitarianism that merges into worship of mediocrity. Thirdly, a complete lack of imagination.