And the vile comments flow

 

Our Prime Minister, during some of the most tortuous years experienced in my life, has announced her resignation. 

And the tap spewing bitter vitriol is opening up. 

Let’s be clear from the start, I am not committed to ANY political party, nor do I wear a political ideological straight jacket. 

What a coincidence that on Tuesday [17/01/2023], Ron Trotter had entitled his Blog ‘ Is the Prime Minister “Evil”?’ 

He was questioning the state of NZ politics where our Prime Minister was being branded “evil”. He noted that “...Transforming Jacinda Ardern into a hateful  caricature… signals that political discussion has steered away from the predictably ideological towards the dangerously metaphysical…”.

As Ron notes, the fact remains the  “country is economically, socially & culturally outperforming a great many of the wealthy nations against which we like to compare ourselves.” His Blog is worth a read...

http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2023/01/is-prime-minister-evil.html

As far as I am concerned, the vitriolic personalised slagging says more about those making the comments, rather than it does about Jacinda Ardern as PM.

[Illustration is from Ron Trotter's Blog]

Politics should be directed... 'to the well-being of the people.'

Groucho Marx is attributed as saying, “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.”

I believe our current model of democracy is a croc, and for that reason I am not looking forward to the next election in New Zealand.

Apparently just 45.7% of the world’s population are considered to live in a democracy of some sort. Just 6.4% of the world’s population is considered to live in full democracies.

The Economist Intelligence Unit ranks countries in a Democracy Index. Each country is given a score out of 10 in four categories: electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties.

In 2021, New Zealand’s score was unchanged from the 2020 index, we ranked the world’s second most democratic country, after Norway.

I continue to question the operational effectiveness of our Democracy which operates as an Opposition Parliamentary System. My focus is not about Political parties per sae, rather the system in which they operate. Does it truly serve democracy and the overall wellbeing of the Country? Or is it more of a sporting match where teams vigorously compete against each other in the hope to be the ‘winner’? And what is the role and responsibility we, the voters, have to ensure democracy operates well?

Let’s review the three models of political opposition:-

Classical Opposition - To oppose anything and everything.

Opposition in Principle - Bent not only on wrenching power from the government of today,     but on ending once and for all the system on which that government rests.

Cartel Arrangements -  The third is a counter-concept to the other two. It relates to   government under various forms of cartel arrangements among political organisations   operating within the framework of parliamentary institutions.

In the nonsensical game of Opposition Politics, scoring political points seem more important than the issue. In 2019 Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, noted, “The lessons of the world happiness report over the years is that … honesty in government are crucial for well-being…Politics should be directed as the great sages long ago insisted: to the well-being of the people…”.

It is interesting to note that there is plenty of research on what parliamentary opposition is, but very little on its effectiveness.

Reflect on your living memory of government, are the behaviours we have regularly seen (remember I am talking about the process of government, not parties), the hall marks of an ‘effective opposition’?

I argue that historically, the consistent practice of political opposition has been a combination of both Classical Opposition and Opposition in Principle. Very rarely during my active interest in voting, if at all, have we experienced the third model, that of  cartel arrangements i.e., the various parties working together in the best interests of the Country, rather than point scoring against each other.

Certainly, there have been isolated examples of that happening, but it is not the common approach by any stretch of the imagination.

Successive governments have developed the habit of responding to symptoms, not identifying the root cause of problems – and of course, we the voters, have conditioned them to think and behave that way. “Populism trumps data”. (Max Rushbrooke Dominion Post Opinion 22/10/22) Most of the systemic issues we have are unlikely to produce measurable outcomes within one 3 year term anyway.

When will we stop reacting to symptoms and start dealing with the root causes?

The importance of open, considered debate and discussion on any topic cannot be underestimated. It helps us learn and understand. Putting forward ideas & even provocative thoughts takes courage & care. Receiving other & opposite opinions takes patience & understanding. Doing all of that well creates a continuous, exciting & exhilarating learning environment. It is okay for rational disagreement, and regardless of how confronting, dignity illustrates the better person.

In August 2022, Thomas Costello & Shauna Bowes wrote in PSYCHE, “Political views are, fundamentally, opinions… It is now apparent that reasonable, intellectually charitable discussions between progressives and conservatives are quite scarce…leaving little room for compromise or legislative success…ideological extremism is associated with low cognitive flexibility…we do warn against people who are sure that theirs is the only solution to societal problems…absolute certainty is something to avoid.”

Another hallmark of democracy is participation, and voting is an act of participation.

Many observers lament the decline in voter turnout and view this trend as detrimental to the democratic process. The fact remains, those of us with the privilege (some may say ‘right’) of being able to vote should be exercising that privilege. Not only that, but we should also be actively questioning and challenging candidates.

Are we going to allow the selfish game of egocentric and vain political point scoring to continue?

It is a simple behavioural logic (conditioning) – say nothing and the current behaviour will continue. In short, we can’t point the finger at politicians and aspiring candidates – they just deliver what they think we expect of them.

Leadership isn’t about doing what’s popular, it is about doing what’s right.

There is a basic logic that democracy will benefit when more citizens participate. The Intelligence Unit of the Economist magazine measures the quality of governance (EUI Index). Nations with overall higher political participation also have better performing government.

The truth is that most of us make shallow voting decisions focused on the here and now, ‘what’s in it for me?’ Are you more likely to support candidates who are prepared to take the long view or those that just hand out  goodies for you in the here and now?

And that is it in a nutshell really. It doesn’t matter which party is in Government, they must maintain voter popularity rather than do what is right to stay in power. If it shouldn’t be that way, then we the voters, will have to change our behaviour.

 

Use of the word Health an ‘inverted euphemism’.

Localised District Health Boards have been dumped and a  centralised bureaucracy established.

[*1]

DHBs were set up to be responsible for the integration of all health services in a particular area officially known as “resident populations”. They were responsible to monitor the health status of that population.

Recently, suddenly, and with little discussion, a new Centralised bureaucracy was announced. Apparently, this was necessary because a patient in one geographic area receives state funding for a particular drug or treatment while a patient with similar clinical needs in another area does not. The Government, not the DHBs control the funding.

The question, “Restructuring yet again is the solution to what problem?” springs to mind.

Some answers include ‘The problem is the cost. Healthcare has become commoditized, politicised’ ‘We have a healthcare system that is only one big Accident & Emergency centre.’ ‘DHBs are stubborn, and always too slow.’

Even if those are correct diagnoses, is restructuring the answer? Remember health care is delivered by people. In an effective organisation the people are clear on what they are supposed to do and enabled to be able to do that.

The key word of diagnosis (in my opinion) is ‘politicised’. Restructuring is often synonymous with Politics.

During my service in the Public Health system, I experienced four restructures plus the one that created the opportunity for me to be employed.

The process of restructuring faces many challenges leading to most organisations failing to successfully implement it, usually because it is imposed from the top down with little or no real engagement of the people who do the actual work. The great Peter Drucker is credited with saying “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. In other words, no matter how big or clever the plans, unless the team is onboard, you ain’t going nowhere. 

In the words of someone whose opinion I respect, "...perhaps because we are so good at organizing, we tend as a nation to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization."

Bad policy is more harmful than flesh eating bugs.

By sheer coincidence I came across a book ‘Curious kiwi words’ by Max Cryer (2002). I looked up ‘Health’ and here is what he said:

“Although the word health normally indicates that a body is functioning well, in New Zealand it’s often used to mean sickness. In spite of their titles, the Ministry of Health, health insurance, health professionals, health clinics and health legislation are entirely concerned with problems related to illness. Television and radio have health reporters who report on various matters to do with ill health…

The word health is probably an optimistic gesture towards what people want it to be (i.e. healthy) but the fact remains, that during their working day, health professionals only ever meet people who are ill.

For a while there was a moderate attempt to substitute the word wellness as a sort of middle ground, but the word never took off.”

Max referenced a social commentator, Richard Wolfe, who called the word ‘Health’ an “inverted euphemism’.

[*1] The Dominion Post / 28 October 2022 / Murdoch Cartoon / page 13 

Guns and Gangs - Politics or Solutions?

 

How many times in the past have National promised to sort the gangs?

“Apparently an opinion survey by Ipsos showed that the public now views National as the party most capable of managing the crime/law issue.” 

Bryce Edwards – Political Roundup 15/07/2022 

Let’s not forget The National Party has spent more time in Government than any other party since they were formed in 1936 through an amalgamation of the Reform and Liberal parties, which had previously been in government until a major loss to Labour hence the decision to unite. In 2020 National had held office for 47 years longer than any other party. 

For most of the 20th century, National was more often in government than out of it. 

In July 2010, in an address to the National Party Conference, John Key said he was, “…proud to be leading a government that is making New Zealand a better place.” Later in the speech he said, “We’ve declared war on P and we’re cracking (presumably no pun intended) down on the gangs that sell it.” 

This was illustrated in a great cartoon ‘Gangs’. “*#@* ferocious pussy cats eh bro?” There is a gang member and his dog peering over a huge fence, topped with barbed wire, with the word ‘Gangs’ painted on it, and comment sarcastically on  three cats on the footpath who represent ‘Councils’, ‘National’ and ‘Labour’ which purr, meow and hiss gently. There is a newspaper on the footpath with the headline ‘We’d crack down on gangs- Key’.  

https://digitalnz.org/records/23219318/gangs-ferocious-pussy-cats-eh-bro-12-may-2008   

Nor should we forget National Leader Simon Bridges in late November 2019, declaring that under his prime ministership his government would disrupt and harass gangs every single day he was in the job! Hmm, how did that go? 

Interesting fact: Rob Muldoon liked drinking with the gang members and was a patron of Black Power. At his funeral in 1992, Black Power performed a haka in Sir Robert’s honour! 

So, the current Police Minister, Chris Hipkins tells us the government wants to “…hit gangs where it hurts.” He does go on to say that they need to engage young people with something useful to do to keep them out of trouble. Ya thunk!? Of course, just recently National’s Leader Chris Luxon has announced they would introduce a jobs coaching scheme and that it should be run by Iwi. Good grief, is sense starting to prevail? Do you think he and Hipkins might get together, share their thinking, and create a jointly supported plan? Or will they use the topic for political fisticuffs?

You may think that I am a Labour supporter having a go at National. Not the case. 

My comments simply illustrate that governments overtime have always been making promises when the Gangs profile became politically uncomfortable, that are clearly superficial political survival answers, focused on symptoms but not causes. 

Ironically, the most intelligent and ‘cause’ focused comment has come from Denis O’Reilly of Black Power. He argued that gangs are symptoms of much deeper problems, many of which stem from our history as a country and that they arise from colonialism, neoliberalism, and socioeconomic inequality. 

And that is not the first time he has commented, endeavouring to bring sense and perspective to the ‘issue’ of gangs. In 2017 he talked about ‘gangs being convenient whipping boys’ in an interview with Dale Husband. In that piece Denis notes that back in 1984, “Phil Goff called me into his office and said: We’re not going to be funding bad New Zealanders into work when good New Zealanders aren’t in work.”

https://e-tangata.co.nz/korero/denis-oreilly-the-gangs-have-been-convenient-whipping-boys/

Dale notes, “Social scientists can look back at that time and see that, when the work schemes stopped, the prison population began climbing. And that’s what we still live with today. When all the work schemes were pulled away, the boys became criminalised a fair bit and we are still cursed by that now.” 

I suggest we stop playing politics, repeating the continuous political failures, and start the simple process of root cause analysis to deal with the problem,  and not the politically convenient symptoms. 

The importance of open, considered debate and discussion on any topic cannot be underestimated. It helps us learn and understand. Putting forward ideas & even provocative thoughts takes courage & care. Receiving other & opposite opinions takes patience & understanding. Doing all of that well creates a continuous, exciting & exhilarating learning environment.

It is okay for rational disagreement, and regardless of how confronting, dignity, not their politics, illustrates the better person, .

Rainbow flag not flown for gay pride week at Pukekohe High School.

 

I was sad to read ‘Queer students flag school’s pride’ (p4 / Franklin County News / June 23, 2022), explaining that the rainbow flag was not flown for gay pride week at Pukekohe High School because it was “unnecessarily inflammatory”. 

It instantly transported me back to the early days of our Gay Rights campaign when the gay community decided it was no longer going to put up with having to hide in the closet and pretend to be something else. Back in the 60s people were being arrested for being gay. People were being discriminated against in some awful ways for being gay or homosexual. 

My involvement in the late 70’s and into the 80’s was as the Secretary of the National Gay Rights Coalition, when the campaign for homosexual law reform began in earnest after the failure of MP Venn Young’s second attempt to legalise Homosexuality. ‘Salient’, the Victoria University Students Association Newspaper noted, “…the NGRC has established itself as a weighty, authoritative, and credible voice in speaking on behalf of gay right, in detecting discrimination and in protesting false stereotyping… The formation of the NGRC injected a new spirit of confidence into the gay rights movement, as a result of which has grown and diversified.” 

We were there to fight and fight publicly. To stand proud and equal. Gay Pride week developed for that very purpose. 

I recall teams throughout the country hoisting Pink Triangle flags on public flag poles, and later I remember our friend Fran Wilde introducing her Bill for our equality, and the campaign of public meetings against that Bill by the Salvation Army which we would protest outside or storm the meetings. 

During 1985 were the marches supported with a lot of people who were not gay. When we marched in Wellington, people were coming out of the pubs and shouting abuse, throwing tomatoes and eggs and stuff like that. But there was such huge positive energy from the people marching, that they just kept marching. 

We fought hard and for a long time. And to read that the rainbow flag was not flown for gay pride week at Pukekohe High School because it was “unnecessarily inflammatory” was a shock, propelling ourselves back  to the 60’s where gays were criminals and hid in their closets!