Barack Obama is to be the next US President. It also appears Americans have given the Democratic Party majorities in both houses of Congress.
This represents a comprehensive rolling back of the Reagan/Bush conservative agenda. Not surprising, as it has proven itself to be ultimately destructive rather than constructive.
There is a certain irony in this. Living on the North Shore, as I do, where the National Party is dominant, I'm surrounded by people who echo the views of the US Republicans while at the same time apparenly not realising much of it is nonsense and propaganda. It's the usual menu of dumbness: Invading Iraq was a good idea; unregulated, free markets will cure everything; government is always bad while private business is always good.....and so on, without actual evidence ever intruding on the minds of these faithful.
America had to suffer the disasters wrought by this nonsense. If National wins on Saturday without understanding that much it has advanced as good has been shown to be not good (PPPs too often = unaccountable crony capitalism, etc...) then that will be sad for New Zealand.
There is much in conservatism that is good.....but not much that is good in religious fundamentalism (whether the deity is the Sky Father or markets) and its partner, wilful blindness. National has been too prone to faith in things the evidence has long shown to be wrong or not the best way of doing things.
National is also New Zealand's declared anti-democracy party. They seek a return to First Past the Post and don't appear to mind at all that this will mean depriving fully half of all voters of the meaningful vote they currently enjoy under MMP.
How anyone could vote for a party who want to take their vote away is a mystery to me......but blind faith does make people do silly things.
Thankfully, today, here was a moment of reason - open-eyed, clear thinking - in the United States sufficiently widespread that Brack Obama won.
Fingers crossed those eyes remain open.
please quote refernece for your FPP acusations. Anyway FPP is still democartic although not as good. Hardly a dictatorship model. Just cause the greens would lose under that system doesn't mean it un democratic. STV would seem to be better.
ReplyDeleteFPP isn't undemocratic. It's a very poor form of democracy and we are currently using a much better one.
ReplyDeleteDemocracy as we operate it is about electing representatives to represent us in the legislature.
MMP lets us elect who we want.
FPP doesn't.
So when it comes to choosing who we want, MMP is by far the better system.
FPP backers effectively seek to deprive their own neighbours, friends and family of a vote that actually counts.
Why any National party person living living in a safe Labour seat would vote to dump MMP and effectively have their OWN vote made worthless beggars belief.