Entry 1342, on 2011-11-11 at 22:13:22 (Rating 4, Politics)
Here in New Zealand we are preparing for a general election (in about a week and a half) and it looks at this point that the current National (conservative) government should be re-elected fairly comfortably. It's interesting really because if people voted in a logical way they should be thrown out in a landslide.
The key factor (if you'll excuse the pun) in National's favour seems to be their leader, our current Prime Minister John Key. Key is by far the most popular leader and it seems that many people want to vote for National just because he is there. The leader of the main opposition party, Phil Goff, is far less favoured as a leader and although he is gradually gaining a bit more support, he is far behind Key in the current polls.
I must admit that when National first took office about 3 years ago I was fairly positive about them, although they wouldn't have been my usual preferred choice. But as time goes by it has become apparent that they really just represent the same old right-wing unthinking nonsensical policies of the past.
So why is Key so popular? I think he's just like a slick life insurance salesman. He ends up selling you something you don't really want or need but he does it in such a clever way that you don't even notice you've been ripped off! It does make sense because, as I said above even I was fooled initially.
It is unfortunate that people vote for emotional reasons rather than actually looking at what the parties really stand for. Surely the vast majority of New Zealanders would be far better off under a Labour government than they would under National. Even if the election promises (also known as bribes) offered by both parties were discounted it's still obvious that Labour has a far fairer and more reasonable political philosophy than National.
National have already driven our economy down by giving the rich huge tax cuts. This has resulted in the need for increased borrowing and has made refusal to fund worthwhile projects so much easier. The economy is a mess because of National's incompetence therefore we must reduce the minimum wage, sell off assets, and cut funding for useful projects. And yes, I know there have been events beyond the government's control (the global financial crisis and the Canterbury earthquake being the most obvious) but these are even better reasons not to give tax cuts to a sector of the population who most definitely don't need them.
John Key has been caught lying on several occasions, including over significant points such as increasing GST and the country's credit rating. He clearly cannot be trusted and people must realise that anything he says should be viewed with great suspicion. Yet, just like the devious insurance salesman people seem to go along with what he says anyway.
New Zealand still has a few worthwhile assets left, even after the loathsome asset sales of the 80s and 90s (ironically started by a Labour government). One reason we still own anything is that people realised asset sales were a really bad idea so the government stopped them. The other is that many of the companies sold were such a disaster under private ownership that the government had to buy them back at a huge loss. Yet these despicable clowns in National want to start the whole sorry process again. They're either morons or just so intent on following their discredited ideology that they are blind to the facts. Either way, why would any sensible person vote for them?
I've often said that I become quite despondent when I see how poorly democracy really works. John Key with his failure to debate the facts, insistence on repeating carefully designed catch phrases, and just general lack of honesty and integrity really is a poor example of the type of leader we need. Still, if people want a smug, dishonest, sleazy insurance salesman as their leader I guess that's their choice!
Comment 1 (2972) by Jim on 2011-12-17 at 14:41:02:
National were completely open about their plans to partially sell assets. People voted for them in overwhelming numbers anyway. Maybe the majority disagree with you. Maybe most people think sales of shares in assets to investors is a good idea. Maybe OJB is wrong!
Comment 2 (2974) by OJB on 2011-12-18 at 03:12:33:
I think there have been many good cases made against asset sales, even by people and organisations you might normally think would support them. Also our experience of them in the past hasn't exactly been positive. Plus there's the polls indicating people didn't want them. National won the election anyway. Either that issue wasn't important or people don't vote logically, or both!
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