Lost respect and trust

Written By: - Date published: 1:19 pm, August 26th, 2010 - 20 comments
Categories: dpf, humour, national - Tags: , ,

I was wondering whether to write a post on the very odd things that outrage the tight little circle of right wing bloggers we have in this country. Here for example is DPFs rant on the big issue of the week. But MikeG in a comment at Dim Post made the point far far better than I could have. If our tighty righties are outraged not at their failure to scam free plonk, but (as they claim) at being lied to and used, well then they are wasting their righteousness on trivia, because there are much worse liars and users afoot. Over to MikeG’s brilliant comment (read DPFs post first). — r0b

I am annoyed with the National Party. In fact more than annoyed I am angry.

Readers will know of their winning of the last General Election. People had the chance to win their government of choice and the competition was promoted on the basis of democracy.

After the election date had passed, National announced that democracy would not be maintained, but that legislation would be rushed through under urgency and in some cases Councils disbanded and the National Cabinet would then select their favourite top councillors.

National has the legal right to use urgency. This is not a debate about legality. They said they would be democratic. They changed this after winning the election, disallowing the voters to have their say at Select Committees.

I deplore what National has done. They have acted unethically. If they had made clear at the very beginning that democratic process would not count for anything, and all you had to do was be in the top ten list of friends of the National Caucus then I (and others) would have acted very differently. They basically conned voters and other media users into voting for them under false pretences.

Quite a few people are upset about this. Some are calling for boycotts of National, cancelled subscriptions etc. I’m not going to go down that path. I doubt National cares too much about losing my potential subscription (especially as they kindly provide me with a complimentary pamphets anyway.

My message to the National is that you have lost something infinitely more valuable than my subscription. You have lost both my respect and my trust. That is hard to do, and even harder to undo.

MikeG

20 comments on “Lost respect and trust ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. Chuck 1
    26 August 2010 at 1:38 pm

    Wasting righteousness on trivia is a common human trait and more sad than funny. What makes it hysterically sad on Kiwiblog is the unconscious self-flagellation going on in the comments: Godamn business types! Completely untrustworthy! How dare they do as they please simply because they have the right! It\’s unethical..! In twenty minutes when the next post is up they\’ll be directing the same concepts at something else. Do these guys read what they post before posting?

    • Bored 1.1
      26 August 2010 at 2:29 pm

      You say goddam business types…its far worse than that. The general electorate enmasse no longer votes for things unless they are of benefit materially and personally. Like tax cuts. We aspire to money, status, the big house / car, and we are bloody happy to have these even if it means that we do as we are told, allow “collateral damage” elsewhere in society. Witness the number of small freedoms that went west for our “security” post 9/11, witness the clamour for tax cuts even though we all knew the worse off would bear the burden.

      The electorate does not care for democracy, they have lost touch with their representatives to such a degree that they are only useful as leaders to deliver them the good news and the money. And the “leaders” know this, they are in effect “gang bosses” who only need to deliver to those they have bribed to elect them, and if democracy , law, process get in the way, they hand off to the “spin doctors” and subvert.

      • TightyRighty 1.1.1
        26 August 2010 at 2:48 pm

        Funny, that’s the same thing that righties have banged on about for ages. nobody votes unless their is a material benefit to them. it’s pork barreling for all the wrong reasons. It’s not just tax cuts though, it’s interest free student loans, WFF, superannuation, gold cards and now income splitting.

        politicians need to make the stand, they may not get voted into power for a while, but their message will get through eventually. As long as they don’t do an act and promptly dump their ideology for the baubles of office, they might even stay in power. still can’t believe heather has her snout in the trough after being dumped. have some dignity.

        Also, income splitting is stupid pork barreling. it’s an even more discriminatory welfare/tax benefit/burden than WFF. no surprise it came from the person representing the only fully covered electorate.

      • bbfloyd 1.1.2
        26 August 2010 at 4:00 pm

        so the spin doctors have won the war then? decades of corporate “spin” have created a moral framework that encourages people to allow themselves to be manipulated in obvious ways. that has the majority unquestioningly immersing themselves into a self serving consumer culture.

        is this all we have to look forward to? sitting on our haunches, and bickering while we watch our civilization consume itself? with the occasional burst of guilt at the damage done? (a good hard bout of power shopping should kill that pesky emotion).

        what could be laughingly, referred to as our “fourth column”, is nothing more than a vassal of the entities that profit from reinforcing this mindset. leaving little, if any real opportunity to counter with a widespread information/education initiative based on reality. without which, we are going to just get more of the same.

        • Chuck 1.1.2.1
          26 August 2010 at 6:58 pm

          bbfloyd
          bored

          I share your concerns in principle, but apart from making incremental changes on an individual scale, the implications are literally earth shattering. There is no offered alternative that could unite those who are over consuming (who are suggested as feeling guilty) with those who would happily live in grass huts and catching fish. Is there a simple solution?

          • Bored 1.1.2.1.1
            27 August 2010 at 9:49 am

            Chuck, apologies if the outlook is portrayed as bleak, the reality is that the outlook is only bleak for those who subscribe to the conventional wisdom and ascribe their faith in the current occupiers of the halls of power.

            On the up side whilst human consumption of resources peaks and the demands made on the current modus operandi fail to meet the expectations of the “bribed electorate” you can expect the current power elite to fail to meet the expectations. They will be removed and replaced, because as you know the children in the sandpit throw hissy fits when their toys are taken away. Turmoil at the time perhaps, but from it we may get a far more realistic viewpoint on our democratic institutions being something we need to be in touch with, and participating in. Its not democracy thats broken, its the practice that has been corrupted.

  2. HitchensFan 2
    26 August 2010 at 2:45 pm

    How cute and quaint (tone of disgusted sarcasm) that they demonstrate all this *faux outrage* sweetie darling and threaten to boycott the NBR for such unethical behaviour. Pity they don’t exhibit such passion about true unethical behaviour in the business world.

    They really are a bunch of strange little people. I start snorting out loud when I picture their little party: Cactus, Whale, Busted Blonde herself and DPF. Man, if I saw a crowd out like that I’d be giving them a VERY wide berth.

  3. MikeG 3
    26 August 2010 at 3:15 pm

    Thanks r0b!

    (Anti-spam word: misunderstanding. How does it know?!)

  4. hellonearthis 4
    26 August 2010 at 3:20 pm

    LOL

  5. QoT 5
    26 August 2010 at 7:20 pm

    Butbutbut! Veuve Cliquot, guys!!!

  6. felix 6
    26 August 2010 at 9:00 pm

    Whenever I feel like my life is meaningless, it’s comforting to know that encouraging comparisons are only a right-wing blog away.

  7. JJ 7
    26 August 2010 at 10:17 pm

    That comment is just sooo loaded. How is the democratic process not being respected? The government is pushing through its laws. Thats a sign of strength not a slap in the face to democracy. Probably the worst part of democracy is when laws take forever to be pushed through by a government, and worse if all sorts of compromises have to be added to these laws to get through – think US congress horse trading.

    • Draco T Bastard 7.1
      26 August 2010 at 11:22 pm

      Democracy:

      government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

      Now, you’re probably going to start thinking about the bit where it says elected agents but there’s a problem with that and that problem is that, in NZ, the democratic process has select committees in it purely so that the people can have a say on the laws passed. Bypassing those is bypassing democracy and is exactly what National, Act and the MP have been doing.

      Probably the worst part of democracy is when laws take forever to be pushed through by a government,

      That’s not the worst, that’s the best as it shows that the law may actually relate to reality. NACT pushes laws through without that check and so we get bad laws. The Auckland SuperShitty laws are a good example as they were passed purely on ideology and not related to reality at all.

      The worst is that our government (even if it is a Labour led government) is pretty much owned, lock, stock and barrel, by the corporations and they certainly don’t like democracy.

      • MikeG 7.1.1
        27 August 2010 at 8:46 am

        Good response DTB, and you didn’t even get to mention Environment Canterbury. This morning yet another ‘legal’ abuse of democracy by the NACTs comes to light – the new 90-day trial labour laws were pushed through AGAINST the advice of the Minister and the Department, but the party who got <4% got their way. Not many people voted for ACT policy.

        JJ – it was a parody, but I stand by the sentiment expressed, although my own language may have been a bit different.

      • Bored 7.1.2
        27 August 2010 at 9:51 am

        Draco, as I say above the democratic principle still holds true, the practice is corrupted.

        • MikeG 7.1.2.1
          27 August 2010 at 9:54 am

          and if you have corrupted the practice, then it indicates that you don’t really hold to the principle.

Links to post

  1. The Standard: posted on 26 August 2010 at 1:18 am