We live in a country where we have effectively been disenfranchised. It doesn't matter who we vote for we still end up with a government that puts the interests of capital first and we, the people, a distant last. We still end up with a government that says that there is no alternative to the free market. The differences between the parties is one of emphasis rather than substance. Anyone who says otherwise has simply surrendered to capital.
So next time we vote, despite the charade of the election campaign, we'll still end up with a government that will be offering nothing but more of the same. All the chatter, all the punditry and all the opinion polls will add up to nought because we'll still end up with a government of the ruling class.
Could we get even less democracy? Yes, we could. The well paid and well fed parliamentary politicians want to shut us out of the political process just a little bit more by extending the three year term to four.
Having the great unwashed 'interfering' in the affairs of the nation, even as little as just once every three years, is just so tiresome. According to the Prime Minister the economy suffers from having elections!
Here's Metiria Turei of the Green Party embracing the idea of a four year term: : "There's potential for more stability and less radical swings from one government to another and that's a major issue for the community and business in particular."
Think about what Turei is saying. She is advocating the seamless transition from one neoliberal government to the next and minimising the risk of getting a government that might be thinking of - gasp - upturning the neoliberal applecart. She seems to regard political elections as just a change of directors in the boardroom of New Zealand Inc. But given the Green Party's enthusiasm for the 'free market' this is not wholly surprising. The Green Party are happy to give big business what it wants
Clearly business interests would like the idea of 'more stability' but to suggest that restricting people's input into the political process even further would somehow benefit the community is elitist nonsense.
Let's be clear: John Key, David Shearer, Metiria Turei. Russel Norman, Winston Peters, Peter Dunne and co are representatives of totalitarian capitalism. Having ensured that the economy only benefits the few at the expense of the many, they now want to shore up what amounts to an elected dictatorship.
it's no surprise that the media cheerleaders for corporate capitalism think the idea of a four year term is just dandy. Here's what the NZ Herald thinks : 'Governments need time to establish and then implement new policies that are not hostage to the next opinion poll.'
The NZ Herald is being disingenuous. There won't be any new policies in the sense there'll be any deviation from neoliberalism. There'll be just more of the anti-working class policies that have allowed the rich to get even richer.
The politicians, the business suits and the corporate media hacks have crowded us out of the political life of our own country. People like Metiria Turei think that we should just stand back and watch while she and her 'enlightened' colleagues manage the affairs of the nation. They've done a great job so far, eh?
The so-called 'professionals' and 'experts' want to maintain and perpetuate an economy that benefits the few at the expense of the many. We can't afford to let these people rule the country in any manner they see fit.
We need more democracy, not less. As Bryce Edwards notes:
If anything, we should be having more frequent elections. In fact the old Chartist movement idea of ‘Annual Parliaments’ is one worth considering. That should be the demand of true democrats – more frequent elections rather than having politicians given yet more protection from the public.
It is ironic that while the creed of neoliberalism has promised 'freedom and choice' it has instead produced something closely resembling totalitarian capitalism.
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