Keeping the bastards honest – is it possible?
There is a wonderful Australian comedy sketch, a take-off of Australian politician, the late Don Chipp who founded the Australian Democrats. He used the slogan ‘keeping the bastards honest’ as an election cry.
(The Youtube video is a spoof from The Gillies Report -go to 2m40s for the relevant part if it starts at the beginning)
My question this week is – as a citizen, is it possible to keep the latest shower of bastards sitting in the government benches honest?
I taught a university course called Tū Tira Mai. It was a third-year humanities paper that focused on how citizens can change society. It was wonderful and fun – I got to talk to an intelligent bunch of 20-21 year-olds about society. Massey University, for some reason locked inside the tiny minds of managerial-ridden, Flavor Aid swigging dullards who fantasise they are corporate elites, have gone out of their way to destroy the paper, the educational equivalent of barbarism.
Am I bitter? No, just disappointed, especially for the students who have to suffer, and be bored, as the course is only taught on-line. Maybe I’m a little bitter!
In New Zealand, a new government has finally been formed between three right-wing parties who have their sights on taking New Zealand back – to 1970! A time that privileged people who were male, white or a farmer – what the current male, white farmers dreamily refer to as “the good old days”. At one of the ministerial appointments, I was wide-eyed, mouth open and genuinely flabbergasted.
Andrew Hoggard is an ex-Federated Farmer’s CEO and member of the ACT Party who are about as close as you would want to get to money-grubbing libertarians. I have no idea about his personal beliefs, I don’t intend to try to find out as most politicians, as soon as they run for parliament, clean up their previous tawdry views so they look what they’re not – balanced and smart.
As CEO of Federated Farmers he didn’t embrace the idea that farmers were New Zealand’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases much less show much enthusiasm for efforts to reduce this or combat climate change. He has been appointed as an associate minister for climate change.
Presumably, the current government realises, if Hoggard doesn’t, that climate change is not what we are aspiring to achieve. That we are, in fact, trying to reduce climate change. My personal view is that Luxon, Peters and Seymour are all, in their own ways, climate change deniers. Luxon, an evangelical Christian who believes god will save us (not all of us I understand), thinks god made the earth. Peters happily embraced (fondled?) all the conspiracy theories pre-election. And Seymour, who speaks the words his wealthy paymasters tell him to say (I’m not sure what he actually thinks, even if he thinks, if I’m honest).
Back to the question, how to keep the bastards honest.
Social media?
No way. A rabbit warren of echo chambers that has little to no effect on anything except make money for a small group of white men, most of who aren’t farmers.
The mainstream media?
My favourite strategy advice for my clients is – hope is not a strategy. The mainstream media may, or may not, keep the current government honest. What do you think? Will they? Currently, they seem keen to put the spotlight on the government who have started by caving into the tobacco lobby (Chris Bishop’s old stomping ground) – Shane Cigaretti is aptly named.
What else might we do?
As a citizen, once we have cast our tri-annual vote to show we give a shit about democracy (see my article on plutocracy) there are few avenues available unless you have the time to join an activist organisation such as DeGrowth Aotearoa or the like. And most of us don’t have the time as society forces us to concentrate on earning money to keep our worlds turning while distracting us with celebrity nonsense and sport.
You can, like me, email your MP if you like getting empty platitudes as replies.
Dear Riley, we’ve been trying really hard to change the world, and I think our party has made great strides over the past five years, don’t let the lack of visible change fool you. It’s a shame we have been hoofed out of office just when we were grasping the bull by the nettles etc etc … Hugs, Tangi.
Pinning down politicians is like trying to capture the wind.
As one of my students once asked – where the fuck does that leave us? As I said to him at the time, I don’t have a good answer to that question – but I’m working on it!
