Bare Cupboards

Demagogues and Democracy

The public "debate" over asset sales has played out as expected.  The opposition parties have demagogued the issue, not because they are opposed in principle (with the possible exception of the Greens) but to attempt to win notoriety and curry favour with the electorate.

This issue illustrates why pure democracy is an unmitigated evil.
  Democracy gives unscrupulous leaders the opportunity venally to manipulate an electorate.  The idea that the "Voice of the People is the Voice of God" is a pagan notion.  No-one really wants the tyranny of the 51 percent.  Ancient Athens gave us a text-book example of how pure democracy works.  Sinful people use majorities to enslave and destroy minorities. 

The easy manipulation of the populace by venal politicians to their own advantage is aptly illustrated in the "debate" over asset sales in New Zealand.  The government owns four power companies outright.  It is proposing to sell down 49 percent to private investors to raise capital to continue spending.  Opposition parties pilloried the idea as one which means "we" are selling the family silver, we are destroying the heritage of generations yet unborn, and we will end up enslaved to offshore interests. Etc. etc. etc. 

All of these ideas can easily be refuted with a moment's thought.  But thinking and election sloganeering do not go well together. 

What if the issue were put like this? You can choose only one of three possible options:

1.  Don't sell any assets to raise capital, continue government spending growth, and go further into national debt. 

2. Freeze spending growth, and reduce current government spending to get our national accounts back into surplus. 

3.  Sell some state assets to release capital in order to continue to increase government spending, whilst partially containing our national debt. 

If this were a private business or household, we all know that the correct answer is #2, possibly assisted by some strategic asset sales of possessions on TradeMe.  But #2 is electorally impossible.  Only a principled electorate would bite the hand that feeds the majority of the population with other people's money.  So, the next-best, fall-back position is #3. 

That is why we believe the current government has got it right.  Our only beef is, Why stop at electricity companies? 

There are those who ask, if the government sells down its assets now, what will be left when the next financial crisis hits?  It will have spent all its "reserves".  The cupboard will be bare.  Yup.  But in order to avoid that government would have to stop its spending increases, and would need, not just to get its books back in balance, but shrink the size of government itself.  That is just not going to happen until the people stop looking to the government as their messiah. 

And that will only happen when the people--in mass--repent and return to the God of their fathers.