Unfit for Public Office

Cynical Manipulation

In the recent history of our country we have had more than our fair share of venal politicians who cynically and deliberately set out to mislead the electorate.  Such politicians view the people as ignorant sheep, easily gulled. They come out with slogans or sound-bites they know are deceptive and misleading.  However, they also know that their sound-bites will appeal to the ignorant sheep.  They use such tactics to manipulate the electorate to gain support--all the while knowing that, once in government, they will never have to carry out their stated intentions. 

Our current proportional representation encourages that kind of venality amongst politicians.  The Greens, for instance, are masters of the art.
  They can appeal to the worse instincts of the electorate knowing they will never have to face up to the responsibility of putting their policy into practice.

The Greens in this election are promising a wonderland of peace, prosperity, health, welfare--every good thing imaginable.  They are presenting themselves as the party that can lead New Zealand to become rich (a huge about face for the Greens, which have been anti-economic development, anti-growth since they first existed as a political party.)  They don't have to worry about funding all the goodies that are going to deliver because the gazillion dollar green global economy is going to deliver it.  In their heart of hearts they know that this is just hogwash--but that is not important: they will never have to deliver on their promises. 

The Greens cynically manipulate the electorate, appealing to the worst cargo-cult instincts of New Zealand society.  A bucket of money will come tumbling down out of the sky.  The cargo-cult mentality has bedevilled this country for generations.  Now the bucket is the multi-gazillion dollar global green economy.  Amongst the ignorant and the easily duped, it works.  The Greens get returned to Parliament as a minority party; they continue to promote their brand of extreme left wing social policies; the big green global money bucket in the sky gets evoked every time they promote more government deficit spending. 

Such cynical political behaviour is of the same ilk as Winston Peters's regular outing down the electoral promenade with his racist xenophobic poodle in tow.  However, Peters is not a racist.  Never has been.  Taking his racist poodle for a walk was just a manipulative ploy of useful idiots come election time. 

The Labour Party is showing similar traits this election.  Knowing that the chances of returning to government are remote they have been "liberated" to espouse all kinds of simplistic nonsense, knowing they will never have to deliver.  Take, for example, the proposal to raise the minimum wage to close the burgeoning wage gap with Australia.  Leader Goff assures us that putting up the minimum wage and closing the gap with Australia will suddenly bring about a miraculous economic transformation of the country.  Once again, the useful idiots are easily duped.  But are they?  

Such political behaviour is the hallmark of a minority party--a cynical electoral stratagem to curry favour all the while knowing that Labour will never have to deliver.  (One wonders whether Labour has  self-consciously adopted the behaviours of a minority party, or it has just slipped into it, out of desperation.) 

The reality is that over time, voters are more sensible than they are given credit for.  They are not perpetually fooled or gulled.  That is why, in the end, Peters lost his seat.  The Greens are now trying to re-invent themselves as the party of wealth and prosperity and economic development.  Their earlier mantra of a return to pre-industrial idyllic subsistence living has been evaluated and rejected.  In the end the electorate will reject the gazillion dollar green sky bucket as well. 

The media, the so-called fourth estate of government, is supposed to subject all politicians and all parties to exacting scrutiny.  But they rarely do.  Why?  Because, like reef fish the media clusters around food--and food for the media is controversy and contest.  They need a contest.  When one party has become dominant in the polls, their mode is to encourage and talk up all other parties to create the appearance of a hotly contested election.  It all sells more papers and increases viewer numbers--the key to revenue. 

But, once again, such cynical manipulation of the process fails in the longer term.  The media itself become judged by the people and they lose respect.  Increasingly people seek for analysis and news in "new media" outlets.  Credibility is lost. 

As Lincoln put it so aptly: you can fool some of the people all of  time; you can fool all of the people some of the time; but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.