Vacuity on Steroids

Idiocy To the Power of Ten

Greenist Julie Anne Genter has already failed.  We are certain of this.  She has announced a meaningless target--meaningless because it represents a make-believe-world where accidents and injuries can be removed totally from roads.  

The Government has proposed an "audacious" target of zero deaths on New Zealand roads.  Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter announced plans for a new road safety strategy this morning, which will include the "Vision Zero" target.  "A target of zero deaths is audacious, and it's also been successful," Genter told an audience of mayors, councillors and officials in Wellington.

"Countries like Canada, Sweden, and Norway all aim for zero road deaths and have considerably lower fatality rates than New Zealand." [NZ Herald]

One blogger, David Farrar calls out this sort of stupid nonsense.

A zero target is a meaningless target and one that a Government does when it is too chicken to be held accountable.  If you have a realistic target such as a 10% reduction, then if you fail to meet it, you can have some accountability.  But a zero target means no one expects it to be met, so it will be ignored.

So, every year from now on, until utopian Genter is voted out of government, we can mark her a failure.  There will be inevitable deaths on New Zealand roads and Genter will be to blame.  She announced a goal and will have failed every year to achieve it. 

We have never claimed to be prophets--but in this case we are claiming perfect certainty that Genter will fail. 

For a certain kind of politician the image or the symbol is more important than reality.  We call such politicians "utopians".  They do not belong, nor can they operate, in the real world.  They are living in the Aboriginal equivalent of dream time.