Barrie Davis: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

If I stay there will be trouble /
If I go it will be double

Prime Minister, “Let’s face it, the country has been sliding downhill for the last 50 years regardless of which party runs Wellington” (Wayne Brown, here). The time has come when a substantial review is required. If you were to do that revision, the people of New Zealand would be more than grateful. You would take the next election easily. Here are the three necessary things to do:
The first thing is the most important because it is the fundamental issue of wise social engineering which is expected of competent and confident leadership.

For the people to behave in a manner which benefits the nation and themselves, they need to be held responsible for their behaviour. To make the people responsible for their behaviour, Parliament needs to make them appropriately responsible for determining their own future.

There has been discussion recently about whether Parliament or the judiciary are the source of sovereign power. I put it to you that neither are. The source of sovereign power is We the people.

Recognizing that is the morally correct approach because it makes the people responsible for their behaviour which will drive appropriate behaviour in the population. But it can also be shown to be materially correct by following the money. Parliament gets its power by taxing the people, who in turn get their money as a token for their work. The work of the people is clearly the origin of real power, without recourse to legalism.

So, pass legislation which says something like: “All sovereign power comes from the people who vest their sovereignty in the Crown in Parliament for a term of three years.”

It should pass because David Seymour has recently said (here at 6:50): “I just want to quote you from the Labour Party's Constitution a sentence that I strongly believe in. It says, quote, ‘All political authority comes from the people by democratic means, including universal suffrage, regular and free elections with a secret ballot’(here).”

That would then make Parliament the true representatives of the people, which is a necessary responsibility in return for taking taxes. (Recall that the Americans went to war with the British on that point.) It would also make Parliament supreme as a matter of fact, so that Parliament would need to ensure there is legislation which appropriately empowers the Courts.

The second thing is to remove the racial segregation in New Zealand and return New Zealand to a democracy. Beginning in 1975 the Government, including the judiciary, has been participating to bring about a privileged group of part-Maoris which is legally distinct from the majority non-Maori population. The difference between a Labour and a National Government in this development was the rate at which it occurred.

The test which shows the inappropriate nature of this arrangement is to recognize that it would not be tolerated in Britain where the indigenous population is White. To the contrary, the migrants, both legal and illegal, are given additional benefits and privileges to the indigenous White population.

The reason why this has happened globally is because, beginning with pre-Socratic rationalism, Europeans developed a superior culture including advanced philosophy, science, technology and industry. From that philosophy Europeans developed an altruistic motive to assimilate other races so they could participate the benefits of their European culture. When providing equality of opportunity to participate did not work for the Maoris as it did for the Asians, the initiative was switched to equity of outcome.

Equity of outcome has been pursued by segregating the part-Maoris and giving them exclusive rights and benefits. That relieves the individual of responsibility of providing for themselves and raising a family. Consequently, the part-Maori population will learn to rely more on the state and the economy will further decline. That will reduce the standard of living for the non-Maori population which will contribute to an equity of outcome for the part-Maori population. The scheme will then be deemed a success and the economic decline attributed to the general population if not the government.

The racial segregation is not a fair and reasonable arrangement for the majority non-Maori population, which is why support for the Government is declining. New Zealand does not belong to the Maoris. The Maoris did not build New Zealand, the colonists did. You need to honestly recognize the role of the colonists as the founders of New Zealand in the history of a national identity leading to social cohesion and shared values. The present racial segregation takes us in the opposite direction.

The most egregious harm is the degradation of our democracy by instituting voting rights for unelected part-Maori iwi representatives, especially given that iwis don’t pay tax. As mentioned above, there should be representation in return for taxation. Moreover, and even more importantly, unelected voting rights decreases the power of representation for voting tax payers. That in turn reduces the power of the people to determine their own future and accepting the responsibility of the outcomes.

The present racial segregation in New Zealand must be totally removed if New Zealand is to have a cohesive society and a viable economy. I expect that is generally apparent to your potential voters.

The third thing is to make politics rational. Humans are blessed with a uniquely developed rational faculty which comprises conscious thought using language. Humans can project into the future by applying logic to that rational thought. However, we need to develop our reasoning further if we are to solve our present problems.

We still have non-conscious ways of thinking, including the automatic comparison of opposites which has given rise to Left-Right politics: Voters tend to align themselves with one or the other according to individual personality preference; and political parties, such as Labour and National, have catered for that.

So, for example, when you come to legislate for sovereignty of the people, the pundits will lambaste you as ‘Marxist’ for using a Labour policy. But that is a lazy way of thinking. We need to instead rationally consider each issue on its merits and deficiencies.

We, both politicians and voters, need to extricate ourselves from the present perspective. We need to apply our rational minds to identify what is the optimum approach, and that is typically a difficult thing to do. Universities offer papers on logic and statistics which in practice are only necessary introductions to the real world of uncertainty.

You have an opportunity to demonstrate leadership here, which will win you votes. You need to challenge the people to think for themselves. Put the issues to the people in referenda – the TPB and the Maori seats, for example – and tell them, as far as you are able, what you think will be the consequences of getting it wrong. Don’t hesitate to communicate.

That is not weakly abdicating your democratic responsibility. It is instead demonstrating that you understand how a democracy works. You will need to be strong to ensure that the people are the recipients of the outcomes of their decisions. At times, you will need to make a captain’s call, and know when to make it. People like strong leadership, even when it hurts, if they know the necessary reason for it.

Think of Churchill’s “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” Rightly or wrongly, many people died for Churchill and that cause. Would they do the same for Keir Starmer?

You need to understand: New Zealand is our country. It is our country to lose as much as it is yours. In reality, you are one of us. We have elected you to lead us, but not to dictate us. So, lead to succeed and we’ll be right there with you.

But know you this Prime Minister: I will not tolerate being a second-class citizen in my own country.

Barrie Davis is a retired telecommunications engineer, holds a PhD in the psychology of Christian beliefs, and can often be found gnashing his teeth reading The Post outside Floyd’s cafe at Island Bay.