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Democracy

I've just been reading the politics section of the paper and it's all quite depressing. You know what system of government would be good? A benevolent absolute dictatorship. But I suspect that there's no such thing.

The problem with democracy is fundamentally a time-frame issue, I think. Leaders are so focussed on the fact that they have to get re-elected in 3-4 year's time they can't make unpopular decisions that are in the long-term best interests of the country. A serving term of 9 years, with provisions for early elections under certain circumstances, might make more sense. It always seems to go left-wing for a few terms, then right-wing for a few terms, swinging back and forth, so why not just make the serving term longer?

I think that's one of the problems in Iraq, Afghanistan and all those places at the moment. I mean, logically, the transition from a dictatorship to a functioning democracy is likely to take at least a generation - so a good 20 years, anyway. So why are we trying to do so much in Iraq in 2 years? Sustainable change, like sustainable growth, must be organic, not imposed; be fostered, not forced; and be realistic, above all. The wounds on the psyche of a people subjected to trauma takes time and peace to heal it, on al levels. Didn't we learn this in Europe over the last 500 years?

We live in the age of the political quick fix, one eye on the clock, the other on the polls. Nobody seems to have their eye on the ball. Things are messy, in the real world. There are grey areas. There are compromises. There are conflicting opinions where neither side is clearly right. Economic reality says that you can't lower taxes and raise spending indefinitely. Health care is a bottomless pit. Money cannot fix all problems. Neither can policy. The best we can really hope for is policy and funding to allow a consistent cultural message that will foster real change in the community, long-term. It takes longer than 3 years to see any results, but the difference is, the slow fix works.

You want to lower the abortion rate? What we need is a government to set policy that says: We, as a country, value life and family. And then back it up, consistently. A parent wants to stay home with their kids for the first 10 years of their life? We support that, and we'll pay you to do so. A teenager gets pregnant? We'll support you, emotionally and financially, to have the child and then either keep it, or give it up for adoption. Either way, we'll support you. But also, we expect you to help your child - there are strongly-encouraged parenting classes, free 24-hour hotlines, a well-funded and robust CYFS, and heavy penalties under the law for bad parents and for those who threaten families - paedophiles, domestic abusers, violent crimes etc.

But you see what I mean? There is so much to be done, it can't possibly be done through legislastion, directly. To achieve the stuff above, it would be so multi-disciplinary and cross so many portfolios, it needs more than a "Vision: Families" bill. It needs a government that says, We have our priorities ranked. The things most important to this country are: the value of life and families; encouraging sustainable economic growth; living responsibly within our enviroment. And then once you have your priorities, that guides your policy in all things. It becomes your yardstick for everything - does this legislation further our priorities?

It just makes me mad to watch governments in a democracy dance to the rythym of elections and polls. I elected these people to lead me, not to pander to me. Frankly, I'd rather have a coherent government that did things I didn't always like, than a government that was more concerned about keeping themselves employed than the direction of NZ.

Sigh. What's that Winston Churchill quote on democracy? "Many forms of government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried from time to time." Damn straight.

In fact, you know what? Read this article: Democracy - it's a very short article but I think it raises some excellent points (while being too short to discuss what it raises!)