Nations that invest in research and development (R&D) and promote technological advancement are typically more productive. Encouraging innovation leads to new industries, products, and processes that can drive economic growth & increase global competitiveness.
One of the central tenets of a functioning mature democracy is the recognition that at each electoral cycle, voters give their decision-making authority to those whose names get the tick on the ballot papers. That’s is the single most important consultation activity we participate in & I’d argue it should be the only one.
The gears of local/regional & central government grind slowly enough without layering more and more layers of consultation across the top of less important decisions – by all means speak with people who have insights & value to offer, but not at the expense of actual decision-making in a short three year electoral cycle. Afterall we get to vote them out of government too if they don’t deliver.
The ‘Un-Democratisation of Democracy’
We’re seeing the foundations of established democracies come under increasingly stress & pressure. Think the last two American elections & the British election of 2024. And then think the other 92 jurisdictions that are having or have had elections this calendar year & some of the results & how they have been viewed by those who were voted out or didn’t get voted in. 109 democracies & 59 authoritarian regimes mean that instability & uncertainty will be uncomfortable bedfellows for a while now.
These last comments are purposefully provocative, & are offered up in those terms… so tray tables up & seat belts fastened. This is taken from a Freedom Front post in 2013:
“The folks who are getting free stuff, don’t like the folks who are paying for the free stuff, because the folks who are paying for the free stuff can no longer afford to pay for both the free stuff and their own stuff. The folks who are paying for the free stuff want the free stuff to stop, and the folks who are getting the free stuff want even more free stuff on top of the free stuff they are already getting!
Now… The people who are forcing the people to pay for the free stuff have told the people who are RECEIVING the free stuff, that the people who are PAYING for the free stuff, are being mean, prejudiced and racist.
So… The people who are GETTING the free stuff have been convinced they need to hate the people who are paying for the free stuff by the people who are forcing some people to pay for their free stuff, and giving them the free stuff in the first place.
We have let the free-stuff-giving go on for so long that there are now more people getting free stuff than paying for the free stuff.
Thomas Jefferson said it best: “Democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not”.”
Margaret Thatcher wasn’t far behind. She said “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other peoples money’.
All great democracies have committed financial suicide somewhere between 200 & 250 years after being founded.
The reason?
The voters figured out they could vote themselves money from the treasury by electing people who promised to give them money from the treasury in exchange for electing them.
All of that said, what we have in New Zealand, is still better than the alternatives, for the moment.
