The fraying of the international rules-based order and various conflicts - either happening now or possible in the future - should see New Zealand preparing now. There are no excuses for inaction.
I don't think we will as well. Short-termism is always an issue for governments, whether on the right or left. Easier to invest in a new hospital 'now' than build fuel capacity, for example, for tomorrow.
True, but a hospital with no power is just a derelict building full of sick people. I have little faith in our political class to do what is right for our country. I am happy to be proven wrong.
I certainly can appreciate the challenge any government faces as we need both functioning hospitals and strategic infrastructure, an education system and strong military. Tough choices ahead ... if they are prepare to make them.
"if we believe in democracy, then we should believe in it’s value and importance everywhere....
But the key objection remains a moral one – if we value our democracy in New Zealand, we should value democracies around the world."
Nobody is under any moral obligation to defend or promote democracy, and nobody who uses the phrase "defend democracy" in current political discourse is ever willing to explain WHAT democracy is, WHERE it can actually be found, or WHY anyone should give a damn.
The term "Democracy" today isn't the description of any social-political system arrived at as a result of careful study. It's a cipher, a logo or a badge denoting a geo-political power bloc.
If you started a serious deductive reasoning project to calculate what a democratic political system actually would look like, it wouldn't match any of the political systems we observe today.
If you started a serious inductive reasoning project by observing the real political systems we observe today, none of them would be best described by the term "democracy".
"Defend democracy" is an advertising slogan. Once you start taking it seriously, absurdity after absurdity just starts piling up, one on top of another. The United States of America isn't a Democracy, it's a Republic. The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand aren't democracies either; they're Constitutional Monarchies.
Plenty of far‑too‑clever special pleading excuses can be inserted here to explain away why all those nations can be both at the same time. But those excuses never address my previous points: WHAT democracy is, WHERE it is, and WHY anyone should care.
Look at the world situation in even greater detail and more absurdities emerge. Washington was perfectly happy to support the Taipei government against the Beijing government when the former was a military dictatorship. They continue to support Taipei against Beijing, but now the rationale given is to "support democracy".
Hong Kong was never a democracy, not then and not now. What serious efforts did London ever take to create a democratic government when it was a Crown Colony? However, a foreign-sponsored political movement in Hong Kong against Beijing is called "Pro-Democracy". How any political movement, of the people, by the people, and paid for by foreign people, can earn the title "Democracy" is never explained.
“Defend Democracy” like “Support the Rules-based International Order” is guff, and bogus guff at that. It’s obscurantist flim-flam designed to prevent a serious examination of reality and evidence-based solutions.
P.S. The Kingdom of Tonga, moral or immoral? Support or destroy?
As regards the changing of the international rules-based order... it seems to be giving way to a bilateral super power arrangement as evidenced in the recent Beijing summit. Europe is a mess and the globalist elite are struggling to remain relevant. Russian aggression is a major problem the rest of the world couldn't prevent or end.
We in New Zealand on the world stage seem to be thinking we have out-sized importance or influence. We don't.
Our best strategy is self reliance and resilience, but this would involve a structural rethink and a whole bunch of reform. Vital as this is, the current crop of political parties with their useful idiots in the government departments would be unlikely to pursue this. The problem is we do not have a coalition, party or leader with any vision or ambition for New Zealand.
The only recent "vision" from Labour was of course the 2019 He Pauapua project that introduced segregation based on ancestry. The chief proponent of this - Ardern, is now living in Sydney and her successor is totally devoid of anything resembling a cohesive plan. The hangover of this "vision" is still with us and being supported by the National Party.
Please let's not talk about 3 year terms as being the problem. They at least give us the opportunity to get rid of poor performers before they bankrupt the country.
There is certainly a need for a structural rethink. I'm not optimistic it will happen. We've developed a managerial class, so mostly we have tinkering and then panic if something falls to pieces.
Have to agree with your assessment but will we do what is needed to prepare for more self reliance. Unfortunately I don’t think we will
I don't think we will as well. Short-termism is always an issue for governments, whether on the right or left. Easier to invest in a new hospital 'now' than build fuel capacity, for example, for tomorrow.
That’s the truth of it Simon
True, but a hospital with no power is just a derelict building full of sick people. I have little faith in our political class to do what is right for our country. I am happy to be proven wrong.
I certainly can appreciate the challenge any government faces as we need both functioning hospitals and strategic infrastructure, an education system and strong military. Tough choices ahead ... if they are prepare to make them.
On point indeed!
"if we believe in democracy, then we should believe in it’s value and importance everywhere....
But the key objection remains a moral one – if we value our democracy in New Zealand, we should value democracies around the world."
Nobody is under any moral obligation to defend or promote democracy, and nobody who uses the phrase "defend democracy" in current political discourse is ever willing to explain WHAT democracy is, WHERE it can actually be found, or WHY anyone should give a damn.
The term "Democracy" today isn't the description of any social-political system arrived at as a result of careful study. It's a cipher, a logo or a badge denoting a geo-political power bloc.
If you started a serious deductive reasoning project to calculate what a democratic political system actually would look like, it wouldn't match any of the political systems we observe today.
If you started a serious inductive reasoning project by observing the real political systems we observe today, none of them would be best described by the term "democracy".
"Defend democracy" is an advertising slogan. Once you start taking it seriously, absurdity after absurdity just starts piling up, one on top of another. The United States of America isn't a Democracy, it's a Republic. The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand aren't democracies either; they're Constitutional Monarchies.
Plenty of far‑too‑clever special pleading excuses can be inserted here to explain away why all those nations can be both at the same time. But those excuses never address my previous points: WHAT democracy is, WHERE it is, and WHY anyone should care.
Look at the world situation in even greater detail and more absurdities emerge. Washington was perfectly happy to support the Taipei government against the Beijing government when the former was a military dictatorship. They continue to support Taipei against Beijing, but now the rationale given is to "support democracy".
Hong Kong was never a democracy, not then and not now. What serious efforts did London ever take to create a democratic government when it was a Crown Colony? However, a foreign-sponsored political movement in Hong Kong against Beijing is called "Pro-Democracy". How any political movement, of the people, by the people, and paid for by foreign people, can earn the title "Democracy" is never explained.
“Defend Democracy” like “Support the Rules-based International Order” is guff, and bogus guff at that. It’s obscurantist flim-flam designed to prevent a serious examination of reality and evidence-based solutions.
P.S. The Kingdom of Tonga, moral or immoral? Support or destroy?
As regards the changing of the international rules-based order... it seems to be giving way to a bilateral super power arrangement as evidenced in the recent Beijing summit. Europe is a mess and the globalist elite are struggling to remain relevant. Russian aggression is a major problem the rest of the world couldn't prevent or end.
We in New Zealand on the world stage seem to be thinking we have out-sized importance or influence. We don't.
Our best strategy is self reliance and resilience, but this would involve a structural rethink and a whole bunch of reform. Vital as this is, the current crop of political parties with their useful idiots in the government departments would be unlikely to pursue this. The problem is we do not have a coalition, party or leader with any vision or ambition for New Zealand.
The only recent "vision" from Labour was of course the 2019 He Pauapua project that introduced segregation based on ancestry. The chief proponent of this - Ardern, is now living in Sydney and her successor is totally devoid of anything resembling a cohesive plan. The hangover of this "vision" is still with us and being supported by the National Party.
Please let's not talk about 3 year terms as being the problem. They at least give us the opportunity to get rid of poor performers before they bankrupt the country.
There is certainly a need for a structural rethink. I'm not optimistic it will happen. We've developed a managerial class, so mostly we have tinkering and then panic if something falls to pieces.
Unfortunately it will more likely require a crisis like we haven't seen before to take a lurch of this magnitude!
worryingly, yes I agree.