Usually people label me as right-wing. Yet I have never been a National member, never voted for National and generally take so little interest in their party politics that I didn't even know whether Jami-lee Ross was a bloke or a girl until I googled the name and image after misinterpreting the opening line from a Standard post.
I was firmly in the ACT camp when it was classical liberal, which is not right-wing.
Classical liberal philosophy promotes above all else individual rights. It opposes the power of the state over individual rights.
On the other side are collective rights. These are pushed by left-wingers. They love the state because it promotes the interests of groups to the detriment of individuals.
But true right wingers are collectivists too. They want the state to promote the rights of groups they belong to. National has a few of those.
A lot of nonsense is talked about left and right in this country. And from time to time I even indulge in it myself for the simple reason that most people are too poorly educated to understand anything else.
There is no classical liberal party in this country currently. Some talk about National having a classical liberal wing but that's a joke. Especially when people regret Simon Power's resignation because he led their more liberal team. Power? He steered through many pieces of legislation that offended against individual rights. And plans to ram through more before November.
Some people just can't grasp the importance of individual rights. People like Sean Plunket who last week took a very illiberal position on his talkshow. He was aghast at the judge's decision about the Wanganui gang patch ban. He believes the wearing of the patch should be illegal across the country. So should gang membership and the very gangs themselves. He says that to get a patch someone has to commit a crime therefore all patch wearers are criminals.
It was gratifying to hear some people challenge him saying, punish the crime, not the process of association or expression of it. I put it to him that some gang leaders are trying to turn their gangs around, recalling an interview he did when he was still at Radio NZ. He interviewed a Sally Army rep and a gang leader over the matter of a group attending rehab at a location in Turangi. Plunket was hostile towards the gang member and seemed to be trying to stir up community unrest about the rehab activity. My point to Plunket was that some gang members do turn their backs on criminal activity but not on the gang. The gang is more than just men. It is their women and children. It is entirely possible that someone sports a patch when they are not currently criminal or have already served time for past misdeeds. I acknowledged it would be naive to believe many fitted the description. But tried to get him to see that the regalia itself should not be illegal. Still he insists that in the matter of gangs like the Mongrel Mob and Black Power there is no room for 'niceties' like freedom of expression, freedom of association, etc. On this matter he would sit quite comfortably in the ACT party.
Relating the exchange to my husband he broke into the famous passage, "First they came for ...
That is exactly why individual rights must be preserved at all cost, even when we don't like the individuals who rights we uphold.
And it is a sobering thought that there isn't a party in our parliament that bases its philosophy and actions on this idea.
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10 comments:
High time indeed for a serious classical liberal (i.e. libertarian party).
Confused Libertarian rubbish full of straw man arguments and baseless assertion. We don't need any kind of Libertarian government because they're almost all (in NZ anyway) crack pot Objectivists or homosexual activists who are even more fervent in their beliefs than the religious people they constantly and arrogantly scorn.
All we need is small government. Its a simple message. Its a simple concept. Small government cannot do anything other than the most basic of its duties, and that is all government should do.
Libertarians are unbalanced zealots who with their weird reverence for an ancient and disturbed Russian women, and their pre-occupation with Marxist concepts like "equality" for homosexuals, are just another cult. Too complex. Too crazy. Not needed.
I consider myself a classical liberal too but will make one exception to my philosophy - I think membership of the National Party should be banned for the crime of gross hypocrisy. For evidence of this one needs look no further than their Vision statement, viz. "individual freedom and choice" and "personal responsibility", and compare this with their policy and legislative record so far.
Lindsay - you write a brilliant philosophical post and all you are left with is the comments prior. I understood and agreed with every word. National is a broad church but some of its members need education in tolerance. I had such high aspirations for ACT many years ago but.... but...
Keep up the good fight and keep going with what you are doing.
cheers
phil
"you write a brilliant philosophical post and all you are left with is the comments prior. I understood and agreed with every word."
Hahah.. Yes, you agree, and that's clearly why you're such an objective and sanctimonious (self appointed) judge of earlier comments.
I'm so sick of these idiots and all their navel gazing over what they claim is the "classic liberal position". Every time I hear this bullshit I don't know whether to groan or yawn.
They're trundling up the freeway in a cart pulled by tortoises, studiously inspecting their navels, while the left speed past in a Ferrari.
Utterly clueless. Utterly defeated. They should shut the fuck up because they are the ones (like you Phil you smug simpering sycophantic twit dancing to their tune constantly over at Kiwipolitico) who gave this country up and they are so damn deluded they refuse to even show any shame for their political malfeasance.
lindsay- I recently found myself in an unpopular position when someone I know made a claim of a crime against a particular Mongrel Mob member. I knew this claim to untrue as far as my truth went and so found myself speaking in his defense at a district court trial.
All to no avail as the jury only saw the image the media portray of what a mobster is.
A shame really, as while i did not know him personally, watching and listening to him in court I gained an impression of a young man with some degree of honour.
He is now serving around 5 years for something he didnt do. While his accuser, a sometime respectable businesman now see's me as the enemy and I view him as a liar and perjurer.
As a result of my stand I have been seen by the local cops and maybe others as nothing more than a troublemaker.
Life is never boring.
I am Dirk for the above. its gone four and the gin has kicked in
Good for you Dirk. Ultimately you have to live with yourself.
I recently witnessed our local cop 'hassling' some Maori buskers and suspected discriminatory treatment so intervened on their behalf. He insisted, and has since repeated to me, that he was not "moving them along". No. He was just demanding their names, addresses and dates of birth - "Just doing his job". He wouldn't have treated a local school kid busking without a licence in the same manner. If I had said nothing I would have felt like a coward.
Again, good for you.
Has redbaiter been tossed out of the Libz? He appears to be gratuitously bitter!
Cadwallader
Good for you Lindsay. To often we are influenced by stereotypical images feed to us by a system understanding of our prejudices.
I thankyou for your words.
What rankles me is this case was prosecuted by a system which understands these simple rules and played to the crowd.
The "Businessman" in this case was given blanket suppression not only for name but also for the reasons he found himself in an compromising situation with a mob prostitute. Every effort was made to protect his reputation and family so the local community did not know he has a taste for Ladies of the night.
The young man now serving time for what I believe is a crime he did not commit was asked why he belonged to the Mob? He replied, "His mother and father and entire family are mob, I dont know anything else" he said.
i would like to tell you the entire story one day, but not here.
Dirk
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