Political Musings/Ramblings/What you will
Definitely need to start these blogposts earlier in the day!
The good news is I’m on the mend! :)
Today has flown past for the most part – I suspect this has a lot to do with the ‘flu. I don’t remember being so hungry when I’ve had the ‘flu before! I’ve resolved not to go look this “symptom” up on the web as that leads one down the slippery slope of hypochondriacism and I really don’t need to take that role on as well :P
Looking forward to the US Elections being over – and the NZ ones for that matter. I’ve made my decision and I want to vote and see the results already damnit.
We drove past a polling booth today and I almost pulled in. I’m picking up voting paper bits tomorrow though, so I guess it would have made things a little more complicated without them.
- I haven’t enjoyed the trash-others campaigning, and I have my fingers crossed that those tactics will be shelved next time.
- I would like to see more referendums in the future (preferably near) with the proviso they are straightforward yes or no questions – that doesn’t seem like too much to ask really.
- I personally can see the wisdom in moving to 4 years between elections, and I expect it will be raised in the coming term effective for the next term.
- I’m a little alarmed at the number of people I’ve spoken to who have mentioned they’d like to go back to FPP – what is up with that? You liked the idea of only two parties?
- I wonder what would happen if people stopped trying to analyse how their vote would work and just simply voted for who they want. Oh, and stopped thinking of it as two parties with some little ones – irregardless of how I’m voting, why do we have to have two main parties? I wonder, based on what I’m reading regarding potential outcomes, whether this has anything to do with the way the rules for MMP are written – perhaps with a bias towards having two main parties?
- I get that MMP has flaws and is annoying, but FPP was simply too simple and I dunno, do we all want to vote electorally anymore? I mean, I feel like I’m more part of the global community so I’m happy to vote on a national level – but on an electorate level, it just feels too small. It’s not like the local candidates have been advertising what they’ll do for the electorate anyhow. Maybe this is what happened in the days of FPP – which was incidentally before the internet became mainstream and I think that has had an impact on the way we look at the world, nation and local arenas. On the otherhand, I see reports talking about how a particular town votes one way, and this little town over here votes another so maybe people like myself *steams up fingernails and buffs them on sleeve* are still in a minority (or the reporting is at fault – yay, let’s all blame the media :)
- I also wonder what would happen if we removed the electoral vote component altogether, were given say 20 votes each and could then use those vote for any potential MPs of any party irregardless of where they’re affiliated. You’d be able to put many votes against one potential MP up to your total. There are flaws of course – as with any harebrained scheme.
- How would you deal with voting papers with more than 20 votes on them?
- You’d probably have to vote by mail as the paperwork would be too arduous for a polling booth.
- How would new potential MPs get a leg in the door so to speak?
- Another flaw with this idea is that it would likely turn into a bit of a popularity competition with individuals – though do we not have that problem already?
I like the idea of a wide range of opinions being in parliament, that have all been specifically voted in by the people, and who aren’t going to resort to the kindergarten antics which make me cringe whenever I get the bizarre urge to watch the House of Representatives at work! Have you noticed the media shy away from using the term that we learned in school, preferring to call it simply Parliament or the House, thereby avoiding inferring those people bickering in there – we voted for them! In fact, comparing the House of Representatives to an Early Childhood Education facility has become cliche – what does that say?
As a kid my mum took me to sit in the public gallery, and whilst the highlight may have been Muldoon having a tanty and stomping out, it was nothing like what you see today. I got to see stuff happen. I remember being in awe of seeing part of a future law being discussed. I’m not sure I’d be as proud as my mum was to take my daughter into the gallery. I may applaud the diversity we’re seeing in the seats below the gallery now, but I certainly don’t applaud the behaviour and I hope this election brings in a bit more decorum amongst the new representatives – though I have to admit I’m not holding my breath. :)
On the other hand, maybe I do need to delve back and compare hansard reports from yipes, 20 years ago now, to today’s and maybe I’ll find things haven’t changed a bit. I don’t know, I classify the creation and refinement of laws as being something that should be taken very seriously. The same seriousness of Citizenship Ceremonies, Marriages and Court Proceedings. Sure a bit of levity doesn’t hurt, but not to the detriment of getting the job done.
Remember these people we’re voting in are supposed to be representing us! What does their behaviour and our acceptance of it, say about us?
