United Future
Marc Alexander

Towards a new empowerment of individuals in civil society

 Under the well-intentioned guise of a welfare safety net successive governments have pandered to the expectations of the least effective members of the community, while  implying falsely the ability to meet all of society’s needs.

Successive administrations have, to a greater or lesser degree, solicited electoral support with ever-increasing promises, which have resulted in a corresponding increase in dependency (through government handouts, grants and so called ‘free services’) and, this is the important bit, a quid pro quo reduction in the ability of individuals to be fully self reliant.  Political parties are increasingly gaining much of their electoral support from the economically and socially disadvantaged – largely created by an onerous tax burden – that their policies now seek to expand the numbers of persons dependent on Government support to ensure their electoral backing.  It is hard to imagine constituents voting out of office those who pay their grocery bill, their rent, doctor’s bills and so on.

But these all come at an alarming cost!

Because, in order to give these services … in order to pay for these services … there is an endless cycle of greater control and higher taxes on people.  The additional costs to the public include a lessening of self-determination, a dampening of innovation, a reduction in the ability to be independent and a diminution of self-worth and esteem.

We now have a New Zealand where people, on average, pay 40% in tax if we include income tax, GST, excise and duties, even at a time with unemployment at less than 5%.

Certainly, I believe, there has been political arrogance in the relentless implementation of Government largesse to curry favour with an expanding population of dependency, along with a corresponding plethora of legislation, as restricting as they are bewildering.  To think that we even need family advocacy – and we do – illustrates just how far we have strayed from what, only a few years ago, was taken as the birthright of every child.

So far I have spoken only of the political process involved in the erosion of individual empowerment but there are a number of other villains which deserve almost equal billing.

Education

If we take a look at the education process for example, there are some very disturbing trends. A study conducted by Professor David Orr concluded that amongst 14 year olds, vocabulary use has dropped from 25,000 words in 1950 to just 10,000 words by 1999. This is not just a decline in numbers of words but, because deliberation is predicated on vocabulary, the result is a decline in the capacity to think.

Debt

What about the normality of incurring debt?  High taxes have at least one negative effect; that is the undermining of consumption power.  On the one hand easy credit has allowed a great many people to obtain material goods they would otherwise be unable to afford and benefit from. Burgeoning student debt is an example of this.  The flipside is that we have created a society which has unrealistic material expectations and a growing proportion who become enslaved by debt – and debt is a means by which others, be they individuals or institutions, can and do control our material future. 

In a sense it is a relinquishment of control to other than yourself.  It’s not difficult to see debt – to pay for lifestyle or a mortgage, to pay for the roof over your head, as an incredibly effective incentive to ‘play the game’.  To abdicate such a debt by going bankrupt can create the poverty that was attempted to be avoided in the first place!

Political Correctness

We rail against political correctness yet we seem powerless to do much about it. All the anti-vilification laws are supposed to protect us and shield us from the pain of a disparaging tongue. But the real consequence is that we are also denied the opportunity of exposure to hearing some much needed home truths. One practical outcome for example is when Family Court processes are kept secret and MPs such as Nick Smith could lose money and job because of his advocacy for a family who had nowhere else to turn.

What of employment?

Through the expansion of an intrusive and costly bureaucracy we have made it increasingly difficult to operate freely. Employers and  employees need each other. We must recognise that employers have invested their time and capital in creating a work place that employees can then benefit from. No employer is under an obligation to provide a job and the many regulations and costs of owning a business increase the liabilities that put their investment at risk.

Unions

Unions can, and have, added to the costs of employers…sometimes to the detriment of the business…and then they all lose. The employer loses their investment, the employee loses their job and society loses the product or service.

Again, commonsense must prevail if we want to see a reasonable balance between the interests of employer and employee. We must recognise that they have mutual interests and co-operation must be established for the long term benefit of all.

Role of the State

What of the role the State is increasingly playing in education, health, pensions and so on?  By increasingly depriving individuals the opportunity to exercise responsibility and choice, the State poses political solutions to problems that politics created in the first place.  This is usually done under the extended provision of rights to a section of the population, adding costs onto the next cohort of the population subjecting them to increased pressure and fragmentation.  This in turn creates a new section of the population who are given entitlements they never used to need with their costs thrown on to the next marginalized population and so on.

In turn, the inexorable rise of Government departments’ demands for increased resources, resources that are no longer targeted to identifiable social problems but to the survival needs of the organisation itself.

It is a fallacious idea that you can strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.  But this is exactly what happens when the voracious appetite of government bureaucracy ends up creating a bigger burden than it attempted to solve. This is the ultimate pyramid scam perpetrated on us by successive governments who want a dependent and compliant public.  Of course some people don’t play the game in the way expected; crime rises, the costs of ever-increasing entitlements becomes too onerous and the innovative and creative amongst us flee to other nations that recognise their social value, and place more reasonable limits on an individual’s financial obligation to society.

So what can we do?

I fervently believe that the next 20-30 years will be critical in terms of a major philosophical battle for the heart and soul of this country.  It will be a fight between those who push for the equality of outcome with those who promote the equality of opportunity.  And they are far from the same thing!

Those who fight for the equality of outcome are ideologically driven to deny that values have a place in society any more – that ethics are relative, with a defeatist credo of harm minimisation.  It is the kind of thinking that arrogantly pursues State power over freedom of choice and relegates commonsense to the dustbin of history.  It’s the kind of thinking where we tell you where you can’t smoke – but collect the revenue anyway – and presses on to decriminalise marijuana!!  These are the politics of ideological prejudice.

But for those who promote the equality of opportunity it is almost the reverse.  For it is here we can find that which raises the accomplishments of individuals – celebrates their creativity … their innovation and, rather than settling for soul-destroying mediocrity, acknowledges the unique talents of everyone and their contribution to the fabric of society – and does not penalise them for it!

What I believe we must do is re-empower and re-connect individuals back to community – and you do that by giving choices – not tucking them away.  If, as a parent, you feel the need to seek help to be a better parent then surely, having the ability to go on an accredited parent help course with the costs tax-deductible would be empowering?

If you are responsible enough to take out medical insurance and so defray some of the social costs of your own care, shouldn’t that be tax deductible?  What about employment insurance?  Career training?  Your own superannuation?

Surely a government interested in the real welfare of its citizens would want to encourage sensible money management, low debt, self-reliance?

We can achieve these things, but to do so requires an individual commitment to self, to family and to community.

It means finding solutions where and when problems exist and not just simply handing everything over to the State - which will only use another opportunity to increase it’s constituency of dependence.

It means communities working together through local charities, trusts and non-governmental organisations and demanding that government hand back the funds to resource them.

And it means tossing out politicians who are more interested in their own self-aggrandisement than the people they’re elected by and supposed to work for.

I believe wholeheartedly that United Future is, and can continue to be, an effective political voice of reason that can galvanise the best from those of all political persuasions. While no group can claim intellectual or ethical superiority, it is our willingness to work with all sides in order to reach a sensible way forward that sets United Future apart.

If we want to start re-empowering people we can no longer afford to hide behind slogans and dogma…it is we who must begin to be the difference we want to see in New Zealand.

It starts here…with all of us.

Thank you.