It’s always a good idea to start out with a definition of things so we are all clear.
First of all, the bigger question is.. “What is democracy?” Everybody knows what democracy is don’t they that’s something that we learn at school and from our parents, it’s people having a say… Right? No.
Democracy is actually not people just having a “say”. That’s a watered down version of the real meaning. Our society leaders have quietly tried to change the definition of democracy over the millenia since the word was actually used.
Democracy is actually not just the people having a “say”, but actually controlling and ruling a country.
There’s Representative Democracy and there’s Direct Democracy. Representative Democracy is where elected individuals are supposed to take our power and “represent” us. Hands up who has actually had their views “represented”. Exactly. Unless you are in with politicians, there’s almost no chance your views have actually been represented on a subject. Our referendums are very few and far between and binding ones that actually stay binding is real Blue Moon stuff. Government can overrule the whole thing at any point anyway, so people ask “What is the point of even having referendum?”
Direct Democracy is just like it says on the box. There’s no middlemen. Its just the public. And the decision. No parliament, no politicians.
Goodness! Are there are any actual places that have no parliament???
No. There’s no absolutely Direct places in the world. Switzerland has the only and about the best Direct Democracy system in the world. It started back in the middle ages, but really got it straps on after World War II. In Switzerland the public pretty much decide everything key. And Switzerland is one of the most stable and practical and highly successful (GDP wise) nations on earth. No coincidence that it’s also a democracy.
Can we have this in New Zealand?
We could except for one key thing. The people that would make the decision about that will never let that happen on their watch. These people love attention and power and they they sure as heck aren’t giving that up without a fight. They get to decide anyway so even if we all wanted Direct Democracy, these people have the power and will overrule it no matter what.
Ultimately there’s about 1-8 of these powerful individuals in this country that actually make the decisions, the buck stops with them. You can forget about the other politicians in parliament, they just do what their bosses say. It’s been identified as a major weakness in our structure for ever, but it really came to light from 2020-2023. The government showed us how easy it was to do whatever they like, changing laws to suit their agenda on a dime in one day with not only zero consultation with the people, but somewhere between zero and minimal with other parliamentarians.
These are not the types of people that will give that up easily.
Direct Democracy benefits the whole country, building it into a sovereign and powerful nation just like the Swiss. Don’t stand it for anything else New Zealand, we’ve put up with this malarky for almost two centuries and it’s about time we closed that chapter and opened something real and new for this nation.
