The future of politics
I have never been a fan of politics but here is what I love about the election we are having in New Zealand.
We are coming into a new era of politics and quite frankly, it’s exciting. We are becoming more connected to democracy, literally you can tweet with a prime minister or president. Yeah that’s both good and bad.
Policy is accessible, there is no reason not to be able to understand it. You can literally download the spreadsheet for the whole economy and do your own budget.
Voting is more accessible than it has ever been, and one day we will do it from our phones (with our face… or not).
What I am liking most about THIS election in NZ is the approach taken by some parties to be positive, transparent, and honest. It’s both refreshing and frustrating because honesty and politics are strange bedfellows. In a system where politicians use fear and greed to motivate voters historically this has meant the truth is the first casualty. Trump is case and point. Lying and politicking and smearing are the go to in the handbook because, well, you used to be able to get away with it. If anyone checks the facts it doesn’t matter because the message or the lie will already be out, repeated at the water cooler or over coffee. But checking the facts has never been easier, you can do it on your phone. We are albeit slowly entering into an era where lying has no place in the future of politics because it’s never been easier to catch the lies and see through the politics.
The frustrating bit is where truth and transparency still often loses against lies because frankly there is only one truth, but there can be an infinite number of lies invented and an opponent who is not fussed about using them has a bigger arsenal.
My hope is we are at the start of a new era where the lies are caught instantly and shamed upon and so trust becomes the new weapon used by politicians.
Journalists can fact check instantly and call out the falsehoods and are doing this more often.
Social media can disseminate information so fast, the truth can now spread as fast as a lie.
AI will soon be able to tell how honest a politician is in real time, and be able to check every statement they have made in the past too.
Our media rich devices in our hands can make policy understandable.
The internet is making contributing and participating easier so you know the facts upfront.
I guess you could say I am implying that in this election it’s the left being honest and the right being dishonest. They both fib. I am really just commenting on the current approach of Labour and the Green Party in NZ vs National and NZ First and well everyone else. For example, I am saddened that National is starting to go feral with the truth but at the same time encouraged that Labour is staying positive and transparent. I have always believed honesty and transparency is the only way in business and politics.
BTW — This is not an endorsement for any party although I am more “left” leaning than I am “right” and if you know me this will be obvious.
I’m not saying I’m voting Labour. I like a lot of Nationals policies as well as the Greens, and TOP and others. But I am saying I like the approach Labour is taking. It’s refreshing. The Greens are taking a similar approach. I applaud both parties. We are all hungry for more details, and honesty creates that hunger. I do applaud TOP too for cutting through a lot of BS and talking about how we could make some bolder changes without continuously tweaking out of date systems, even if their delivery is a bit off.
For me the bottom lines, after honesty and trust, are affordable housing, homelessness, looking after our kids, education and health. Without our people having a safe and healthy home, when kids are going hungry, there is no equal access to education to better ourselves and a health system breaking what have we got? I’ve lived at and seen both ends of the spectrum. I can tell you we are nothing if we value a few extra dollars over looking after each other.
What I AM saying is that I’m calling this the first of many elections to come where honesty, positivity and the need to look after our people is what unites us. I have an incredibly positive view of where NZ is heading. I have high hopes on how technology will make democracy better. I think in future campaigns National will be as positive and honest too. Because they just have to.
So I write this to share my hopes for how we can improve. Regardless of the outcome of the vote, please can we help usher in a new age of honesty and care.
Oh and also because the robots are coming and automation is making us all redundant. So we better get on to taking care of our people because the robots sure as hell won’t :)
