| | Hayden
Subsequent comments on this thread have moved away from the import of the original quote. My point was (along with BJ) that statists, while appearing to be selfless devotees of the common good are, in fact, nothing but narcissistic megalomaniacs.
Clark & her cohorts are indeed Marxists. But that doesn't necessarily mean they possess any grand vision for New Zealand other than as a vehicle for their own glory.
My point about the Nats having a set of principles you can call them on is true.
From their website:
"The National Party was founded on principles of individual responsibility, private enterprise, and reward for individual effort. These principles are the only sure path to a society of personal freedom and rising standards of living for all."
Now, that's a political statement and as such needs to be taken within the context of realpolitik but at least, until they rescind it, you can call them on it. You'll find no such statements on the Labour site. I'm not defending National's neo-con, "kindler-gentler capitalism" mutterings, I'm simply suggesting that individuals find hope where they can.
I've said many times on this site that the reason the statists keep advancing, victorious, is that they never take their eyes off the ball. Despite their often infantile squabbling, they seem to possess a strong flocking instinct or groupthink mentality that sees them triumph incrementally. I therefore take your point about the loss of Clark not stilting the prevailing ideology within Labour but remember this: collectivists love a demagogue. Enter Clark. An embittered political animal if ever their was one. She and her close buddies are part of a wave of Marxist devotees that became emboldened during their university days in the late sixties-early seventies *and* the apostasy of Douglas, Prebble, et al in the eighties. Deal *that* bunch a hard blow with say, two terms in the wilderness, and you achieve a small victory.
Labourites are on a holy mission. It's a semi-mystical calling. That's why they speak of "The Fourth Labour Government!" as if proclaiming the end of slavery or the fall of the Berlin Wall. They need a reality check & I'm pretty sure they're gonna get one come Saturday.
A related point re National. I'm voting Libz because it's simply the right thing to do. My Sense of Life demands I do. To do other would to be untrue to myself. Yet, I fully realise that me voting Libz will do nothing to oust Clark. Well, that's just as it is. You have to pick your fights. Sometimes you fight the fights you can win & sometimes you fight the ones that are worth fighting.
Ross
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[New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark]... never had a grand vision for New Zealand. She had a grand vision for herself.
