Planet Earth

"If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right.  Men will believe what they see. Let them see."           Henry David Thoreau In a galaxy far far away, New Zealand politicians live in a fantasy world of misconceptions. Despite evidence to the contrary, they believe that only they know what's good for New Zealand.  Their high-minded thoughts revolve around dreams of a society where every citizen does exactly what he's told and questions nothing emanating from parliament.  If the truth is known, we all live on Planet Earth and political hot air should be used to drive wind turbines to generate electricity.  Then the politicians can say they have done something beneficial for mankind. The New Zealand election is a few months away and the hot air is rising fast.  Man-made clouds obscure reality and political perfection promised if the peasants vote for X Party.  For only the X Party know the politically correct truth.  Poverty will be banished and there will be food for all thoughts.  But if you don't vote for the X Party, stuff you too.  You don't have any brains and why should superior human beings listen to you? We all have dreams about how our society should operate, but sadly, perfection is not a human trait.  The older person will instinctively remember when commonsense, honesty and decency ruled.  But times have changed and standards have deteriorated to the extent that political lies and trespasses have put us on the defensive.  Politicians deservedly live at the bottom of the least trusted list. The younger people indulge in social drugs that kill more than smoking and road accidents combined.  Endless laws are propagated not to punish wrongdoing but to exercise political control.  Political interference in the citizens private lives is supposed to convince us that Big Daddy knows best.  Scare tactics abound as they have always done in the world of political fantasy.  (Most smokers live to a ripe old age).  Truth is removed from history to make way for political expediency.  George Orwell's 1984 updated? Lamentably, 600 highly talented people are leaving NZ weekly for greener pastures.  More pay, less tax, less interference and a better lifestyle are the main attractions.  These people are written off as malcontents that don't know their ass from their elbows.  About 20% of the population don't know their ass from their elbows. We have one of the highest interest rates in the so called civilised world: largely to combat inflation that is caused mainly by government and local council charges.  Life is lived on the credit card and inevitably the crunch will come when NZ runs out of borrowing power. Education has been dumbed down to ensure the young don't understand why greed is so important to politicians.  Law and order is a political catch phrase that ensures next to the US, we have the highest number of prisoners in the world.  House prices have skyrocketed and the current downturn will guarantee a large number of mortgagee sales.  Wages are well below living costs, resulting in a third of the population living below the breadline and excluded from mainstream society.  The number of bureaucrats has multiplied beyond the pretence of having something sensible for them to do.  Naturally they are expected to vote for the X Party that hired them.  Unemployment of older people is rife but masqueraded as sickness benefits. Meanwhile, in a galaxy far far away, the politicians continue to pat themselves on the back and hold out their hands.  Election Star Wars are inevitable in the land of fantasy.