Be Brave in 2023
Throw caution to the winds leftwing politicians - you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Today is January 1, 2023 - in Aotearoa New Zealand, it is the first day of an election year, so no matter what else is happening around the world, you can guarantee the drama will be amping up and our politicians will be seizing every possible opportunity for a soundbite.
As a life long left leaning voter (well since I turned 18), I thought it might be a worthwhile exercise to put together some thoughts to help keep a National/ACT coalition away from the reins of power come November this year.
Not that I have anything against the current opposition just for the sake of it, it is more their current promises to revert virtually every piece of legislation put in place by the current Labour government, which will also result in austerity all round (apart from the wealthy who will get tax cuts it seems). I believe having this crew as our government would be incredibly damaging for the country as we continue to work our way out of the last two years of global pandemic induced chaos.
So here are my thoughts:
Be Brave. Polls are showing Labour trailing while Nats are in front - so now is the time to be brave. Grasp the nettle firmly in both hands and do what needs to be done while you still have the opportunity to do so. If you lose the election, some good at least will have been implemented - and if you win, you can see that you have a mandate to keep up the good work and get even braver over your next parliamentary term.
Continue to be future focused. And demonstrate one aspect of this by putting steps in place to lower the voting age. Younger voters are going to be the ones living in this climate munted world, so they should be able to help make the decisions that matter.
Don’t resort to conservative placeholding behaviours. The conservative way is to look at the ‘right now’ and have no vision for the future at all, aside from going back in time. It takes courage to continue having a vision for the future and putting the foundations in place that will truly make a difference.
Don’t be invisible. The nasty RWers are full of vitriol and abuse for the leaders of our government, but don’t let them bully you into being less visible than you want to be. We want to see and hear from you Jacinda - I know it must be incredibly tough, but the only way this is going to work is if you continue to stand up and get your point across. While keeping as physically safe as you possibly can be.
Listen to the proposals the CTU have put forward to bring down inflation. Even if you only implement some of these steps, they will have a positive effect and the people directly benefiting from those changes will vote for you. For my readers, I highly recommend clicking on the link and reading what NZCTU economist and policy director Craig Renney has put together. And you might want to check out his LinkedIn profile too - he has some serious cred and I get the feeling that after of years of working on the ‘inside’ of Treasury, the Reserve Bank and with the Minister of Finance, he is now working to make change outside of govt depts.
Don’t stick to the conventional ‘wisdom’ that increasing interest rates and causing unemployment to rise will somehow benefit the country. This is not going to work for you or for us as a nation - and people who are in financial pain as a result will not vote for you. We are far from convinced that this approach makes any kind of sense whatsoever.
Get out and about and make sure you are not only speaking, but also listening to what people have to say.
Take credit. There are plenty of NZers who are happy to have had Labour leadership through the last 3 years, and plenty of business owners and employees who are happy to have jobs and companies that are actually thriving thanks to your economic management and support.
Avoid creeping incrementalism. Or incrementalism of any kind. You might be persuaded that it is the safe option that makes you look like good financial managers, but the reality is that it is just never enough to truly make a difference and achieve the kind of change you are looking for.
I’m sure there are plenty more and I’m happy to update with anything suggested in the comments or on threads. Tell me what you think.