Marginalised must be engaged
Winston Churchill said in 1947 ‘‘democracy is not perfect but it is the best we have’’. The basic problem of democracy is that it marginalises the minorities, especially the uneducated and disengaged, and empowers the educated majority to protect their own. Aspiring and ambitious politicians are simply lapdogs.
The Press prints endless articles from the likes of Liz Koh and Duncan Garner and in Saturday’s articles their efforts were shallow to say the least. Liz Koh is only talking to those who read newspapers, have some financial literacy and have money to invest. Duncan Garner cannot understand that most cancers in contemporary society are symptoms of stress, bad chemicals and food choices, to name a few.
There is an old English word, ‘welth’, which means wellbeing. The Maori equivalent is ora. These concepts are a far cry from the toxic forms of ‘wealth’ creation that banks, insurance companies and other financial elites peddle and where their dysfunction is currently being called out.
Democracy will only work properly when the marginalised are engaged. Brian Ward, Richmond
City slogan
I note the article in Saturday’s Press regarding a slogan for Christchurch.
Christchurch is the ‘Garden City’ – the envy of other cities for its beautiful gardens, parks and private gardens, suburb after suburb.
Why does Joanna Norris want to spend time on such a ‘non-issue’ when she should be getting on with the economic requirements of our city?
Many will remember Mayor Buck’s ‘‘the city that shines’’. What a total waste of money that was.
We live in the garden city. Let’s all love and enjoy our good fortune.
Anne Fogarty, Ilam
Socialism bad?
Lorne Kuehn (Feb 9) is making the standard accusation that socialism is bad because a country’s leadership has chosen to label its government as such. If we go with that thinking then what is the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea? We all know the only true word in that title is Korea, but we don’t hear people criticising the torture, starvation and imprisonment as the fault of democracy.
The United States believes it is a democracy, but what sort of democracy doesn’t install the popularly elected candidate as the president?
I have noticed over the years that many people who deride the word socialism are very happy to live where it exists and have no problems taking the benefits: – National Super, housing subsidies, cheap doctors’ visits, Gold Cards, etc. Steve Cox, St Albans
Venezuela
Does Lorne Kuehn (Feb 9) think that socialism is solely responsible for Venezuela’s economic problems? This is simplistic thinking.
Economic sanctions placed on Venezuela by the United States have had a devastating impact too. The US did the same thing to Cuba for over five decades, keeping the country poor. Despite the embargo, Cuba has still managed to provide decent healthcare and education for its citizens, something the home of capitalism hasn’t managed to do.
Our foreign minister is right not to recognise Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president. Since when was it lawful to interfere in another country’s internal affairs and decide on their leader? The USA has a horrible history of illegal interventions in other countries. Results - ruined states, devasted lands and peoples. Most empires in history fell victim to their own hubris and self-destructed; the USA will not be an exception. Ros Rossiter, Cheviot
Climate action
In August 2017 and February 2018, Jacinda Ardern promised to lead action on climate change. Of course, Britain and the Scandinavian countries were already well ahead of us in reducing emissions.
Now, with fires raging and drought and storms becoming everyday events our Prime Minister, in her ‘‘State of the Nation’’ speech, only mentions ‘‘transitioning to a sustainable carbon-neutral economy’’ in a list of plans mainly focused on making more money. It is to be hoped every dollar earned by the Government goes straight into a fund to pay for the increasing costs of managing the effects of climate change. Juliet Adams, Lyttelton