Why in an age of apocalyptic mass hysteria over global warming are the Greens polling so weakly?

They should have everything going for them, including benefiting from disgruntled Labour voters seeking an acceptable neutral home for their votes. Yet the polls have them wallowing around the demise-threatening 5 per cent mark.

One can but speculate on this thin support.

I attribute it to an image of screaming wetness. The memory of bearded goofy men and plain earnest women, folk- dancing at their conference a few years ago, lingers on.

Perhaps in the public's perception they have been rendered irrelevant by mainstream parties embracing their cause, which may explain their fading political support elsewhere in the world.

Getting rid of the Nandor goose should have helped, as it's impossible to take seriously a party including an MP who believes Haile Selassie was God.

Embarrassed by this, nearly half a century back Selassie (Ras is an Ethiopian equivalent to lord and Tafari his birth name) travelled to Jamaica where the nonsense began, and before a stadium filled with unwanted disciples, he told them they had cocked up and got the wrong bloke.

"I'm not God," he pleaded.

"Yes you are, you bugger, admit it," the halfwits roared back and, in despair, Selassie returned home and proved his mortality by being murdered.

So are the Greens now redundant?

If I was to define a continuing parliamentary role for them I would argue they should be environmental watchdogs but abandon conservationism.

Conservatism in any form is a blind belief in the status quo, exposing a lack of imagination and ignorant refusal to accept that constant change is the primary characteristic of all life forms.

This applies to religious conservatives, currently the source of most of the world's troubles, to political conservatives of both left and right who are pathetically fearful of change, and to environmental conservatives, dullards in the extreme who see the indigenous fauna as sacrosanct and are even bigger killjoy pests than most of the introduced elements they pursue.

Another problem for the Greens as a political movement is being a single issue party, for when it comes to the crunch in the voting booth, the public understand that, with MMP, every vote counts in determining the government and to accord it to such parties may be deemed a luxury too far.

WORLDWIDE the politicised Greens have never hidden their leftish sympathies. Indeed, they arose from the collapse of socialist ideology and the bossy misanthropic elements of the old left.

Their holier-than-thou disdain for their fellow citizens is all too evident, epitomised by the preposterously insulting and unrealistic anti-smacking legislation, introduced by their MP, Sue Bradford.

Nevertheless, it would never have been passed without Labour's whole- hearted approval. What was astonishing was John Key running with it, subject to an amendment allowing police to apply commonsense judgment.

Prosecutions to date suggest that was optimistic in the extreme, but Mr Key wasted an opportunity to stand aside and benefit from the public outrage.

Like all zealots, the Greens go too far and, for that reason, it may be better if they're moderated by remaining outside Parliament as a lobby group.

They should abandon their negative Pol Potism-without-the-guns, backward- looking conservationism and refocus on environmentalism, embracing economic growth and recognising the benefits of genetic engineering and nuclear power as the answer to mankind's two most pressing needs.

Perhaps their new co-leader can re- steer them on to a fresh, positive and progressive path.

But, having said that, the Greens, along with only ACT and the Maori Party, have one huge redeeming feature. That is they seek representation for genuine altruistic and caring reasons.

Everyone else chasing your vote is pursuing their own personal careerist ends, regardless of the claptrap they spout.

Source

Write comment
Name:
Email:
Subject:
	Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."