The Laws Effect

Are we enriched by arguments that hold no water, that simply have an appeal to prejudice or the popular notions of some. I don't think so. Surface-skimming thinking is perhaps comfortable for those that feel no challenge to reconcile the logic of a situation or information they hear.

It is a fairly daunting proposition that some leaders, members of the media feel uninhibited when pushing certain buttons that appeal to populism of one sort or the other. I think any substitute for the truth of logic offered to the public is cowardice. It reminds me of the adage of the ends justifies the means - something which I reject as being healthy for society, also a step away from democracy, that reinforces a view that the 'enlightened' can spark the fires of struggling lesser lights.

If populism reigns by deceit or misinformation, we all lose. The political leader who has risen to power having started with honest beliefs and an application of logic and goodwill to those he serves must be jealous to that cause, must never forget it is not what he or she says and how, but rather the truth of what he or she says or does. Muldoon crossing the floor to vote against capital punishment, stepping from under the party umbrella to express his own view, the NZers who found the moral fortitude to say 'stop' to racially selected teams visiting our country and who were bashed for their beliefs, Justic Mahon for sifting for the truth in the Erubus disaster after books had been closed or destroyed to mask the truth. Muldoon again for pardoning Arthur Thomas. The passive occupation of Bastion Point. Protestors against the nuclear tests in the Pacific and finally the prevention of nuclear powered or armed ships from arriving in our waters. Whina Cooper marching to Wellington with nobility and dignity and the grace of ancestors cushioning her every step. What do these few events have in common? Individuals or collection of individuals concerned for the greater good and a definition of truth to satisfy us all.

So who are these men and women that perpetuated myth. Who turn away from listening to the truth or merely shout over it, they are cowards, those that have no courage to speak out when a woman from Iran is flogged in front of her own son, or indeed floged at all, having 'confessed' under torture. The same people that are outraged when an Invercargill businessman refuses coffee to two customers as a protest against civilians being bombed in the Middle East. Are these people free? I say no, they're enslaved by predjudice and hate, by power that has exhausted itself and which can only be ignited by venom as truth has long since been extinquished. I vote for truth not slogans, facts to be carefully examined - not mantra. I vote for freedom.