Electoral Reform - People want it - so do it - this is a democracy

If there is one thing I’ve noticed about business people, and it bugs me, they hate competition. Everyone in business seeks a monopoly; monopolies are good for monopolists and bad for society.  I love the open market and the good it does, it is the only medium that seeks every day to figure what I want and how to get to me as inexpensively as possible.  The market only works properly when there is open access to it with low barriers to entry.  When markets are healthy there is dynamism, disruption and wealth distribution – markets stop working when a few players get a hold of control.

If there is one thing I’ve noticed about politicians, they hate democracy – they would rather dispense with it and do what they want – the less democracy we have is better for power mongers and worse for society.  Right now, we elect dictators for four years and then we kick the bums out – and with the new bums comes a massive policy change and wasted money. When the government is constantly “under public pressure” policy continuity begins to emerge and over time we get stable long-term policy.

The hype that is being thrown and accumulating into the biggest, smelliest, mass of BS ever deposited on the field of political debate is the fear of extremist campaign on the NO side. Unbelievable that we have sunk to these sort of fear tactics, less unbelievable when you see who is doing it, the profiteers in the form of long-term political players who quake at the thought of having a full range of representation. 

  

Right now a full third of the electorate is unrepresented, big business is, big labour is, big government is – everyone one else is being taxed without representation.  Farms, ranchers, independent business people, the gig economy, artisans, tradespeople, small business people all out in the cold. The way this vital sector gets represented is through electoral reform. We need lower barriers to entry in the political space, more people in the game and democracy. 

I am in the Rural-Urban Proportional camp. Could this have been done better – most certainly? Are we being asked to buy a bit of pig in a poke – yes? If we are diligent, however, we can nurture this along and make it work. Avoid listening to the unmitigated horse excretion being delivered regarding the “extremists”, political boogiemen are like stray cats, all fear mongers have one and all power mongers use one.