From: Nandor Tanczos <nandor.tanczos at parliament.govt.nz> To: "'dhenwood at panix.com'" <dhenwood at panix.com> Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1999 01:12:31 +1300
I was tempted to try and reply in detail to the postings on this discussion group but decided that it would be a waste of my time. The vast majority was personal abuse and misinformed crap, which I'm sure I will get plenty enough of once I take my seat in parliament. Why go looking for it?
The only two points I consider worth concerning myself with are:
1/ Do the Green represent radical social change? I doubt any political party will ever represent radical social transformation. In fact I would say by definition they cannot. Radical transformation I believe would mean the destruction of the kinds of hierarchical power systems that nation states depend on.
I try to be very clear when talking about the Greens that the answer to our problems does not lie in voting Green. It lies in the transformation of everyday life. However, having Greens in government can help that process, given the tendency of green politics towards non hierarchical forms of organisation and a preoccupation with making decisions at the lowest possible level.
I would also say that the radical transformation of society does not lie in old school left wing politics. It lies in a fundamental change in our relationship to each other and to the world around us. Destruction of the life support systems of the earth (whether in pursuit of jobs or share dividends in the short term), exploitation of other people both within our locality and globally, destruction of our human communities and the social webs we depend on, and the torture and murder of other people and species all result, I think, from a fundamental error: that somehow we are separate from the world around us, other people, the forests that give us oxygen, other species of animals, the air and water......
We must as a matter of urgency begin to look at our planet and its inhabitants as a part of, and made up of infinitely complex, interconnected systems. The desire for social justice, non violence, participatory democracy and ecological wisdom can then be seen as simple self interest.
2/ Was the miners strike in '83 or '84? Russel may be right in saying it only started in 84 - I didn't look it up in a book but thinking back I worked out it must have been 83 because I thought I remembered doing other stuff in 84. I am probably in error.