LET'S NOT TALK ABOUT POLITICS

Whatever you do, don’t talk about politics. Those are the rules in polite society. No religion. No politics. No excuses. And there’s good reason why. People who love politics don’t like to change their minds. And people who don’t, find it boring.

The impact of politics hits us all on the daily. And the point of democracy is that we get to choose. But how do you make a decision without a conversation? Turns out most of us don’t. So if you want to vote for what’s best for you, the best thing you can do is start talking.

Let’s not talk about tax.

For a three-letter word, tax packs quite a punch. Everyone has an opinion. Some think we should ‘keep more of our money’ to lift the economy. Others think the wealthy should ‘chip in a little extra’. Both of these will help. But neither will make a big difference. The real question of tax is not about robbing Peter to pay Paul, it’s about why Peter’s kids and their kids will keep getting ahead, while Paul’s kids will never catch up. But nobody likes that conversation, so let’s not talk about tax.

Let’s not talk about health.

Anyone else tick all the doctors on their DHB voting papers? Most of us didn’t because most of us didn’t vote. But those ‘elected officials’ govern billions of your money and help keep your whānau safe. It’s just one of the things that’s kooky about our health system. Sure, we’ve had more pressing health priorities for this election. But the cracks in our system are creaking and something’s got to give. Let’s not talk about health.

Let’s not talk about poverty.

While half of New Zealand endures the school holiday fight of how much screentime is too much, the other half don’t have personal screens. Or, in some cases, shoes. We all agree that it’s just not good enough. But we can’t agree on how to fix it. Or even count it. Plenty of to and fro on the metrics of relative ‘success’. But let’s not talk about poverty.

Let’s not talk about immigration.

As a first-generation immigrant, I don’t know how it feels to be one. Being white, middle-class and English, we were welcomed home like the prodigal family. But that’s not the experience of many. And for the first time in generations there’s no real debate about people ‘buying our property’ or ‘taking our jobs’. Because the borders are closed and it hasn’t come up. Even in an election cycle where the very real impact of someone’s hate for others played out with tragic consequence in Christchurch, let’s not talk about immigration.

Let’s not talk about benefits.

Being Kiwis, we’re proud to look out for those neighbours who need it. So long as they’re not lazy or spending our money on booze and fags. But the big challenge of benefits isn’t bludgers. It’s judgers. We all look down. Just imagine finding yourself with barely enough to live on, struggling to find work because you don’t have a job, and caught in that trap where projects and part-time gigs seem to cost you more than you earn. There’s a reason they call it a poverty cycle. But let’s not talk about benefits.

Let’s not talk about fiscal stimulus.

While ‘fiscal stimulus’ sounds thoroughly boring and weirdly kinky at the same time, it has a massive impact on all of us. Like every country in the world, we’re borrowing from tomorrow to prop up the challenges of today. And nobody really questions it. We tinker in the detail of how to spend the money we’ve borrowed. But we’ve whacked our lifestyles on the credit card and we’re leaving the bill with our kids. Is that right? Did we have a choice? Let’s not talk about fiscal stimulus.

Let’s not talk about politics.

Politics may seem boring, or complex or confusing. But we’re living it. And the whole idea of regular elections is that we’re the driving force behind it. Decisions get made ‘by the people, for the people’ and we are the people.

But here’s the thing. Roughly one in ten Kiwis won’t bother voting. And that’s a shame. But roughly seven out of every ten voters will vote the way they always have because that’s what they’ve always done. And that’s terrifying.

Immigration, tax, education, the environment and the growing number of Kiwi kids who are sharing shoes. None of them come up in ‘polite’ conversation. But none of these things will ever get solved if people don’t talk about politics.

That’s what I reckon, what do you think?