Gone are the days where the policy defining the Greens was decriminalising/legalising marijuana. Just read a simple quote that sums up the reason why Russel Norman and Metiria Turei have made the Greens a viable voting choice:
"This Budget is full of poor choices: borrowing for tax cuts for the wealthy, subsidising polluters, and unneeded roads while cutting support for students, reducing the number of teachers, and doing nothing for the environment." (Russel Norman, MP)
Green politics should resonate with all New Zealander's as it represents the interests of all people - protecting the environment and the vulnerable, promoting equality and democracy and ensuring that economic policy is compliant with all these matters. Ignore Don Brash's 'one rule for all' its a logical fallacy - you cannot have a 'one rule for all' without creating inequality because not everyone has the same starting point. The vulnerable require more assistance to bring them up to an equal starting point. That is why it surprises me that the Maori Party took to National when it's fundamental values are more closely aligned to the Greens. Tikanga Maori is inherently green politics - its about the people, the environment and the collective responsibility of the people in response to the environment. Its about reciprocity and balance and protecting the vulnerable. How then do the Maori Party see a conservative agenda fulfilling these values? Puzzling.
Mana sits even further left than the Greens and while many see it as a party for Maori and extreme politics its no further left than Act is right. Mana get unwarranted bad press - the scaremongering of the media typecasting who the party stands for, FYI New Zealand, Mana stands for you all - it is indiscriminate politics. Yes it promotes policy that seeks to improve the opportunities for Maori, but when you look at the stats, it is predominantly Maori who feature in all the negative ratios. Don't we want to fix this?.
You'd be correct if you thought that the kind of policy promoted by the Greens and Mana means to undermine the gap between the rich and the poor, but don't buy into the conservative view that the left want the rich to subsidise the poor to the extent that they become the poor! Its an illogical and irrational fear fuelled by conservative idiots, creating class divisions to protect their own assets by exploiting the vulnerable. The Greens and Mana are probably the only 2 true left parties - and underlying all their policies is to stop the exploitation of the vulnerable for the benefit of the rich.
Its time for the Greens and Mana to really step up and show NZ why the left is worth voting for since Labour are failing miserably.
