Almost a week on from polling day and we’ve seen a shift to the right in the nation’s mood.

I’ve found the entire election process a little déjàvu to be honest – going through the same old motions ending up with one of the same two outcomes. In addition to a feeling of same old same old, the entire construct of the allegiances makes no sense to me whatsoever.

Essentially, we’ve decided to fix the greatest threat to modern humanity’s way of life, using the same mechanism that created the crisis in the first place. As macabre as that first appears, we don’t actually have time to reinvent ourselves in terms of values and motivations for existing. That being the case, at some point we do have to inject new thinking into old mechanisms. Work the tools and levers in a different way so to speak.

Humanity’s proliferation and advances have come about from endeavour, risk, bravery, and resilience – exploring the world, colonising, inventing, perfecting. The lifespan we enjoy, the lifestyle we live, the medicines we have, didn’t come at the hand of oppression and a belief that prohibition and constraint are the keys to discovery, growth, invention and evolution.

That said, neither should greed and the pursuit of power be allowed to run rampant. I find super yachts the size of a town block as repugnant as the most ardent socialist. I don’t believe risk should be taken without due reward, but at what point is enough, enough?

Nowadays, the roots of the left are essentially – and naively – pure resentment of those who create the wealth and jobs, and to some extent the right have brought that upon themselves.

The Greens are supposedly the side who place the planet’s welfare first. I wish that was the case, but more and more I believe the Green movement today is probably the greatest front for socialism there is. Oppressing humans into compliance is a ticket to ultimate and assured oblivion; likewise, attempting to constrain them into innovation is oxymoronic in nature.

I can’t see for the life of me why the Green movement aligns itself to nanny-state mentality. In tomorrow’s world, the Greens and National make up the obvious duo that can best tackle the climate crisis and preserve a vibrant economy. Shaw and co need to get their heads out of their arse as to where innovation, investment, progress originates; and Luxon and co need to get their heads out of their arse speaking to what should comprise the key drivers for innovation, investment, and progress in the first place.

From my perspective, the true advocate of green economics of recent times has been commentator and writer Rod Oram. My interpretation of Rod is one who implicitly understands the fundamental drivers of an economic engine and has petitioned extensively for business and entrepreneurs to look at opportunities with an increasingly green filter. Ironically, a successful right/green duo may also guide us toward the social outcomes we desire, and unlike the left/right positions now, driven by mutual respect rather than resentment and envy.

We’re wanting to correct and tune a system that has yielded some unpalatable outcomes, such that it will deliver what we want it to, but in a sustainable way. That’s admirable but will need a lot of the traditional protagonists to think a little differently.

We don’t have to look too far at the moment to see the absolute futility and misery that comes about when entrenched and opposing views refuse to budge in the interests of tomorrow’s children.

All the best,

Dave McCoid
Editorial Director