inform5.txt BRONZE MEDAL SPEECH TO GRACEFIELD TOASTMASTERS CLUB 7.3.2000
Speaking To Inform manual
Speech 5: the abstract concept 10-12 minutes
-Research & organise the though of experts on an abstract concept, theory or
social/political issue
-present the ideas in a clear and interesting manner
Chair, Guests, Fellow TMs: DEMOCRACY IN FLUX
Democracy. Is this, as one put it,
Election by the incompetent replacing appointment by the corrupt?
[Maxims for revolutionarists]
Or as another wrote "The refuge of cheap misgovernment"?
[ Man and Superman.]
I think at least we would agree that it is NOT - the tyrrany of the minority
by the majority.
The history of society is an account of the tumultuous forces that change
society, internally and externally, often in quite unpredictable ways.
What are these forces?
Regionalism, nationalism, religion,
commercial interests - including of course the multinationals, the media;
- and somewhere in there, labouring against these giants,
the minority groups, including indigenous societies,
fighting for their cultural and political survival
against the dominating majorities.
These competing forces are governed - more or less - by government.
Government OF the people, FOR the people - to some extent,
scarcely BY the people, but by their representatives.
Let us take a minute to look back into history & see how these
democratic systems evolved.
Some people like to say the Athenians gave us democracy, over 2000 years ago.
Anyone could stand up on the steps of the Forum and speak their point of view.
ANYONE?
Well anyone except slaves, women, maybe plebs, and the under age.
That is, anyone except 99% of the population.
Now lets fast forward to the British colonies in north America,
breaking away from Britain & forging the US of A & the Bill of Rights
beginning
"We hold it to be self-evident that all men are created equal."
So was born the first of the modern democracies.
It allowed anyone to vote. Anyone?
Well anyone except blacks, women, and the under age, that is about 20% of
the population could vote.
In the 1860s slavery was abolished in the US,
and the slow process of registering black voters began
- with very little progress in many states until the Civil Rights struggle
100 years later.
WOMEN were not given the vote in the US til the 1930s.
BRITAIN abolished slavery in the 1810s,
gave the vote to non-landowners in the 1830s,
and gave women the vote about 1920.
France, while officially proclaiming "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity",
kept slavery alive til the 1940s. Until then
a Kanak in New Caledonia could not even enter Noumea without a police permit -
unless that is their masters required a road gang from their reservation.
In Switzerland women were not given the vote until the 1970s.
On this issue NZ can be proud:
we led the world, giving women the vote in the 1890s.
Today most countries allow anyone of age to vote - about half the population.
In some countries voter turnout is low - sometimes due to
disillusion with the corruption of the leaders and their parties.
In other countries voting is compulsory
- even when only 1 name is allowed on the ballot!
There are of course many forms of democracy.
The First Past The Post system we had
could give a govt 100% of the seats in parliament
with say only 40% of the vote
- simply by getting coming in first with 40% of the vote in each electorate.
So 60% of voters could in effect be unrepresented.
This was particularly galling to the no. 2 party - labour or national.
So finally we changed to MMP - with the add on that people voting for parties
polling less than 5% did not get to be represented
- unless their constituent somehow could get elected.
This 5% rule is supposed to increase stability
- to the sacrifice of these minorities, leaving the 2 leading parties in a
rather cosy position at the expense of the other parties.
With Round 1 of MMP we saw the debacle of the leader of one of the 3rd
ranking parties seizing a huge portion of the power:
Deputy PM, Minister of Finance, & the new position of Treasurer.
Alas the snares of politics, Jenny eventually managed to give Winston the shove
- to his utter humiliation
and the loud cheers of 99% of the population.
With Round 2 of MMP, on election night the 4th or 5th ranking party, the
Greens, got only 4.9%, so could be disregarded in the divvying up of power
between Labour and Alliance.
But wait, a final count pushed it over the 5% threshold,
changing the balance of power.
To their credit, the Greens have not forced the issue,
rather have pledged not to bring down the Gvt,
- & remain locked out of the Halls of Power.
Just as leaders succomb to corruption, so do parties.
Last month saw revelations that arms dealers had secretly given money
to the German party in power.
Many are those who have been imprisoned in the struggle against corruption.
And I am proud to count myself one of them.
In the summer of '68, on my summer vacation from Stanford,
I joined the many thousands of hippies and peaceful demonstrators
protesting the corruption of the Democratic Party
outside their convention in Chicago.
I was part of the peaceful crowd attacked by lead filled billy clubs
wielded under the corrupt machine of Mayor Daley.
Yes I experienced first hand sadistic police and jailers.
And I am proud to have shared a cell with Jerry Rubin,
later picked out as one of "The Chicago 7",
who were gagged and chained in court and given long jail sentences
- later overturned by the Supreme Court - for "conspiracy".
I was CONVICTED on the perjury of a Chicago cop for "failing to disperse".
Of course NATIONAL gvt is not the end of the story of democracy.
Large countries have STATE govts, and nearly all have LOCAL gvts.
Last month WN households received a pamphlet from the council.
MMP legislation requires local govts to ask its citizens every 3 years
if they want to change their local gvt system from the ward system,
if we want to change the number of councillers,
if we want Maori seats set aside, and so on.
In China, they have yet another level of democracy - the neighbourhood block
committee. Here we only have the nbhd watch committee!
So how is Democracy faring?
Are the interests of the minorities being protected?
NZ now leads the way in protecting the rights of indigenous people -
trying to make up for its past.
And about a decade ago we gave some basic rights to homosexuals
- decades after such rights were given in some other countries.
But not without a tremendous fight put up by conservatives
and the Christian Fundamentalists.
(I must say the conservatives are over-rated. After all so-called
conservative Wairarapa elected a cross-gender MP.)
In today's WORLD the prime menace to our democracies is not
the call to save empires as in WW1,
nor fascism as in WW2,
nor a bid to cleanse the world of communism - as in Korea and Vietnam.
What is this menace? I put it to you, it is Religious Fundamentalism.
When fanatics face off, bloodshed is not far away.
Fundamentalism is endangering the fires of democracies around the world.
In INDONESIA and NIGERIA last month Christian and Muslim went on killing
sprees against each other, destabilising whole states within these countries.
The Taliban have destroyed all televisions and forced all women to quit work
in Afghanistan, stoning homosexuals and others that that oppose them.
In the US the anti-abortionists hold huge sway with congress.
But all is not bleak. Last month also saw the voters turning against
fundamentalism in Iran.
Let me summarise.
We looked briefly at the evolution of democracy.
Starting with votes only for aristocrats and landowners,
Last century saw the abolition of slavery, & votes for all males of age.
This century it has led to women having the vote.
In NZ the call for minority rights has gone a long way to redressing past
wrongs to the indigenous population,
it has ended persecution of homosexuals,
and it has given us the MMP system that allows proportional represention
- except for minorities under 5%.
We have seen that the rise of religious fundamentalism is at this very moment
threatening many fragile and fledgling democracies around the world,
as well as heavily influencing the US.
So what should we be doing?
As a nation NZ needs to continue its commitment to UN peacekeeping forces,
as it has in East Timor to our credit,
& to speak out against US attempts to control the UN by not paying its dues.
As individuals, we need to stand up and communicate with our MPs and City
Councillors about matters that are important to us:
as Wn did last month giving a resounding defeat to the plan to build highrises
downtown round our harbour.
So, Citizens, play your part!
After all, democracy can be like so many things: use it or lose it!
(
geocities.com/keeto111)