Wednesday 12 October 2005

Still no Government

Heh heh heh. Still no Government, and as DPF notes "the job of forming a Government is proving more difficult that predicted." Heh heh heh. Does anyone really miss not having a Government meddling with things? Said Helen Clark a few weeks before the 1999 election, "I don't want a country where people have to wake up every morning and wonder what new thing their Government has done."* Best way to ensure that doesn't happen is to have no Government, eh?

Just reflect for a moment: Who really runs the country?** It should now be clear that it's not the Prime Minister, is it.
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* That's from memory -- feel free to send me the exact quote.
** Who runs the country? You do, of course. Each of you runs your part of it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Spkg of no or little govt, I was rapt to watch Penn & Teller's 'Bullshit' on Prime last night. First time I've ever seen it and what a breath of fresh air!

They were lampooning the key promoters of NY State's 'anti-smoking' laws based on an (now disproved) EPA report; interviewing legions of New Yorkers openly bemoaning the loss of freedom/encroachment of govt, etc.

I loved one old guy in particular: 'I always thought that when fascism came to America, it would be wearing a white coat and a stethoscope'. Right on, buddy.

They also interviewed a 'libertarian' - yes, they actually used the term - talkshow host called (from memory) Larry Elder who railed against political correctness and big govt. Cool guy. And, begorrah, he's black.

P&T also tore into that crap idea from a couple of years ago, 'the Mozart theory', whereby the exposure of infants to a daily 10 minutes of Mozart would make them smarter. In fact they destroyed the whole 'do anything to make your eight-week old smarter' industry!

I loved the programme! They were merciless.

Anyone else see it?

Alan Howard said...

The PM as a leader is simply a figurehead for those behind the scenes, those who are running the government departments, etc. A figurehead isn't necessary for the departments - and the country - to keep on running.

Your point, however, is true - that the country doesn't need a PM. But, is the government made up of the PM, or of the departments within it? It's those government departments and the people within them that make it all happen.