Writing about democracy, Kevin Norquay cites an American academic who describes three crises: tanks in the streets, autocratic legislation and attacks on the media and journalism (“Marches, protests and burning effigies: Is democracy dying, or has it just stubbed its toe?”, 14/8).
These are not the only crises. Our crisis is caused by an ideology that entered academia from outside and has been promoted and protected by the media and journalism. Now it’s everywhere, including schools and workplaces. We didn’t vote for it or even see it coming. Like rising damp, it chills you to the bone and troubles your breathing long before you know the cause. We have quietly become an ideocracy that still thinks it’s a democracy.
As the ideology that has taken over our society is so weird and silly, and as so few people actually support it, it’s tempting to describe New Zealand (in fact, much of the West) as an “idiocracy” – but it’s no laughing matter, and the temptation passes soon enough. Getting rid of rising damp isn’t easy.
averagethief 