AN OPEN RESPONSE TO MAYOR BOB HARVEY'S LETTER ON THE SUPER CITY
Dear Bob
RE: Your recent letter on the proposed Auckland "Super City". It seems that Tacitus foresaw this proposal a couple of millennium ago when he commented : "A shocking crime committed on the unscrupulous initiative of few individuals, with the blessing of more, and amid the passive acquiescence of all."
Smaller local democratic run communities are what human beings function best and most healthy in - they are a good thing and should not be tampered with except to refine and strengthen them. The trouble is Bob, that Good Things often turn to shit because its human nature that every dickhead involved is compelled to tinker regardless of whether or not they have anything valid to add. So far the Super City concept appears little more than some dickhead trying to reinvent the wheel by making it square.
The ideology behind the Super City is predicated on the notion that the restructuring is for the benefit of not only 'Greater Auckland' but also the whole country. However the outcome for the individual people in the "local communities" will be the desperation and sickness consequent upon all huge social groups that have bloated outside the abilities of basic human nature to deal with them.
You cannot successfully legislate against human nature except by attempting to contain the sickness that results with even more laws (Tacitus also commented that the degree of corruption in government is reflected in the number of laws it enacts). If you want to see a perfect example of a huge city running with perfect efficiency, you need look no further than an ant or termite nest. Then ask yourself, how important is the individual ant or termite to that system?
We are at risk of losing our local identities and becoming strangers in a crowd! This is NOT "community". It is a nest of termites slaving for an administration that has lost sight of the individuals it was created to serve (not regulate). When its at their expense not only financially but socially, average Kiwis don't not want their communities restructured for the alleged benefit of the country (read "corporations"). Any restructuring should, first and foremost, be for the direct benefit of the local communities.
I do not see this in any "Super City" plan made available so far. Indeed everything I have seen so far, added to by the nature those who are vigorously supporting this concept, confirms that "Super Cities" are little more than a cynical way for corrupt central administrations to suck desperately needed resources out of local communities to fund empire building. Anyone taking issue with this comment clearly has little knowledge of history and is committed to repeating mistakes from which we should have learned.
Then there is the question of the subjugation of democracy in the way this ideology is being railroaded! The sacrifice of democracy (no matter how small a part) on the alter of bureaucratic expediency and political ideology is simply fascism. While the illusion is that the Super City is in the interests of increased efficiency, the more efficient the system, the less relevant and less vigilant the individual - whereas the price of democracy is eternal vigilance. As a representative of the people, how vigilant are you when it comes to democracy? The system does not serve the individual by making them less vigilant; it is simply serving itself!
We once had an umbrella body that looked after the infrastructure of greater Auckland. Of course, like any human political creation it was not perfect but instead of working on it, repairing and refining it, it we pulled it apart and emasculated it. Then we stood back and said look how scewed up this is! Lets get rid of it altogether! Now the Government is trying to help us poor desperate Aucklanders with their shiny new (square) wheel.
To paraphrase Ronald Regan, the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government and I'm here to help!
Regards,
Jon Smyth
Woodlands Park 0604
Waitakere City
RE: Your recent letter on the proposed Auckland "Super City". It seems that Tacitus foresaw this proposal a couple of millennium ago when he commented : "A shocking crime committed on the unscrupulous initiative of few individuals, with the blessing of more, and amid the passive acquiescence of all."
Smaller local democratic run communities are what human beings function best and most healthy in - they are a good thing and should not be tampered with except to refine and strengthen them. The trouble is Bob, that Good Things often turn to shit because its human nature that every dickhead involved is compelled to tinker regardless of whether or not they have anything valid to add. So far the Super City concept appears little more than some dickhead trying to reinvent the wheel by making it square.
The ideology behind the Super City is predicated on the notion that the restructuring is for the benefit of not only 'Greater Auckland' but also the whole country. However the outcome for the individual people in the "local communities" will be the desperation and sickness consequent upon all huge social groups that have bloated outside the abilities of basic human nature to deal with them.
You cannot successfully legislate against human nature except by attempting to contain the sickness that results with even more laws (Tacitus also commented that the degree of corruption in government is reflected in the number of laws it enacts). If you want to see a perfect example of a huge city running with perfect efficiency, you need look no further than an ant or termite nest. Then ask yourself, how important is the individual ant or termite to that system?
We are at risk of losing our local identities and becoming strangers in a crowd! This is NOT "community". It is a nest of termites slaving for an administration that has lost sight of the individuals it was created to serve (not regulate). When its at their expense not only financially but socially, average Kiwis don't not want their communities restructured for the alleged benefit of the country (read "corporations"). Any restructuring should, first and foremost, be for the direct benefit of the local communities.
I do not see this in any "Super City" plan made available so far. Indeed everything I have seen so far, added to by the nature those who are vigorously supporting this concept, confirms that "Super Cities" are little more than a cynical way for corrupt central administrations to suck desperately needed resources out of local communities to fund empire building. Anyone taking issue with this comment clearly has little knowledge of history and is committed to repeating mistakes from which we should have learned.
Then there is the question of the subjugation of democracy in the way this ideology is being railroaded! The sacrifice of democracy (no matter how small a part) on the alter of bureaucratic expediency and political ideology is simply fascism. While the illusion is that the Super City is in the interests of increased efficiency, the more efficient the system, the less relevant and less vigilant the individual - whereas the price of democracy is eternal vigilance. As a representative of the people, how vigilant are you when it comes to democracy? The system does not serve the individual by making them less vigilant; it is simply serving itself!
We once had an umbrella body that looked after the infrastructure of greater Auckland. Of course, like any human political creation it was not perfect but instead of working on it, repairing and refining it, it we pulled it apart and emasculated it. Then we stood back and said look how scewed up this is! Lets get rid of it altogether! Now the Government is trying to help us poor desperate Aucklanders with their shiny new (square) wheel.
To paraphrase Ronald Regan, the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government and I'm here to help!
Regards,
Jon Smyth
Woodlands Park 0604
Waitakere City
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