Keeping the opportunity for an honest process.
In all honesty, I really don't like the concept of getting excited over flags. I never have bought into symbolism and imagery, especially when Nationalism and Patriotism is concerned. I don't even care for Kiwiana, I almost loathe it, the idea that this is what True New Zealand looks like, it is deeply ignorant of the rapidly changing build of the country, I personally think being a New Zealander is about holding a set of beliefs and ideals regarding freedom, equality and tolerance, as opposed to gumboots and black singlets, symbols of an older New Zealand.
But at the outset of the flag referendum my interest was piqued, I thought that it might be an interesting opportunity. Mainly because my thinking was that this could be the start of a change in New Zealands place in the world. Both before and After gaining independence from Britain, New Zealand has been constantly fighting in its Wars, The Boer War, The First and Second World Wars. After Britain, New Zealand started to follow America around on its Military interventions in Vietnam, Korea, Malaya, Afghanistan and recently Iraq. Its not just Military assistance we've given America, New Zealand has been very involved in Surveillance, being part of the Five Eyes spying network and even as far as having
NSA structures in the country, and then there is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which will leave New Zealand open for exploitation from foreign corporations, including American corporate interests, under the
Investor-State Dispute Settlement clause. All this is the price of being part of "The Club" as John Key once put it. In my blunt opinion, fuck the club. The club does not represent the people of New Zealand. The Government was elected to represent the people of New Zealand, but instead they have seen fit to make the Country compliant with foreign powers.
To my disappointment, the referendum on the Flag has been heavily biased in favor of Kyle Lockwoods Blue and Black design. Just read
this press release from the NZ Flag Institute, outlining all the problems with the process. Its very depressing that we can't even have a transparent and open discourse over the Flag, its even more depressing to consider why this is so, because there are few good answers. Is it that John Key and the political elite he rubs shoulders with saw this purely as a vanity project? Whatever the reasons may be, there is no doubt this has not been an honest process, which is why I have voted to keep the current flag. Not because I am attached to our heritage, it makes no sense to me why we should hold onto it, why should we celebrate forever being chained to foreign powers? But because I want to have the opportunity to have a real referendum started by the citizens, not by political engines. It is inevitable that we will have another referendum, and when we finally get a fair process, then we can debate the merits of a new flag, and the merits of the old flag.
