Post by Kiwi Frontline on Feb 14, 2020 13:01:16 GMT 12
Elizabeth Rata: TRIBALISM, DEMOCRACY INCOMPATIBLE
Tribalism is based on principles of inequality. Democracy is based on equality. So unity is only way forward.
Tribalism and democracy are incompatible - they cannot exist together as political systems in the one nation. As the late New Zealand historian Professor Peter Munz noted, the condition for democracy is everywhere the end of tribalism with its birth-ascribed inequality and exclusive kin membership.
The incompatibility goes deep into the very structure of politics. Tribalism is based on principles of inequality. Democracy is based on equality. Kin status is what matters in the tribe; citizenship is the democratic status. Tribalism is exclusive. To belong you must have ancestors who were themselves born into the system. Democracy by contrast includes people from all backgrounds. The matter of who is included and who is excluded touches all areas of New Zealand life. Many New Zealand families have members who are Maori and members who are non-Maori. What would it mean for New Zealand if this division were to become a political division throughout every level of our institutions?
Democracy has three elements: the nation, the state, and the citizen. The nation is the overall framework and idea we have of ourselves as the nation New Zealand. The state is parliament and all the institutions and systems of government. Citizens are the subjects of the nation-state and have rights that flow from along with responsibilities to the system.
Democracy can only exist in one unified nation with a constituted government accountable to its equal citizens. Its three elements must stand united upon the foundation of the universal human being.......
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10861949
Tribalism is based on principles of inequality. Democracy is based on equality. So unity is only way forward.
Tribalism and democracy are incompatible - they cannot exist together as political systems in the one nation. As the late New Zealand historian Professor Peter Munz noted, the condition for democracy is everywhere the end of tribalism with its birth-ascribed inequality and exclusive kin membership.
The incompatibility goes deep into the very structure of politics. Tribalism is based on principles of inequality. Democracy is based on equality. Kin status is what matters in the tribe; citizenship is the democratic status. Tribalism is exclusive. To belong you must have ancestors who were themselves born into the system. Democracy by contrast includes people from all backgrounds. The matter of who is included and who is excluded touches all areas of New Zealand life. Many New Zealand families have members who are Maori and members who are non-Maori. What would it mean for New Zealand if this division were to become a political division throughout every level of our institutions?
Democracy has three elements: the nation, the state, and the citizen. The nation is the overall framework and idea we have of ourselves as the nation New Zealand. The state is parliament and all the institutions and systems of government. Citizens are the subjects of the nation-state and have rights that flow from along with responsibilities to the system.
Democracy can only exist in one unified nation with a constituted government accountable to its equal citizens. Its three elements must stand united upon the foundation of the universal human being.......
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10861949