Opinion: Unlike Crocs, democracy should always be fashionable

Throw out the Crocs, but not your chance to have your say, writes Ilona Hanne. Photo / Unsplash

My grandmother - who turns 100 in a few weeks - loves the modern world.

From having a microwave (actually two of them) to being able to video call family members around the world (with no regard to the world clock, and what time it might be in their part of the world when she wants to let them know about a book she has just finished), she thinks the modern world is a great place to be.

And she’s right. Generally speaking. We have all sorts of great things, technology and the like, aimed at making our life easier. Yet right now, I would really like to take a step back in time. Seventy-seven years back in time actually.

1946. It was a good year. The best movie of all time (fight me - it is) It’s a Wonderful Life was released. Swing coats were on trend, and Dior was founded by Christian Dior. Given the price range of the average Dior item, it was probably just as well that it was also in 1946 that an American banker called John C Biggins of the Flatbush National Bank of Brooklyn invented the first bank-issued credit card. Leftovers also got a makeover in 1946, with the invention of Tupperware.

Yes, 1946 was a good year, and one I would like to see 2023 emulate. No, I don’t want a schmaltzy movie starring James Stewart, and while I will happily trawl secondhand shops for a vintage swing coat, I am not really hankering for victory curls or cropped trousers. The credit card is great (unless you are my bank manager) but the Tupperware can stay in the cupboard - I have teenagers who act like gannets around food, no leftovers last long enough to be put back in the fridge.

So why 1946? Because it wasn’t just the year where swing coats and balloon sleeves were on trend. It was also the year that voting was totally en vogue. A whopping 97.6 per cent of eligible voters exercised their right to vote in the New Zealand General Election that year, 15.4 per cent more than the 82.2 per cent who voted in the 2020 election.

A voter turnout of 82.2 per cent isn’t the lowest the country has had - back in 2011 only 74.2 per cent of voters bothered to have their say. And, for the sake of not completely depressing myself on the subject of voter turnout, let’s keep this conversation on the subject of general elections, not local ones or, I don’t know, the recent Taranaki Electricity Trust election we had here, in which just 26.1 per cent of voters filled in that form. So in a sense, 82.2 per cent isn’t the worst. But that doesn’t make it good.

Balloon sleeves weren’t the worst fashion trend ever, (hello Crocs - we are looking at you), but that doesn’t mean we should embrace them, and neither should we accept 82.2 per cent as being an acceptable level of voter turnout.

The good news is - this is an election year, so we have the power to change the trend. We all can make a conscious choice to engage with the election this year, to talk about the issues that matter to us, to ask questions of the candidates - keep an eye out for details coming soon about our upcoming Meet the Candidates evening - and to have our say.

As your local community paper, we are keen to make sure the issues that matter to you are discussed, to help you make an informed choice this election, so write to us - editor@stratfordpress.co.nz and tell us what matters to you when voting this year.

Let’s vote like it’s 1946 only with microwaves and video calling and, sadly, Crocs.