Terry Sarten: The answer is not blowin' in the wind

Maybe I could write about how both National and Labour have completely missed the point while attempting to score points on the Christmas Island debacle.

It is a matter of human rights - people being held in detention without being charged with any criminal offence, not being allowed legal representation, all under a cloak of secrecy.

The recent imprisonment of NZers for deportation from Australia has given us all a view into the Australia policy of holding asylum seekers in harsh conditions at remote sites in a manner we more often see in dictatorships. But I'm not going to write about that.

I could make this column a rearguard action fighting for a more equitable society, citing the numerous studies that show how societies with a big gap between the haves and the have nots is incubating a store of future problems that have the potential to demolish our sense of community.

When benefits are cut for those already struggling because they have not met some requirement, then there should be a similar measure that cuts the travel perks for MPs whenever they transgress the parliamentary system. But I'm not going to write about that.

Maybe I could write about the way technology is creating ever more options for people to avoid interacting with other people. The tech entrepreneurs tell us how their devices make a more connected world when so much of their product is about disconnecting people from each other. Facebook, twitter, online banking, shopping and gaming are all examples of web-based functions that enable people to engage in activities where they never have to actually see anyone in person.

Theoretically it is now possible to live very comfortably and never leave the house or talk to anyone. This great disconnect is worth writing about ... but maybe I won't.

Maybe I could write a piece about how we should divert all the energy and resources currently used by our intelligence services to snoop on foreign countries to instead capture information that identifies those perpetrating family violence, which is most certainly domestic terrorism as it harms hundreds of children every year. Maybe I have done that already, so I won't.

I could write about how the walkout of woman MPs from Parliament protesting at both the Prime Minister's remarks about protecting rapists and at being told they cannot tell their own stories about why this was so profoundly inappropriate.

This event featured in news bulletins all over the world.

It showed so clearly why women are often reluctant to enter into and play the games of politics. But maybe I won't because as the nation that was first to give women the vote we should know better.

I did write about the flag referendum but my enthusiasm for the whole thing is flagging. The process was flawed from its immaculate conception in John Key's mind by not asking if people even wanted a new flag first before embarking on a massively expensive exercise to identify an alternative.

I could write about how all of the things mentioned in the paragraphs above are more relevant to how we conduct ourselves as a nation than whatever patterned piece of fabric flies in the wind...so I did.

-Terry Sarten is a writer, musician, social worker and satirist - feedback: tgs@inspire.net.nz