THE SOCIAL CONTRACT

The theory of social contract is based on the notion that governments only exist by consent of the people; we the people agree to be governed if, in exchange, government agrees to protect us.

But here in this country, instead of protecting us, governments of left and right have spent the last thirty years deregulating all sorts of laws that have made us easy pickings for Big Banking, Big Pharmaceuticals, Big Energy, Big Farming and Big Industry.

To illustrate, after the Great Depression (1929 – 1945), laws were passed across the world, including here, to reduce the likelihood of it happening again. But in the 1980s, when Margaret Thatcher took the gloves off in Great Britain, New Zealand governments rapidly followed suit.

Laws that had stopped banks from gambling investors’ money were repealed. Strict separations between bankers, brokers and insurers were removed. Laws that protected workers from unfair employment practices were put aside or weakened. Laws that protected the environment were amended or watered down. And more recent laws that recognised Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the special relationship of Māori with their whenua have been changed to diminish that relationship.

So, what has all that deregulation gained us? Our economy is now in a state of collapse (Hanover Finance, Southern Finance and triple credit rating downgrades), our infrastructure is a basket case (Pike River, the Taranaki gas line), and our environment is under pressure (Raukumara Basin, the Rena). On top of that, people are working harder for less, students are leaving university burdened with mortgage-sized debt, our housing bubble has burst, and our health and education statistics are tumbling down the OECD scale.

The only recent bright spot has been six weeks of RWC and an All Black victory. But even that’s beginning to dim as the spotlight turns on the state of the nation before the election. If you were looking for a metaphor for that state, then look no further than a ship called Rena.

“The government didn’t ground the Rena on that reef,” John Key said. True. But neither did it protect against or prepare adequately for such an event. Instead, it allowed a poorly serviced ship, under-manned by an under-paid and over-worked crew, to sail under a flag of convenience around our coastline and harbours until it fetched up on that reef.

Imagine a revolver with four chambers. First chamber represents our environment, second is our economy, third are our labour laws, and the fourth represents us the people. Well, the Rena is the bullet that fits all four chambers, while governmental negligence is the fire power.

It will take some time before the black oil works its way out of the seafood, sands and aquifers of Tauranga Moana and Te Tairāwhiti. But as each blob sinks downward or drifts shoreward, it becomes more and more clear; our government has smashed its social contract with us all.

And in its place looms a social nightmare called the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement [TPPA].