Posts by BenWilson
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Hard News: The Digital Natives, in reply to Sacha,
The old tension between the techy lower-stack geeks and the layer 7 ‘what is it used for’ folk continues.
I don't think this is an example of that at all. Layer 7 people do at least typically use the internet heavily, even if they have no idea how it works.
Most young people don’t care about the pumbing. They just want a future that connects – and flushes – when needed.
They do, however, know that when the plumbing is broken, you hire a plumber, not a lawyer.
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Hard News: The Digital Natives, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
It's definitely righteous to have taken steps to avoid having the internet fucked up.
What do you expect him to do, write a compiler?
As the leader of the Mana party I don't really expect him to have any more tech savvy than your average MP. But the leader of the Internet Party? I'd like it if they could tell me what a compiler was without having to ask the geek standing beside them. Well, if I was going to vote for them, which I sure as shit am not going to now.
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Hard News: The Digital Natives, in reply to ,
The internet party movement is like flower power.
Heh. So it's a sweet smelling sham then. "Sham of Roses", available at all leading retailers. To me, it smells nothing like napalm in the morning.
I don’t know about that. You can’t actually buy votes with money.
You can, however, buy advertising. You can get the Mana message out far, far harder than without money.
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Hard News: The Digital Natives, in reply to Andrew Geddis,
I don’t think anyone would claim that Harre was chosen to drive IP policy development in the IT/tech freedom area.
Presumably, however, she will push for whatever is developed?
So stepping back and looking at this in terms of pure power dynamics, MANA actually held more cards in this liaison than did the IP. So if the price of a deal was choosing a leader that the MANA Movement could recognise as “one of us”, then the IP pretty much had to pay it.
Yes, and the price was that basically everything they originally appeared to stand for that had any distinction from Mana has been swept aside. Also, money.
Does this make the exercise a “sham”?
Pretty much.
Well, political reality is...
...full of shams. Finished that for you. I'm not especially bitter on this particular sham, just seeing it for what it is. Mana gets money, KDC gets a high profile vanity party that stands for nothing more than what Mana did in the first place (by the time the deal is finished), and hopes that this party might stand at the balance of power and keep him out of jail. The internet gets a website where they can dream about what might happen if politics were dictated by bloggers, and we can sit back and wonder after the election why none of this grew Mana's party vote at all.
The only political point I could see in any of it was that IP might actually offer something different, and thus appeal to a different segment of voters. Harre standing up and locking ranks with the rest of Mana is something that people who might have been considering voting for the IP will now be scratching their heads over.
Sample thought:
"WTF? I thought this was the IP. When did it become that Harawira Party? What's he ever done for the internet? What's Harre ever done? Fuck that, I think I won't vote (again)." -
Hard News: The Digital Natives, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
I’d point out that Dunne and Banks aren’t actually exploiting the “coat-tails rule” as neither of their vestigial parties gain enough votes for a second MP (and Dunne doesn’t have enough for a first, I think).
They aren't, but they would like to be, and they could, if they got more party vote. Same goes for Mana+IP. It's coat-tailing which is the sole reason for the IP to be a part of it. I'd say it's only money that gives Mana a reason to be a part of it. Well that and the fact that the IP candidate would have been a good pick for Mana in the first place.
the “affiliated parties” loophole
This is a loophole that has not really been exploited to anywhere near the degree it could. But I think the reason for that is because what I outline next would be considered a nuclear option:
The maximal exploitation would be for a major party to split into 2 parties, one of which only contests seats, and the other only contests party vote. The first one basically instructs its voters to give their party vote to the second party. The second one stands no candidates in electorates. So the first party, the electorate seats, is pretty much all overhang. The second party gets its proportional number of seats. But the two added together are a lot more than that proportion.
It's nuclear because if one major party did it, the other would have to. It would make a complete mockery of MMP. National flirts around the edges of it with Dunne and Banks, and Labour did with Anderton, and if they had tactical ruthlessness they'd do it with Harawira too.
There is also the danger of the split-off party going rogue. It would have to be formed from the old-guard of the original party, which it would be anyway because they're the only ones with enough kudos to win electorate seats.
Just another one of those possible system hacks that sits there unexploited, hopefully forever. I always think of it when left wing voters complain of the Left's powerlessness against the Banks/Dunne situation. That powerlessness is self-enforced.
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Hard News: The Digital Natives, in reply to Russell Brown,
Did you read the policy principles?
Of the IP? Yes.
I think she can work with that
I'm sure she can. I just don't see what she brings to whatever it is that is actually different between the Internet Party and Mana. If there is nothing, then my comment that it's a sham stands. And who do they think they're fooling? I get a real impression that they've talked themselves into thinking this is a much cleverer move than it actually is. As if the minor surprise value of Harre jumping in makes up for the fact that in the world of the internet, and technology generally, she's a complete nobody.
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Hard News: The Digital Natives, in reply to Andrew Geddis,
It looks more like the MANA Movement (and its sympathisers helping organise the Internet Party) have pwned Dotcom.
Not sure. Maybe he got what he wanted out of it all. I doubt he’d be parting with massive cash otherwise. But if so, it seems like the Internet Party is something of a sham. Harre will hopefully set the record straight on her commitment to such core principles as universal free UFB, and a new submarine cable, and copyrights. If she picks out only the stuff that is pretty much in agreement with Mana, then basically it is Mana. I’d expect Mana voters to vote for it. Or more likely to vote for Mana.
ETA: Which, considering the vote sharing, is basically the same thing. They have the same party list. I'm currently still WTFing about the whole thing. If Mana has done any outsmarting, it would appear to be of themselves.
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Hard News: The Digital Natives, in reply to Andrew Geddis,
What makes you think that it does?
Yes, on the day, the internet was the pwn.
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Hard News: The Digital Natives, in reply to Russell Brown,
But what on earth does she have to do with the Internet?
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Hard News: The Digital Natives, in reply to Greg Dawson,
Decadigital!!
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