I have just finished editing Cameron’s article on how he voted and why he voted the way he did and it inspired me to write my own article explaining why I voted completely differently to him.
By now you will have already read Cameron’s article so I will cover off all the points that he made and explain why I voted differently to him.
On the Cannabis legalisation and control referendum, I voted against it. While it is true that prohibition of cannabis has been an abject failure, that does not mean that we should therefore throw up our hands and say that if we can’t stop ’em we should join ’em. Imagine if we took that line of least resistance with murder.
Cameron’s argument is that it is easily available already and if you want it you can obtain it without too much trouble. While I am sure that is quite true I do not believe that making it legal will kill the black market. Private companies are quite capable of growing and selling a quality product but the government will tie it up in so much red tape and tax it so heavily that despite innovation by the private sector the legal product will cost way more than the illegal product.
If the black market isn’t going to be destroyed then the only point to it is a tax grab as Cam himself pointed out. It certainly isn’t going to protect our young people who already have access to it through the black market. As with legalising prostitution all it will do is put more money in government coffers and put an air of respectability over something that is not respectable.
On the End of Life Choice referendum, I voted against. We should not turn our doctors into executioners. It is bad enough that they are already allowed to kill unborn babies which is something that goes against their oath to do no harm.
“Assisted suicide” on the other hand makes it possible for a person to be provided with drugs so that they can choose to kill themselves in a painless manner. To me “Assisted Suicide” is a much better solution for those who want that option available to them rather than giving the government and doctors the power to end your life. I don’t trust the government to do anything well and I certainly do not trust the government to have the power of life and death over me. If I cannot get palliative care that keeps me out of pain then yes, I would like to be able to easily access a drug to end my life but I do not want anyone other than myself to have the power to make that decision for me.
Having said that, I acknowledge that any law regarding suicide devalues the value of a human life and reflects our society as a whole not valuing human beings very much at all. Even if “Assisted Suicide” were on the referendum instead of Euthanasia I still would not be able to bring myself to vote for it.
Party Vote
My party vote went to the ACT party because David Seymour worked his butt off and deserves some serious success. I want a strong ACT party in government to counter whichever political party ends up in power.
Both Labour and National have been found wanting in many areas and for the economic good of the country, it was very important to me that I help give ACT the power to be the tail that wags the dog. While I hate that about MMP I am pragmatic and will use it to my advantage if I can. If a tail has to wag the dog then I want that tail to be ACT.
Electorate Vote
I made the mistake of voting early and lived to regret it. I gave my vote to the National candidate (for National’s sake) only to then hear a rumour that he was the one who leaked Denise Lee’s critical e-mail to the media. I now very much regret giving him my vote as I had to hold my nose to give it to him in the first place.
I will leave you all now with a saying from my very wise father:
” Don’t vote for the buggers it just encourages them!”
Juana’s dad.
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