Nathan Seiuli
PILLAR
I spend more time than the average Kiwi thinking about, talking about and watching politics and the news. For me, it’s largely entertainment. It doesn’t leave me stressed or anxious. Most of the time, it feels like watching sport. I get frustrated when the side I like screws up. I’m probably a little too happy when the other side makes a mistake. And I give plenty of unsolicited armchair advice about what everyone should have done differently.
That doesn’t mean politics isn’t important. Of course it is. Politics affects our economy, our rights, national security, our communities and law and order. Elections matter. Policy matters. Who governs matters. I think everyone should be politically engaged at some level. But when politics begins to dictate our lives to the point that we become angry, anxious, depressed or hopeless, something’s gone wrong.
Someone asked me on a recent podcast, “What’s the difference between being politically engaged and politically consumed?” I think that’s the distinction. Be engaged. Pay attention. Vote. Speak up. Hold politicians to account. But don’t hand them responsibility for your life.
Politics is full of ideologues with PhDs in sales. Every three years, they line up to tell us they can fix more problems for less money in less time than the other guys. The truth is, many of the problems we face are better solved much closer to home.
There’s a political principle called subsidiarity. It says that responsibility should sit at the lowest and most local level capable of dealing with it effectively. If you can do it, you should. If your family can do it, your family should. If your community can do it, your community should. And only when those things are genuinely incapable of solving the problem should responsibility keep moving upwards.
In simple terms: take responsibility for what you can take responsibility for.
That principle matters because responsibility is a muscle. The more we use it, the stronger we become. The more we outsource it, the weaker we become. When we continually look to government to solve our problems, compensate for our choices, protect us from every risk, provide for every need, and remove every consequence, we slowly train ourselves to believe that somebody else is responsible for our lives. Then, when things go wrong, we blame the same people we expected to fix them.
We become simultaneously dependent on the state and furious that it isn’t doing enough. That is not freedom.
Government has a role – an important one. I want the government to protect our rights, uphold the law, defend the country, uphold essential institutions, and do what really requires collective action. But I don’t want government to replace the individual, the family or the community.
We must step up and the state must step back.
That doesn’t mean abandoning people who need help. It means remembering that government is not the only way we help people. We help people. Families help people. Churches help people. Charities help people. Neighbours help people. Communities help people.
So yes, care about 7 November. Vote. Campaign if you want to. Argue about policy. Put up a sign. Watch the debates. Celebrate when your side gets something right and complain when they don’t. But remember what happens next.
On 8 November, you will wake up and still be responsible for your life. Your family will still need you. Your kids will still need raising. Your bills will still need paying. Your neighbour will still be your neighbour. Your community will still need people willing to serve it.
The government might change. Your responsibility doesn’t. Whoever becomes prime minister will have enormous power. But they should never have more influence over the direction of your life than you do.
Take responsibility. Build something. Save something. Give something. Know your neighbours. Join a community. Help someone who needs it. Work hard. Be generous. Become less dependent, not more.
Because a strong country is not built by a government powerful enough to do everything for its citizens: it is built by citizens strong enough to do more for themselves, their families and each other. Politics matters. But politics will not save us.
