Organised government is organised chaos like an unassembled jigsaw puzzle.
– Lakota Native American chief
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As long as government is a fact of life, the W-I-T-H Wedge, hereinafter the Wedge, will continue to assail us as a vexatious and divisive factor. The Wedge is government in the abstract.
W-I-T-H – acronym for Why-Is-This-Happening – has staying power. The discerning public is condemned as being offensive because it is constantly thinking and questioning the status quo. Some are battered as seditionists.
The Wedge was researched and innovated by the founders of an Australian metaphysical forum, 3-Omniversity, in Noosa Heads, Queensland, that uses the lenses of praxeology and axiology to offer lasting solutions to complex issues of life.
The Wedge is, admittedly, a government monopoly led by unhappy and irresponsible officials incapable of being happy themselves. Yet, voters select and elect them like a knee-jerk reaction.
Arthur C. Brooks made a profoundly motivational observation: “Whether we look at capitalism, taxes, business, or government, the data shows a clear and consistent pattern – that 70 percent of Americans support free enterprise and are unsupportive of big government.”
Motivated Malaysians have the capacity and capability to get ahead if they ignored government, and instead concentrated in creating wealth for themselves within the contours of existing legislation. There are enough societal problems and snafus that provide opportunities to encourage wealth-creating enterprises.
Take education, for example, as a wealth-creating enterprise for stakeholders and beneficiaries despite section 46 of the Education Act 1996 that mandates government’s registration and regulation of private education institutions. Shrewd and astute overcomers blazed a new trail notwithstanding Merdeka University Berhad v Government of Malaysia [1982] 2 MLJ 243.
Traditionally nurtured and groomed in Parliament, the Wedge provides the misleading government truism that some people can be contented some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time.
Personality traits of unfit politicians and rudderless political parties inevitably promote and encourage the Wedge. That’s the unfortunate consequence of genetic miscalculations as witnessed in the behaviour and conduct of some aimless MPs.
There are no laws requiring psychological tests for reckless politicians seeking office. Frustratingly, law reform is a zero-sum game. Mandatory clinical tests are utterly necessary for the safety, security, sanity and sanctity of the nation.
Politicians resist and desist any and all attempts to improve their standing and stature in the eyes of the public in the context of meritocracy. Winning an election by a super-majority doesn’t make the winners super-human.
A misguided electorate is the other cause of the Wedge. The uninitiated to the niceties and complexities of pre-eminence will never see class, but instead be persuaded and influenced by crass pursuits aided and abetted by false advertising and marketing scams.
The Wedge keeps the leaders unfazed. Psychologists opine its intentional blindness because they fail to see what is obvious while focusing on other priorities.
Thomas Hardy explained that ‘there’s a condition worse than blindness, and that is, seeing something that isn’t there.’ We see this as furious, not helpless, victims in the daily grind of government.
The dogmas, doctrines, denials and delays generated by the Wedge is a cancer. Why suffer our bondages when we should be celebrating our freedoms? A culture and civilisation of the expulsion of the old ways must grow in our midst with a new generation of young and awakened politicians.
The discerning public has the tools to effectively fix the worrisome Wedge:
First, we need our leaders tested for cognitive skills. Adequate legislation is desperately required. Unexplainable mindsets of the leadership offer great research opportunities.
Second, government must play a lesser role in advancing educational policies, projects and programs. Regulate, not strangulate. Leave it to the private sector to improve and increase the quality and content of education.
Third, de-legislate bad laws that embarrass law-makers while encouraging law-breakers. Bad laws are a reflection of bad government. Unmaking bad laws is an act of contrition and repentance, not just another election-winning tactic.
Fourth, people must learn to unlearn the past that threatens proven progress. The perpetrators of the ugly past must be disregarded and discharged as rotting garbage. Quit voting them into power.
Fifth, we need to re-examine ourselves. Self-learning as autodidacts must be encouraged and rewarded in our daily lives. We need to give, not receive, constant headaches to an under-performing and ineffective government.
Sixth, demand to review the qualifications of those intending to stand for elections. If they refuse, then refuse to vote for them – when in doubt, stay out.
Seventh, the Wedge should not threaten our constitutional supremacy by over-emphasizing parliamentary supremacy. All threats real and imaginary must be explored and outlawed.
Eighth, the public must ignore unjust laws by challenging their validity through class-action lawsuits in courts of law. This trait is virtually non-existent amongst our countrymen.
The public, as the ultimate custodians and guardians of our system of government, must demoralize emotional haemophiliacs in politics. And there plenty of them. Watch the number of defamation lawsuits that clog the courts’ docket.
And yes, when the Wedge is gone, race and religion will be relics found in time machines of the future. Malaysians have it in them to usher in a new dawn.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
