Too Much Of Good Stuffs

Australia is in election mode, again. In all the western democracies, Australia probably have the shortest government tenure, of just three years. So it seems elections happen every year. If it isn't for the federal election, we have to elect state and local governments.

In a developed society such as Australia's, the politicians assume that the electorate is intelligent, and therefore they want to know everything the political parties stand for. And so the politicians oblige by churning out tonnes of head spinning information, of what they will and will not do if elected. It is like watching two versions of the same soap operas on stage. Only that, I observe, the seats below the stage are hardly filled. People on the streets are hardly aroused. Most of them are still as clueless as ever on which party is the better party. It is not uncommon to hear conversations such as "which idiot are you voting for?"

I take this to mean that there is really little to pick between the two major parties. They are both equally good, or equally bad depending on who you ask. When left to compete freely and fairly, ultimately all competitive products become like one another, checking and balancing each other. If one party achieves a higher score, for now, the other party is bound to strike back and go one up.

Take Mercedes and BMW as an example. They compete in the same market. Because of the competition, they have to keep producing new and latest technologies as though we, the consumers, are really asking for each individual item of technology. The truth is, the Mercedes or BMW of ten years vintage would probably be good enough for the vast majority of people. But the competition pushes these companies to keep going one up on the other. And they keep boasting about their new technologies, as if we, the consumers, are listening intently.

Make no mistake about it, even if we are not really interested in all the political talks, we do know how to pick out a winner in a competition. And, we will not refuse to accept something better than bread and butter, even if we have never asked for them.

Hence, while we are not paying attention to the political shows playing out on stage, they must nevertheless continue.

In a truly free and competitive world, we, the consumers, the electorate, are the real winners.