Holding people to account

I've recently been thinking of the concept of patronage and satire. The Romans had it right; we should have a crowd of satirists around that we can hire to make fun of individuals in cartoon, verse, or in some other form. It should be their job to make fun of people, they should compete to do it best. My old flatmate Stephen Jenkins introduced me to Catullus a long time ago, he certainly had a way with words. I'm sure a Web 2.0 version of this system would be a hit :-)

There has been a general culture of shirking of responsibility in New Zealand over the past years; "I didn't know", "I don't remember that conversation", and other weak responses are in use from the top of society to the bottom. They are not excuses.

Those at the bottom of society are pretty well held to account for their actions, except when excused on the grounds that society made them do it. I can never see this as an excuse; mitigation for small acts perhaps but we of free will and always make decisions and we should have to live with the consequence of those decisions.

I am more annoyed to see the lack of accountability at the top end of our society. Our figureheads should be more accountable than the average bean, but it seems our politicians (HC, DBP, Trev), bureaucrats (Mr Logan) and some of our business people (Fay/Richwhite) are getting away with a continuous series of responses that would be ignored or ridiculed if any person in the street said them.

I'm thinking that the best way to hold these powerful and sometimes untouchable people to account is to make fun of them. It holds them in the public eye where they feel most uncomfortable, shows our contempt, and is amusing to boot. I still remember the foldup Muldoon poster my brother had from the Christchurch Magic Shop; I don't see anything of that ilk any more. Except perhaps the self-produced Helen Clark poster...

Anyway, who's with me on increasing the satirical content in New Zealand? It should be a NCEA-endorsed career choice...