Last weekend, the West Virginia Republican Party's convention heard a tremendous speech from the former Minister of Labour for New Zealand. He explained how aggressive reforms geared towards expanding the free market helped to galvanize almost every sector of a formerly depressed economy.
He explained that his office tried common sense solutions. They had twenty-four programs addressing skills and employment. Only four of them actually produced results. To the minister, the solution was clear, eliminate the twenty that did not work and use some of the savings to help the productive ones. The Anglican Church leadership levied intense criticism until it found that many thousands more people gained employment after the reforms.
Common sense also found its way into education. Reforms swept away various bureaucratic boards that governed the school system. Were they replaced by gubernatorial appointees? No. Instead parents of children actually in the school campaigned to serve on a Board of Trustees that had real power to use funds available. Of course teacher unions feared tremendously the idea that parents might actually run the school. However more money made it into the classroom to benefit the children and performance indicators skyrocketed.
Perhaps the best advice this gentleman gave was to take chances, even if one risked losing the next election. A political party must make a difference while in power, or what good does it do to hold power. The next time Republicans gain ascendency nationally, on the state, or the local level, we must remember our values and put them into place. In New Zealand the liberal party eventually regained power, but found that the free market ideas worked too well to remove.
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