In a recent post on Kiwiblog, David Farrar pointed out in passing the typical tactics of those aiming for liberalisation of laws. He writes, “You achieve sustainable change by smaller moves.” He attributes the success of gay marriage to the smaller steps taken towards this (for example civil unions), and the failure of the cannabis referendum which aimed for legalisation rather than first stepping through decriminalization.
I wonder how we of a more conservative mindset could take this onboard. What big goals do we have, and what are the small but winnable battles that can take us nearer to our goals? It seems to me that National governments are generally just breathers before our heads are pushed back under the stagnant waters of moral corruption under Labor governments. It would be good if we could start moving things in the opposite direction.
A key battle to win of course would be education. We must get the government out of education, or at the very least, limit the influence of the secular left. There must be little objectives along the way to this goal. One of them would be to reduce the influence of the teacher unions, and perhaps this could be done by conservative teachers banding together to form an alternative federation of teachers. Another focus could be altering the uniform approach to teacher registration. Why should all teachers have to be registered by the Teachers Council? Why can’t private schools hire unregistered teachers? Another key target would be to offer relatively inexpensive independent schools around the country that provide such a good education that nobody would want to send their children to the local public schools.