For 36 years this political system has not solved your problems yet somehow the sheeple continue to have blind faith in a failed system. It’s produced the Bougainville crisis, the World’s third largest Environmental Disaster at Fly River, 5.2 million hectares of land stolen, human rights abuses and police brutality, massive theft of public monies, an education system that fails to produce nation builders, a health system that doesn’t work and etc...

The Sheepies survival guide for election 2012

By Martyn Namorong**

Yes the silly season has come upon us and there is a lot of posturing for pole position for the race that stops a nation. This Christmas and New Year holiday, there will be a lot more lamb flabs and pik in the mumu and a lot more beer to drink flavoured with the intoxicating sweetness of political rhetoric.

This holiday season, the sheeple* will be told to choose good leaders. Of course, the people doing the talking are referring to themselves. All of a sudden political aspirants want to talk about the hardships experienced by rural sheeple. They are now more concerned about the lack of roads and health services.

They want to sound like they really do care about the sheeple.

Sadly, many gullible sheeple are feeding on the vomit that these political aspirants are producing.

As for me, I don’t want any political aspirant telling me how bad the roads are. I want them to tell me what they did in previous years to try and improve those roads. Did they write letters and petitions to the government or local MP to have the roads fixed? Did they expose corrupt dealings in road contracts? Because if you didn’t do anything over the past five years why should I believe you when you say you will fix the roads in the next five years.

Quite frankly I really don’t give a hoot about them telling me what I already know. Don’t tell me that the conditions are bad – I know they’re worse than what you think they are. Tell me what you did to try and fix them.

This is very crucial if you are going to get in someone who may care about your pretty pathetic rural state.

If you are a remote community whose land has been stolen under dubious Special Purpose Agriculture Business Leases, ask yourselves if those political aspirants have been helping you out in your fight to regain your land.

If you are a river community affected by mining or logging activity, ask yourselves whether those political aspirants have been helping you in by fighting for your traditional rights.

If you are a worker whose pay doesn’t last for the whole two weeks and you have no savings, ask yourselves what those political aspirants having been doing to improve working conditions for Papua New Guinean workers.

If your kids can’t get a good education and you lack proper healthcare, ask the political aspirant what they’ve been doing to improve health and education in the country.

Don’t believe anyone who promises to help you in the future if they aren’t helping you now or haven’t done anything in the past. If they haven’t done anything good for the people of Papua New Guinea, they’ll never do anything good in the future. People who’ve never done anything good can’t be expected to do any good in the future.

As soon as political aspirants start telling you how concerned they are for you, tell them to go take a cold shower because where were they all this time.

It is important to find out information about political aspirants from their opponents. Their opponents are most likely to highlight their short-comings and flaws. Ask people why they don’t like certain political aspirants.

As a rule of thumb, anyone who pork-barrels and lamb flabs the electorate is a criminal. They’re breaking the law to get elected and if you put criminals in power, don’t expect them to act like Christ.

In the end, no matter how hard we try to get good leaders, we vote in Politicians.

ASK YOURSELF: Do you believe what politicians say? Do you believe politicians keep their promises? Do you believe politicians can be trusted? Do you believe politicians are concerned for you and your family? Do you believe politicians care about this country of ours?

IF YOUR ANSWER IS NO, then why do you believe politicians can solve your problems?

Look how Mining Minister Byron Chan tried to take on the miners and he failed. Recently at a Mineral Exploiters seminar attended by mostly white capitalists, daddy’s little boy Byron went to bow down to the capitalists

For 36 years this political system has not solved your problems yet somehow the sheeple continue to have blind faith in a failed system. It’s produced the Bougainville crisis, the World’s third largest Environmental Disaster at Fly River, 5.2 million hectares of land stolen, human rights abuses and police brutality, massive theft of public monies, an education system that fails to produce nation builders, a health system that doesn’t work and etc...

One has to wonder where all the rational thinkers are if all the sheeple continue to expect a failed system to save them. One has to realize that our politicians like daddy’s little boy Byron, are slaves to the capitalists. A weak Government benefits the capitalists such that the police become guns for hire and civil servants become their compradors.

The rest of you sheeple are just statistics/votes/labour to be manipulated for profit. That’s all you are to them. Just a number for them to exploit!

The only way workers can get real value for their labour is for them to organize and exert pressure on the capitalists.

Rural people also need to organize and exert pressure on politicians and civil servants.

Papua New Guineans have to unite as a people and oppose foreign exploiters who are Exploiting Our National Treasures for Private Profit. What’s K100 million kina PNG gets compared to the K2 000 million kina made by Tuna exploiters? What did New Ireland get from Lihir? What’s 5% that landowners get from LNG? What’s K 12 million paid to Ok Tedi landowners when it makes K1 000 million kina profit?

Over 36 years ago we declared in our Constitution that:

By authority of our inherent right as ancient, free and independent peoples

WE, THE PEOPLE, do now establish this sovereign nation and declare ourselves, under the guiding hand of God, to be the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.

We need sheeple to start thinking and acting as an ancient free and independent people. We also need an alternate model of development to the one that is currently failing us.

*Sheeple: (sheep + people) Those who get easily misled by wolves

** Martyn Narmorong is the author the the brilliant blog The Namorong Report