Current location:	Wellington CBD
Current mood:	creative
Entry tags:	politics

Drinking Liberally
I'm going to try to do a number of posts today, because the things I have to write about are somewhat unrelated. Thanks to an email from Idiot Savant, I discovered that the inaugural Drinking Liberally for Wellington was happening at the Southern Cross at 6pm yesterday evening with a talk from Green MP Nandor Tanczos.

My first surprise was what had happened to the Southern Cross itself! It's undergone an extensive refit since the last time I was there, with huge brightly coloured bean bags around the fireplace in the back room we used to use for KapCon. The Old Guard will mourn the loss of the gazebo, but the outside area is much nicer and more comfortable than it was, as is the interior. I was impressed. The place seemed much friendlier than it used to, with cute skinny guys behind the bar bopping to the long-haired instrumental group which made me think of the Dandy Warhols' song Bohemian Like You. As I wandered past the bean bags I commented to a couple playing table tennis that I hadn't been in for a while and the place looked great, and the lady squeeed and said she appreciated people saying that and that she'd done the flower arrangements on the tables. It's almost like the place has been taken over by a hippy commune... :) I think I may have to take friends there and curl up on those bean bags one day!

The meeting itself was interesting. I met a young Labour Party researcher, and one of the guys responsible for The Standard. When asked how I found out about the meeting, I said that Idiot Savant from No Right Turn had told me, and several people complimented Idiot on his research and well-written arguments. People asked about Idiot, and I suspect my caginess may have given some of them the impression that I might have actually been him, though the person who asked about Idiot's brother by name probably wouldn't have! Unfortunately not really knowing said brother, I couldn't tell them anything anyway. mr_orgue & richdrich were there along with a number of other people whom I see "around".

Nandor was fun to listen to. Having only really seen what comes up on on various news-bites about him, I was surprised to discover he was an anarchist at heart. And not a stupid anarchist either, he understood the need for some forms of control, but spoke about why do we always assume that has to be invested in a nation state ? Many things would seem to be better devolved to lower levels. At the same time he spoke about how some things by their nature need to be managed at a global level, and nation states make the devolvement of power to the best level largely impossible. I found much to agree with in what he said, but felt he could have gone further in some areas, but perhaps he was toning it down, unsure of his audience.

He dealt well with the kiddies running around his legs while he spoke, and basically I left that meeting with a much higher opinion of Nandor than I had prior. It's a shame he's quitting, though I can see how being part of the system for nine years must be hard for an anarchist!

Unfortunately I couldn't stay and drink after Nandor's talk, due to other engagements, but I think I'd enjoy doing so next time. Only potential problem is that someone might convince me to actually get involved! I'm trying to avoid that. Like Paul Atriedes, I've looked down the Golden Path, and I don't want to take that route, even though my seventh form class voted me person most likely to become prime minister. Consulting and think-tanks, maybe, but give me actual power and you'll have a Chavez on your hands.