Gordon McLauchlan: Putting the boot into boosterism

The boosterism of the BlackHeart campaign is so contrived, so ad-man in tone and intent, it seemed at first glance a harmless joke, a light-hearted bid with perhaps a dash of irony to get the crowds up and cheering for Team New Zealand.

All good clean fun.

But when I read Murray Deaker's comments I decided we must fight back on behalf of grown-ups against these self-appointed, self-interested leaders in the interests of a mature society.

Inviting other America's Cup teams to talk to Rotary Clubs is ridiculous, he reportedly said. Their sole objective is to take the cup away from us. I am totally in support of Team New Zealand and totally opposed to all of them.

And then: it is unusual for people in New Zealand to say, We stand for this.

I am not going to go soft on this issue. I am certainly not going to act like a journalist in this. I am going to act emotionally and act like a staunch Kiwi.

Cock-eyed stuff from any grown-up, let alone a professional broadcaster.

When my kids were at school and grumbling as kids do at some perceived injustice imposed on then by the school authorities, my line was something like this: issues could arise which would prompt me to join you at the barricades - if any teacher wants to hit you, for example - but if you think I will go into bat for you over something like your right to wear nose-rings, or certain sorts of clothing or tats, or something equally frivolous, forget it.

And if you try to tell me such frivolity is to express the much-vaunted individualism of our time, I will show you it is the opposite. It is a bid to join the mob of nose-ring wearers. When you leave school, you may wear leg-irons if you want to, although I hope you don't.

I was trying to get them to think about what they would stand up for, how to identify what is important in life from what doesn't matter too much. It's perplexing and worrying trying to make the right call on the dozens of personal and professional decisions we have to make each week, and I've made my share of mistakes. But Deaker, who would be a leader, clearly has no sense of judgment at all.

As far as the America's Cup is concerned, I'm expecting to get a buzz from the races and sincerely hope Team New Zealand retain it. But I don't want to be dragooned into xenophobic excess by an ad-man and a bunch of professional sports boosters. And if Team New Zealand doesn't deserve to win, then let them lose.

For a long time I've believed schools should conduct anti-leadership programmes to run parallel with leadership instruction. The plan would be to demonstrate that it is the intention of most of those who would be leaders to persuade others to accept their direction, preferably unthinkingly. They tend to play on shallow emotions rather than reason.

Some would say the most important element is common sense and it is because common sense is based on scepticism, on experience and on a reluctance to be manipulated.

For thousands of years, citizens were encouraged to do what they were told - for God, for king and for country, as the saying went - but democracy in a shrinking world demands more of us, that we think things through for ourselves, examine the motives of leaders and consider the pressures of political correctness.

For example, the American population is seriously confused about the wisdom and consequences of a war on Iraq being urged upon them by the Bush Administration.

The simple question of whether the US should invade the country to overturn Saddam Hussein gets better than 60 per cent approval rating in the polls. Ask the same question with the conditioner even if it costs thousands of American lives, and the percentage slumps towards 40 per cent.

I'd like to see the response with the addition of: even if it costs tens of thousands of Iraqi lives. Iraqi soldiers are people too, many with wives and kids. I'm sure they're not keen on facing the technological might of the US, but what can they do?

One of the techniques of leaders is to encourage exclusivity, to shut out people who don't agree with them. This is where political correctness is often used as a lever. In a new movie called Barber Shop, produced by Black Americans, Martin Luther King is criticised during conversations. The two current leaders, the Rev Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, immediately attacked the movie on the grounds it demeans a great man like King. Well, King certainly deserves and gets respect for what he achieved, but is he entitled to uncritical reverence?

* I was saddened to read of the death of Bill Pearson, a fine writer and a man who greatly loved his country in a way boosters wouldn't understand.

He cared enough about New Zealand to want it to be better.

I read and admired the novel Coal Flat a long time ago, and his great essay Fretful Sleepers affected me deeply. Anyone who bothers to read it now will note that in many ways it was prophetic.

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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