Political shenanigans fail to float my boat

Hands up if you're sick of any and all combinations of "pokies", "Sky City", "paid parental leave" and "John Key"?

It's not that all of these - together and in this week's variety of combinations - aren't important, it's just that ... well ... I don't care.

Although I may be a lone voice in publicly admitting this, I know I'm not alone in thinking it. Politics and the decisions that are made on how our taxes are spent are collectively significant but individually irrelevant.

Despite being updated on the hour and across the front pages about the latest developments this week's current political stage shows, I am not afraid to say that what to spread on my sandwiches this morning mattered to me a heck of a lot more.

I'm not a political agnostic. As a Wellington university student I marched to Parliament in protest of any and all issues going. I even got arrested and became a legend among my peers for my 40 minutes of incarceration.

Later, as a journalist covering current affairs, it was my job to be informed and inform. It mattered. Or at least I thought at the time it did.

Now, as I dispassionately absorb developments in the week's latest political headliner, there will always be a new one with a lifespan in direct proportion to how much mileage the Opposition can get out of bagging the incumbent party, I can't help wondering how relevant it all really is.

Spending the tax take is about as arbitrary as musical chairs. The parcel of money gets passed around, clocking up political points as it goes around, and whoever's hands it lands in when the music stops is always going to be smiling at the expense of the person who just missed out.

Despite Labour's assertion to the contrary, funding is finite and in the midst of a major global recession, there isn't a bottomless pool to fund the nation's wish list no matter how worthy the cause. Unless, of course, you introduce more pokie machines, but not even Robin Hood could make sense out of taking from the down and out to give to others who are down and out.

The only winners in the endless public scraps over what should and shouldn't be supported by the Government seem to be the media (who get an endless supply of front page headlines from it) and the groovy and usually lefty cafes and wine bars where pseudo-intellectuals gather to passionately debate issues they can't influence and which are more often than not irrelevant to their own lives.

Which brings me back to spreading my sandwiches.

It's not that I think we should disregard what happens in our communities, it is simply that unless we individually choose to do something about the issues that arise, being informed about them and debating them serves very little use.

We are all creatures of self-interest, and what is wrong with that? We all care the most about things that are most relevant to our daily lives and these, like choosing what to have for lunch, are usually the small things. But that doesn't make them unimportant.

To quote God (or someone very close to him), may we all be granted the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen to that.