Common consent has it that the western world is now post-feminist. This implies firstly that the tinkerings of the three official waves of feminism have achieved their goals, and secondly that they were worth achieving in the first place.
Actually, women have been hoodwinked into believing that life is better for them now than it was before (back when there were no legal abortions, restricting undergarments, all male school boards, ostracism of solo mums, the lie back and think of England syndrome, and witch burnings). The truth is that women are far worse off now than at any time in the past. Women are more than ever bound physically, economically, mentally and institutionally to a society created by and for the benefit of blokes. The dangers of a fiasco like suffrage is that it tricks women into co-operating in their own enslavement.
Tribalism will set women free
A return to less modern ways of life requires the full participation of women. Everybody will be able to pursue the vocations best suited to them (see EDUCATION). The role of child-carer will not be restricted to biological parent for in a clan based society this task will be taken by those with the aptitude and inclination, either male or female. Women will also have the right to choose abortion, both pre- and post natal (see CLAN-PLANNING).
Men made a big mistake when they began owning property and started viewing themselves as parents, as they then developed a desire to hand this property, along with their name, on to ‘their’children, Sons in particular. This posed the question “How can I be sure these are my children?”. The answer was to turn women into possessions; gain control of them by limiting their sexual contacts and ensure that they remained dependant on men (eg. for food, shelter and social clout).
The McGillicuddy Serious Government will outlaw surnames and forbid men from owning land, money, buildings or businesses. This should keep their worst tendencies under control.
6 O’Clock Closing Reintroduced
In recent years, we have seen an increase in the number of vicious physical assaults perpetrated by men. Modern man has proved that he is not sufficiently responsible to be allowed out at night. McGilhcuddies will introduce a 6pm curfew for men, until they can demonstrate that they are big and grown up enough to behave themselves (1).
(1) And the All Blacks will have a new uniform.
Since farming began in New Zealand early last century, farmers have been regarded as the backbone of the country: both politically, economically, morally and artistically. The conversion of all those useless acres of scrub (ie forest and swamp) into “productive land” has been viewed as Gods Holy Work and happened faster here than anywhere else in the world.
Behind the neat facade of electric fences and cattle stops, however, the so-called “caretakers” of the land have been acting like rapists. There has been massive erosion, poisoning, nutrient depletion, extinction of native flora and fauna, introduced pests in plague proportions, and near total deforestation.
We could hardly have made a worse mess if we had tried, and if New Zealand realistically intended to continue exporting surplus primary produce (ie meat, wool, cheese and butter) as a means of generating national income, we would be in very big trouble (1). Luckily for us, the worldwide market for our food and fibre has utterly collapsed, and now the only markets we need to serve are our own.
McGillicuddy Serious is the only party bold enough to state the obvious; It's time for New Zealand to STOP Exporting and Importing altogether. (see ECONOMY).
The McGillicuddy Serious Government will re-establish people-intensive, permacultural, peasant-style food production (2). With the Great Wind Up and removal of all wire fencing from the rural landscape, traditional rural past times will be revived (eg. shepherding, swineherding, hunting, gathering, drystone walling, preserving, malting, barrel-making and feasting).
Compensation for Farmers
In exchange for their acres and acres of marginally economically viable land, and the cancellation of their crippling mortgages, farmers will no doubt be delighted to receive a few good axes and some sturdy tartan rugs, along with their allotment of confiscated pine logs, and a tiny parcel of clan land (see: MAORITANGA, HOUSING, CLAN PLANNING). They will also be very glad of all the extra help with the farming, as everyone will be involved with the land in some way assisting the survival of the Clan. Everyone grows or gathers food to eat or swap for other food they wish to eat. Natural fibres are likewise exchanged, and processed further by cottage industry, and so on, for all the requirements of life.
A generous supply of food and other agricultural products for all New Zealanders will easily be maintained once exporting has ceased, and we Trade Clan Made. (see: EMPLOYMENT).
(1) If mainstream modern farming practises were to continue unabated, the subsequent erosion and drought would see 72% of NZ either underwater or in desert by the year 2020.
(2) ie. organic, sustainable, subsistence
Which is more dangerous: the nuclear bomb or the nuclear family?
The nuclear family is a ridiculous, modern structure on which to base a society. It leads to unnaturally high and unfair work loads, social isolation, loneliness, stress and misery for a lot of people.
A more sensible idea is for all New Zealanders to live in Clans. The Clan will provide both homemakers and breadwinners with a much easier life, because all functions of the extended family will be more evenly spread between its members. People will take turns to carry out the things that need doing, and the social isolation and stress of spending most of the time with only one other adult and/or a whole bunch of screaming kids will end. Imagine spending most days with a big group composed of your social friends, your closest workmates, your best neighbours and your favourite relies. Well Clan life will be like that, only better.
We are expecting a significant reduction in the divorce rate, because while partners could be changed more easily and safely within a Clan, the desire to do so will be minimal. Mostly this will simply be because there will be many more people to spend all sorts of interesting time with, but also because everyone else’s little foibles will be well known, thus making extra-marital romance much less alluring.
The Collective aspect of Clans will end the silly male obsession with immortality through heirs and wealth (see WOMEN’S AFFAIRS). The ‘bairns” will belong to the whole Clan, and will see the Clan Elders as authority figures, and the child-nurturers as collective parents. There will be no more need for baby sit ters, day care centers, pre schools, playcentres, schools, poly techs, universities or any of the other hideously expensive child-minding facilities (see EDUCATION). The crazy striving for jobs in order to support ones family will be over. The result will be more time for socialising, fun, and games.
How do we go from a miserable, modern, nuclear family structure, to a super successful, satisfying and static pre-industrial society? The McGillicuddy Serious Party think-tank proposes to set up the Ministry of Clan Planning to oversee this transition during the GREAT LEAP BACKWARDS©. Its crucial role will be to help groups of people who are related (either genetically, geographically, socially or arbitrarily (1) to club together into Clans and take part in the creation and adoption of a collective tribal vision and mythos.
The job of relocating all these people, finding land for the Clansfolk, and coallating (2) the vast range of necessary medieval resources will indeed be an exciting challenge. (see: TRIBALISM).
Population Control and abortion.
Initially we expect that the emigration of millions of people fleeing our fun revolution will reduce the population to around Two million (see IMMIGRATION). This low level will increase the already high standard of living of the Great Leap Backwards by lowering environmental impact and reducing social pressures. Later on, it is expected that plagues and pestilence will control population to some extent. During these times a high birth rate will be valued and encouraged (fertility cults will proliferate).
There will be, we imagine, long periods of prosperity and fertility. Life will not be short and nasty, but long and pleasant (see HEALTH). During these times, responsible population management should be encouraged by the Clans themselves, who will hopefully be aware of what numbers their ENVIRONMENT can sustain. However, in a low technology society with only primitive forms of contraception (eg. herbal medicine, sheep-gut, fish-gut, and hemp condoms, abstinence, the rhythm method, homosexuality, lesbianism, sperm retention and magic) unwanted pregnancy could still occur.
The McGillicuddy Serious Party is therefore fully in favour of abortion both pre- and post- natal. Thus women who become encumbered with unwanted embryos or offspring will have the right to terminate up to eighteen years. Similarities to this approach are found in many tribal societies such as the Inuit (Eskimos) and some of the Aboriginal Peoples of Australia, as it leads to responsible population management, a necessary part of resource management.
Upon becoming Government, the McGillicuddy Serious Party will immediately sack all Ministry of Defence personnel except one. The most lowly-paid new recruit will be promoted to Minister of Defence, (but only on their present salary) and given a tiny fortified bunker, a generator, a small amount of diesel, and an answerphone.
We will then contract-out the defence of Aotearoa to our enemies (ie. whichever foreign power poses the greatest threat of invasion eg. Indonesia, USA, Australia, etc). That country (or consortium of countries) will have the highly complex and self destructive task of fighting themselves on our behalf.
This has the extra benefit of putting them in a very tricky legal position, and just a few good New Zealand Lawyers should be able to tie them up in Court for years, buying us valuable preparation time.
Should, however, the Judges rule against New Zealand, and if subsequently the nonprotecting force wins a victory and invades us before the Great Leap Backwards is complete, don’t dispair, we still have a few inexpensive and highly effective strategies up our sleeve.
The McGillicuddy Serious Government will shift the International Date Line. Already it meanders all over the place, taking in some land masses and excluding others. It will therefore be a simple matter to move it from the East Coast over to the West Coast of New Zealand, putting us a whole day behind. The resulting confusion in the invading army will give us all an extra 24 hours in which to head for the hills and hide. All of us, except, that is, the new Minister of Defence, whose role it will be to start up the generator that powers the Defence Ministry answer phone which has the recorded message
“DON’T SHOOT, WE SURRENDER” (in whatever language is necessary).
External - Long Term
Central to the long term defence of our Medieval nation will be the External Ignorance Bureau, a section of the DEPARTMENT OF IGNORANCE. Their task will be to travel around the world, secretly tampering with maps, both existing and in preparation, introducing little hiccups in the programs of satellites, and removing all mention of New Zealand and Aotearoa from all non-fiction publications. By the time the Great Leap Backwards is complete, New Zealand will have mysteriously disappeared completely from the worlds collective memory. Consequently, no one will even visit us, let alone mount a fully fledged invasion. If, how-
-ever , an invading force does one day stumble upon these shores by accident, the responsibility of the nations defence will fall to the combined Clans, under the leadership of the Monarch. Pacifist warriors from the length and breadth of the country will join together, and present such an intimidating front as to scare off any invaders (1).
Internal
Violence is certainly nasty, but aggression is a perfectly healthy and useful behaviour. Modern warfare has become a lot like hunting for food - sneaking around under cover and trying to wipe out your foe. This is not traditional and has given the once lovely pursuit of warfare a bad name. Real war, as performed by many societies throughout history, involves intimidation through spectacular displays of costume, song and dance. Armies would go into battle to the blare of a trumpet, pipes and drums, and under these circumstances the annihilation of one side was unheard of. The losing side would sooner or later run away.
McGillicuddy will repopularise this highly ritualised and enjoyable form of warfare which ensures the minimal results (negligible deaths) for the maximum effort. It is this form of theatrical battling, pursued by the McGillicuddy Highland Army (the Military wing of the McGillicuddy Serious Party) since 1979 and still seen in many tribal societies around the world, which will serve as the model for bands of irregular warriors that each Clan will maintain for their own protection and amusement. After the GREAT LEAP BACKWARDS© all technological weapons will be banned and soldiers will be armed solely with weapons designed to cause the minimum of injury; soft swords, flour bombs and a certain skill in overacting. To defuse disagreements between Clans, rival armies will engage one another, fighting according to the time honoured rules of Pacifist Warfare. The likelihood of warfare escalating into carnage is remote given that there will be a more enjoyable lifestyle to return to, less pressure on resources (see CLAN PLANNING), and no weapons of mass destruction. Thus casualties will be minimised and warfare can once again take on the triple function of Conflict resolution, Therapeutic tension release and Entertaining pageantry.
(1) This may sound futile but is it any different from our present predicament? Realistically, the down-grading from frigates to flour bombs, and Skyhawks to wooden swords, when faced with a highly armed (and possibly nuclear capable) foe, is like swapping your sharpened stick for a blunt one when facing a cannon.
The perfect economic system for New Zealand is one where all the citizens lead a relaxed, communal, pre-industrial way of life. Money will, of course, cease to exist. The disappearance of both economists and the Media will quickly ensure that nobody thinks about the Economy, and pretty soon people will stop worrying about it.
Failed economic schemes of past Governments have resulted in a grossly inflated foreign debt. Not to be outdone, the McGillicuddy Serious Party plans some massive short-term borrowing in order to purchase sufficient stocks of essential medieval-style minerals sadly lacking in Aotearoa (eg. Copper, tin and lead)(1).
Following this, however, we are committed to clearing the Foreign Debt as quickly as possible. However, rather than selling off state assets for monetary return, the McGillicuddy Government will return the liability, so to speak. This will be achieved by firstly, sending all the technological junk no longer needed after the GREAT LEAP BACKWARDS© back to wherever it came from, and secondly, telling APEC to organise the cancellation of the debt. Any unwanted domestic assets owned by overseas interests (eg Telecom, NZ Rail, Energy companies) will also be crated up and shipped off to their present owners. However, all such useful assets (eg. Kaiangoroa State Forest) will be nationalised (2) (see HOUSING).
(1)These will be buried down NZ’s disused coal mines for safe keeping, to be dug up as required.
(2) ie. stolen back
The central plank of the McGillicuddy Finance Policy is the eventual abolition of money. Af ter all, people are often heard to mutter how they hate the stuff. Unfortunately people are so bound up with the concept of money that to remove it immediately is probably not feasible. The first step is to make money very annoying as a means of exchange, frustrating potential users with its bulk and valuelessness, to a point that the population gives money up as a sick joke.
Initially, The McGillicuddy Finance Minister will intervene in the economy to keep a tightly managed money supply. Their first act will be to stop the printing of “paper” money and to reintroduce one and two cent pieces. The mass migration and disinvestments as overseas investors flee the country after the election will devalue the dollar even further. The Monetary Reform will then base the dollar on the REDUCING LUNAR SAND STANDARD which is incredibly complicated(1). To summanse; it involves the value of the currency changing daily according to the phase of the moon, the monarch’s weight, and Her/His age.
Taken together these policies will result in money falling into disrepute and disuse, disappearing fmally from human existence and memory. Clan people will conduct trading through barter, market days, festivals and other jolly forms of gift exchange. The depression will be over.
(1) see Appendix I for full explanation.
After over 100 years of compulsory state-run education, 50 % of all New Zealanders are now below average intelligence. Schools are nothing but a government plot to turn kids into mindless, unimaginative zombies.
So to ensure everyones survival amidst the flamboyant revitalisation of the GREAT LEAP BACKWARDS©, it will be necessary for the McGillicuddy Serious Party to start medieval training programs (1) to positive downskill (2) the peasants.
A Lifetime of learning
Once the Great Leap Backwards is complete, the Clan will take over the full responsibility for all teaching and learning, which will be recognised as an ongoing process lasting for the whole of ones life and thus the school leaving age will be raised to (at least) 65.
As society will be experiencing very little change, jobs are likely to remain consistent over generations.. Once again, years of experience will yield expertise not redundancy. A McGillicuddy Serious Government would introduce compulsory apprentiships for all. At various stages of their lives everyone would be both student and teacher. Novices will gravitate towards the masters within the Clan best able to serve her or his needs and desires, and then in turn, pass this wisdom on to the next generation as required.
Teenagers will be abolished and children will once again take on responsibilities at an early age.
Over time education in New Zealand will evolve into the perfect supplier of society’s real needs. This surely is the goal of all education systems, no matter how elaborate or informal.
There will still be one person educated at everyone’s expense; The Monarch. On being chosen, the royal infant will begin a lifetime of travelling from clan to clan, with their entourage, learning all the things needed to be a great King/Queen, such as oratory, compassion, fairness, a sense of humour, and being able to deal pleasantly with annoying people. It enables the Monarch to rule what will be the entire known world stylishly, amusingly, competently and fairly
(1) MACCESS, or Medieval Access; (see HOUSING), and TOPS or Training Other Peasants; (see EMPLOYMENT).
(2) ie. negative upskill
Long before there were any humans, the world was simple; the sun shone, the rain fell, and plants and animals grew and died naturally. Since then, humanity has placed itself above nature. We discovered Gods and Science that gave us free reign over the Earth. Ecosystems millions of years old are being permanently altered, an extraordinarily dangerous situation. We are a part of nature and, as such, have a responsibility to ourselves and everything else to take only what we need and replace all that we can. If we don’t, we risk killing off not only ourselves, but every other living thing. Humanity is no longer at the mercy of the environment, the environment is at the mercy of humanity. This is wrong. To reembrace the sacredness of the forest and land, we must first throw the money changers out of the temple.
Nature must again have the upper hand, and we can’t turn to scientists or businessmen to do the job. They can’t even repair the damage they have already caused.
About a thousand years ago Aotearoa was covered in forest and was inhabited by a uniquely diverse range of birds, giant insects and reptiles. Although many species are gone forever, much can be done to repopulate this land with it’s native inhabitants. Knocking down cities, the mass emigration of a large per centage of the population following the GREAT LEAP BACKWARDS©, and the end of large scale farming and forestry will be of immediate benefit. Native forests will be replanted at an initial rate of 100,000 hectares per year until the land is reforested back to the island paradise it once was. There will be some retention of exotic flora to feed and warm people. Scottish oats, Macrocarpa, and a few other useful weeds will be supplied as seeds for a few years, after which seed management will be the Clan’s responsibility.
As part of the Great Leap Backwards, all factories, abattoirs and power stations will be dismantled, and the internal combustion engine will be abolished, along with any other industrial and post-industrial technologies that are damaging to the natural environment. These measures may seem extreme but they are the only hope for the continuation of life on this planet. Other parties ineffectual pale green tinkering is only postponing the catastrophe. People who vote for any of them must bear personal responsibility for the complete annihilation of life on this planet!
The McGillicuddy Serious Party is all in favour of genetically engineering our food stock on the grounds that it will further the collapse of the world economy.
The first so-called “Green Revolution” happened when the heavy usage of agricultural chemicals, and high-yield crops was thrust upon food-producing countries. The effect was a massive glut in certain foods, the worldwide collapse of many traditional systems of food production and small scale sustainable producers were put permanently out of business.
The advent of genetically-engineered foods, and the vigour with which they are being promoted, promises to do miles more of the same. There will be a further reduction in the value of food, and an increase in the value of, and reliance upon, industrial products. Food producing countries will get falling export returns, and faced with rising import costs, will fail loans, collapsing first their, and then the worlds economy.
Some parties think the collapse of the world economy is a bad thing. Not so the McGillicuddy Serious Party. We are all for it, and on these grounds we support the thorough and speedy introduction of Genetically Modified Organisms of all descriptions.(1)
Rest assured that we have already set aside sufficient “Heritage” seed stock for the entire country to begin again, after the GREAT LEAP BACKWARDS(c).
(1) Eg. Especially the Genetically Modified Kakapo that enjoys breeding, is tame and can beat up Possums,
The McGillicuddy Serious Party is committed to the policy of Total Health. We promise to reduce waiting lists, provide more doctors, more hospital beds and many more hospitals, while at the same time slashing the health dollar. To achieve Total Health we believe in the combination of a healthy medieval lifestyle and a complete lack of funding.
Of all the technological advances of the last 500 years, those that people are most willing to accept as positive progress is in the area of Health. However it is increasingly clear that this enthusiasm is largely misplaced. The simple lesson from history is that as advanced as medicine has become, something else has come along to make people sick. The recent disturbing emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a classic example of this. Constantly pumping chemicals into the human body can create as many problems as it solves. Then to compensate for the increasing failure of technology to solve our nations heath problems, Governments over the last few decades have turned more and more to expensive technology, paid for out of money from traditional services. In a recent poll, 72% of people agreed that health services have suffered in recent years.
How does New Zealand get the best health service it deserves?
The McGillicuddy Serious Party’s Total Health policy provides a two pronged approach.
Presently in New Zealand, the more health dollars a Government spends, the fewer the number of hospitals that remain open. Total Health can therefore only be achieved through Zero Spending. THE GREAT LEAP BACKWARDS© recognises and embraces this paradox and whilst axing all health spending, the McGillicuddy Serious Government will multiply the number of hospitals, until every house becomes a hospital (1). The distance to the nearest hospital is thus greatly reduced, and with the increase in the number of rural doctors, so too are operation waiting times.
(1) To be sung to the same tune as the National Anthem of Canada.
Once dependency on a centralised health system has been broken, old fashioned and traditional forms of health care will be encouraged. The McGillicuddy Serious Party recognises that the success or failure of all medicine is largely dependant on the patients belief in it, rather than the amount of money spent. Thus a variety of medical practitioners will be available to work with the multiplicity of belief systems that will proliferate in our medieval paradise. In addition to the G.P.s, surgeons, homoeopathic healers, acupuncturists, naturopaths, psychotherapists, dietitians, etc. that already abound, New Zealanders will enjoy the services of witch doctors, faith healers, travelling quacks and other more traditional members of the medical profession.
Each clan will then become responsible for the good health of its people. This system of user prays, combined with healthier, stress free lifestyles, the adoption of appropriate natural medicine, an ample and varied food supply and the removal of death causing technologies such as motor cars will mean that, contrary to initial impressions, the Great Leap Backwards will, in the long term, increase the life expectancy of New Zealanders. A final important consideration is that in a Clan based society, free of modern busy lives, there will be plenty of time for care of the old, ill, and disabled by their extended families. This will certainly be the ultimate form of commumty care and being sick will once again become fun.
Building or buying your own house has become far too expensive in New Zealand, and now that the government has stopped providing them cheaply for the poor, we have a rapidly worsening housing crisis with many people now homeless. This is just too cruel.
This will never again happen in this country under McGillicuddy Serious Government. During the GREAT LEAP BACKWARDS, the Peasant Employment Programs (PEP) workers will erect a medieval hovel for absolutely everyone, depending on their needs, their choice of approved styles, and the location of their Clan. To assist total home ownership, we will nationalise all foreign-owned Plantation Forests (eg. Kaiangaroa) and give the trees away free to New Zealand citizens (1). After we’ve provided a roof over everyone’s head all repairs and subsequent construction become the responsibility of the Clan. Clan members will have either taken part in the massive reconstruction or will have been trained up separately through a work skills development scheme; MACCESS (or Medieval Access). It will be their responsibility to pass on their knowledge to future generations, to ensure there is never again a housing shortage (see EDUCATION).
The total relaxing of all building codes, particularly the finicky annoying ones that presently stop most people from putting up their own houses will greatly encourage this building boom. The real point of modem building codes is not so much to make houses safe but to prevent rip-off-artists selling dodgy dangerous dwellings to dimwits. As houses will no longer be a saleable commodity under a Clan based subsistence lifestyle, this ceases to be a concern(3). If people want to build a house that crashes down on their loved ones heads, that’s entirely up to them.
(1) Every man, woman and child will receive approximately 72 full-sized logs each.
(2) Following the introduction of the new calendar system.
(3) see MAORITANGA
The Business Round Table, and other commercial interests in New Zealand are constantly proposing that our population be increased through immigration. The figure of Five Million by the year 2020 has been suggested in order to both stimulate the domestic economy, and for New Zealand to become a significant player in the world market. The only reason why the Round Table and their mates advocate this is so they can make even more money at our expense. The McGillicuddy Serious Party strongly disagrees with population increase.
Ethic Cleansing
It is essential for New Zealand to reduce it’s population in order to minimalise our detrimental effect on the ENVIRONMENT, to reduce pressure on resources, and to reduce social pressures. The figure we have identified to quickly and effectively achieve this end is Two Million by the year 2002.
The McGillicuddy Serious Party (1) predicts a huge number of people (those that enjoy making heaps of money and/or being miserable), shortly after our election victory, will opt out of the marvellous utopian society we intend to build here, and flee for other shores completely of their own free will, and good riddance to the lot of them.
This exodus is to be encouraged, as there will be hoards of good people from all around the world wishing to join us in this great adventure (2). We will, however, let only a very few of them in. Our projections reveal an immediate need for people with a genuine skill in certain medieval professions to teach the TOPs (Training Other Peasants) classes. The department will set up a fiendishly complex points system where applicants will be tested on, amongst other things, their sense of fun, their suspicion and/or ignorance of modern things and their ability to live without electricity and money. We will ensure New Zealand gets a consistently high calibre of new immigrants all willing and able to fit in and do their bit.
(1) demographic department
(2) That is until our new External Ignorance Bureau, under the DEPARTMENT OF IGNORANCE, can erase “New Zealand” from the worlds memory.
The current industrial and technological skills fashionable in our society will be useless after the Great Leap Backwards. There will be an immediate need for essential low technology experts in New Zealand. Some of the skills the immigration department will be looking for are:
* Blacksmiths
* Cartwnghts
* Coopers
* Mad Prophets
* Thatchers
* Stonemasons
* Midwives
* Nightsoil Carters
*Travelling Quacks
* Tinkers
* Plague Cart Operators
* Chimney Sweeps
* Bellows operators
* Jesters
* Shamans (no new age weirdoes thank you)
* Village Idiots
* Bamboo Engmeers.
* Mad Scientists
After the GREAT LEAP BACKWARDS (C) much of what in New Zealand is presently labelled “criminal behaviour” will become respectable occupations; (eg. Drug dealing, dodgy building, quackery, soliciting for prostitution, treasonous rival claims to the throne). Other crimes will simply become impossible to commit; eg. Fraud, tax evasion and traffic misdemeanours (due to the abolition of money and the outlawing of the motor car.). Similarly, home invasion and burglary, while not exactly impossible, are highly unlikely to occur (due to the absence of fancy consumer goods (see ECONOMY) This will massively reduce police workloads (1).
For those few remaining crimes, all matters of Law and Order will be taken care of within the Clans, as administrated by the Chief and Clan Elders. Because of the stable nature of the new medieval society, the happy and satisfying lifestyle busily being pursued by everyone, and the way in which Clans tend to act as the most effective Community Support and Community Watch groups in the history of the world, it is anticipated that Crime will plummet to an all time low.
The role of any justice system when dealing with crime is a threefold one; to deter those who might commit an offence, to punish those who do, and to change their behaviour so they don’t do it again. Public ridicule within the Clan, as orchestrated by the Clan Chief, Elders, and other humiliation experts achieves all three. Beyond this, the ultimate punishment imaginable will be banishment from your Clan forever.
The McGillicuddy Serious Government will reinstate the old system of Prison Ships. However, unlike their predecessors, they will not be old decommissioned hulks lying permanently moored in various harbours. Once full, they will slowly sail offshore to secretly discharge their cargo in the disputed lands of Antarctica.
(1) down to nothing... .goodbye policeforce.
(2) A Kakapo in every pot and a manifesto in every garage.
The Clan McGillicuddy has long been impressed and encouraged by the example of Maori Marae life. Tribal Maori culture will fit easily into the Great Leap Backwards, thus enabling most Maori to make an almost immediate transition to the magnificent medieval McGillicuddy paradise. Also, the highly developed Maori sense of fun makes them even better candidates for McGillicuddy Serious doctrine.
The McGillicuddy Serious Party has by far the best land-rights settlement policy of any Party. We propose to return many millions of acres to the Tangata Whenua. This will not be all of the land of Aotearoa of course, as some will have to be given to other tribes, and the new clans that arise from the Ministzy of Clan Planning’s monumental efforts.
Due to the abolition of money, there will however be no monetary compensation whatsoever for anyone in these settlements, but it is safe to say that more land will be returned under McGillicuddy rule, than would be under all the other parties put together.
Throughout this vigorous and surprisingly rapid compulsory land acquisition and redistribution process, Pakeha farmers will have nothing to fear. They will be adequately compensated for the loss of their land with many good axes, and fluffy woollen blankets, items which will be highly sought after following the Great Leap Backwards.
It appears that under the present Treaty of Waitangi, it may be illegal for the McGillicuddy Serious Government to abolish parliament. So Maori will first have to ditch their pakeha-style bureaucrats, businesspeople and other professionals, who out of greed and selfishness are attempting to drag Maoridom down the western road and who might appeal to the Waitangi Tribunal to stop the abolition of parliament. To help traditional Maori silence the “Brown Table”, the McGillicuddy Serious Party will bribe them with bits of redundant Auckland City Real-estate, and other useless 20th Century trinkets.
New Versions of the Treaty will be written and signed by all the Tribes and Clans, with Bonnie Prince Geoffie at Waitangi, so the nations founding document will continue to be Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The new version will emphasise fun, tribalism, Tino Rangatiratanga and adherence to the principals of pre-industrial technology, and total isolationism. The new ECONOMY will be included, defining methods of trading (ie all consumables can be bartered, but longer lived items (such as HOUSING, clothing, carvings, paintings, furniture) can only be given away.)
Any person or tribe not willing to sign the new treaty, will be given 6 months to pack up and clear out (see APPLICATION TO BECOME AN AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN).
Maori outside the iwi structure will need to go through the same exciting process as most pakeha, ie club together into new/different Clans (see CLAN PLANNING). The Urban Maori Authorities are already a big step in this direction.
Full Employment can never be achieved in modem society, no matter how often politicians say otherwise. As machines become bigger and faster they will continue to replace human beings in the workplace. There is only one way to create jobs for everyone and that is to change the way people work, and to do this, we will have to sack everybody first.
The entire country will become unemployed the moment our election victory is announced. Don’t expect to be able to “sleep in” and watch afternoon television for the rest of your lives though, for there is much to do.
The present government’s heavily-promoted Work For The Dole Scheme is proving to be a complete flop, and desperately needs a major revamp. We will, therefore, cut the “Dole” part right out (see “Abolition of Money” in ECONOMY). and make it Work for Free.
Big jobs like ploughing up motorways, knocking down all those ugly modern buildings and replacing them with lovely medieval substitutes will keep people busy for some years. We will bring back the PEP schemes (Peasant Employment Programme) to oversee this massive under taking.
In their spare time, people will be given all sorts of handy Medieval skills in TOPS (Training Other Peasants; see EDUCATION) classes, preparing them for after the GREAT LEAP BACKWARDS©. Clans will operate as groups of subsistence crafts-people, and will need to ensure that their members, between them, have the complete range of skills needed for the Clan’s physical and mental survival. All work will be clan work.
Recreation and occupation become the same thing
The definition of “work” will come to include almost everything people do. It will be like a cross between a hobby, a game and a religious ceremony. Everyone will be able to see just how valuable their contribution is to their immediate friends and neighbours, and at last, will feel good about it, even on Mondays!
The pestering possibility that the blissfully naive population could get seduced by the decadent ways of the outside world prompted The McGillicuddy Serious Party to promise the establishment of the Department of Ignorance. It will ensure that the outside world cannot intervene to prevent our Glorious
GREAT LEAP BACKWARDS(C)
The Department will use unemployed teachers, not as disseminators of information, but rather as destroyers of information. Their job will be the ongoing elimination of all nonapproved, nasty modern items that might upset the happily ignorant masses.
The intrusion of incomprehensibly modern things from the outside world must be kept to a minimum as we strive for a culturally rich, static and enjoyable pre-industrial society (see TRIBALISM). If, for example, a bit of space junk came plummeting out of the sky and landed in the middle of National Park, a Security of Ignorance Service (SIS) team would have to nip out there pretty smartly and destroy it before anybody got upset. The SIS will have members in every Clan and, initially, will not be unlike a shy, plain-clothed Fire Service. But as the generations pass and the agents themselves have less and less idea why it is that they have to do these things, it will become more like some weird secret society, such as the Freemasons or Ministry of Works.
The other key Organisation in the Department will be the External Ignorance Bureau (EIB) which will be charged with the crucial task of protecting the country from invasion (both military and touristy). Currently most people in the world don’t really know where New Zealand is. EIB staff will encourage this happy situation, by putting about the rumour and producing “scientific evidence” that New Zealand never existed, and distributing maps that “accidentally” leave New Zealand off the bottom right hand corner. No one will even visit, let alone invade. It worked for Atlantis, it can work for us too. (see DEFENCE)
Commercial fisheries cannot control themselves. Without regulation, and driven by the dollar, they mercilessly plunder the ocean turning it into a watery desert. A McGillicuddy Serious Government will change the way we catch fish, returning to simpler, less destructive methods.
The present quota system, intended to preserve the recreational and commercial fisheries for future generations was so poorly designed that the exact opposite is happening. Our marine resources continue to be plundered at an unsustainable rate, and the “right to fish commercially” has in itself become a tradeable commodity.
Those who own, and lease-out their Quota are raking in the cash, while the brave men and women who risk their lives on the sea hardly make a living.
The McGillicuddy Serious Government will remedy this blunder beginning with a cunning and simple two step plan.
Force the sale of all existing quota to foreign investors (At current prices, this should net billions of dollars. This may be used to pay off national debt
(see ECONOMY)).
Once the last kilo of quota has been flogged off, immediately reduce the Total Allowable Catch for all species, in all areas to NIL, thus putting a stop to all large scale pillaging of our marine resources. Quota holders will be furious, but the fish will be very happy.
Under present systems, the daily catch limits for recreational fishers are set at absurdly low levels, and recreational fishers are not allowed to trade, sell or exchange their catch. Once the McGillicuddy Serious Party has axed commercial fishing entirely, we will make substantial increases to the present Recreational Catch Levels, and also allow fishers to exchange their catch for sand (see REDUCING LUNAR SAND STANDARD) or barter for other food and consumables. With no convenient means of exchange, it is not expected that recreational overfishing will ever occur. Eventually, the setting of sustainable catch limits will be set by the Clan.
Today’s commercial fishing has caused a shocking decline in our fish stocks. After the Great Leap Backwards the combination of falling population pressures, a lack of commercial fishing and high-technology fishing equipment, fish stocks will return to the levels they were before Jesus became a fisheries consultant (Luke 5: 1-9).
Marine Transport and Safety Standards
The McGillicuddy Serious Party is alarmed at the increasing numbers of steel, aluminium, concrete and fibreglass boats in Aotearoa, and the consequent decline of the traditional wooden boat building industry. Every child knows that steel, aluminium, concrete and glass do not float, but that wood does, therefore boats should be built out of wood. The Party will scuttle all boats not made of wood to form artificial reefs to encourage the re-emergence of overfished reef species.
In line with McGillicuddy policy to do away with the internal combustion engine (see ECONOMY), all boats will be sail, paddle or treadmill powered. Crews will be motivated with the chanting of waiata and the singing of quaint sea shanties.
These policies have (allegedly) been sold to whichever party would pay in a shameless pre-election fund raising drive. We take no responsibility for how they may be implemented.
Privatisation of fisheries (ACT party).
All current fish will be tagged and numbered. Ownership of individual fish will be transferred from Quota holders to private individuals, thus ensuring a genuine free-market in fishing. When a tagged fish is caught the fisher may enter into a negotiation process with the owner to either settle a sale price, pay the fisher for the costs of catching the fish and transporting it to the owner for consumption, or for the release of the fish unharmed should the owner insist on this. Should the fish suffer damage while in the care of the fisher, the owner may seek redress through the courts.
Newborn, untagged fish will be assigned to owners in turn as they are caught according to a register of citizens kept for each species. In order to maintain a free-market owners will not be allowed to transfer the ownership of fish to anyone other than the fish themselves, in which case negotiations will take place directly between the fish and the fisher. Police numbers will be massively increased to prevent fishers negotiating contracts with fish kept under duress, or failing to report the catching of fish to owners.
Financial Advice On Surviving the millennial bug (NZ First Party).
In order to crisis proof your savings from the technological collapse that the Y2K bug will bring, draw all of your money out of the bank now (if you leave it till December, the Banks won’t have enough money left to give you). Also, sell all your assets and buy gold bullion. In the last week of December, sell the gold (at massively inflated prices as everyone tries to safeguard their savings in this way) and purchase a generator, a tanker of fuel, a large secure coolstore, and mountains of good quality chocolate biscuits. For the next few months you will have the only supply of freely convertible chocolate biscuits, which will be an increasingly desirable commodity, and for which people will be prepared to pay or do almost anything.(1)
Artistic licence (Labour Party).
Artists can draw the artistic benefit, the amount of which is three times the unemployment benefit. The artist will not be hassled on to a work scheme, so long as they produce one piece of work per year (allowances will be made for artistic blocks).
Education (National Party).
A minimum of three teachers per classroom. Two are for restraining the pupils, the other is for teaching.
Realistic school mottos like “work is heck” and “Life is short, be careful”.
Because teaching is 90% entertainment, and 10% knowledge, teachers will be trained as entertainers. They will need a minimum one year of busking experience after obtaining their degree before qualifying.
Environment (Future New Zealand).
There has been too much talk about animal rights and not enough about animal responsibilities. The continued destruction of the native forest by introduced animals in totally unacceptable. Any species found damaging native flora will be given long jail sentences. If they reoffend, then they will be deported back to where they came from.
(1) Don’t tell anyone else about this. The success of this scheme relies on you being the only one.
Modern society, the supposed remedy for humanities ills, is instead causing painful social breakdown. Other political parties talk a lot about solving unemployment, crime, poverty, pollution, housing shortages, etc but if they knew how, then surely they would have succeeded by now. Instead society just keeps getting worse. It is clear Politicians, democracy and technology can’t fix these problems because they are all interrelated and part and parcel of modern society.
The solution is obvious to anyone who stops for a moment to think about it. Things were much better in the good old days. The McGillicuddy Serious Party will bring back these days. If the future looks that bleak we should simply avoid it. The Great Leap Backwards involves redeveloping the entire country, in every way, along medieval lines. As Aotearoa becomes increasingly old fashioned more and more of our present social ills will, necessarily, cease to exist.
In the short term, people will be trained in appropriate old fashioned occupations and the massive reconstruction will ensure full employment for some years. Settlements will change their appearance and size, becoming medieval in style. Many towns and cities will probably disappear altogether, to be replaced by vast numbers of tiny villages dotted across the country side. Castles, shrines, pa, village greens, marae, henges etc.. all these will become common sights across the country.
The tribal or clan system will become the basic unit of organisation both socially and politically. The modern nuclear and sub nuclear family, the cause of many of our social ills, will be replaced by the extended family, and the clan and community involvement will play an increasingly important role in everyone’s lives.
SPOT THE DIFFERENCES
There are Ten changes in the picture on the right.
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(1) We can then sue the promoters of World War I “the war to end all wars,” for false advertising.
Bye bye mean and nasty cities....
Total Decentralisation
In line with ancient practises most areas will become fairly cut off from one another, localised and highly individualistic, developing a very definite regional character of their own, and becoming largely self governing. Local Body Government as we know it will be done away with, and all such matters will become the concern of the Clan Elders. Unlike the Lords of the feudal system, the Clan Elders status is due to their mana within the Clan, not their position through wealth, landlord or employer. The selection, duration of office, disposal and extent of their powers will be up to each Clan to determine. The elders will be the people with their fingers on the pulse of the Clan’s desires.
Do not be fooled into believing that returning to the distant past will naturally make life nasty, brutish and short. This is not a reenactment of medieval Europe, but a regression with hindsight. Through the Great Leap Backwards, New Zealand will change its emphasis from a confusingly technological, empty, and relatively unhappy money-grubbing lifestyle to a culturally rich tribal society. It will result in a much more meaningful, fun and hence more enjoyable life for all New Zealanders.
Culture: the ideas, customs and art produced and shared by a particular society. It is almost a necessary outcome when people congregate together. Yet, when we look at present day New Zealand, what we call culture is rather empty and vacuous.
Most of the original Pakeha settlers from Britain, particularly the Scots and the Welsh, ar
rived in Aotearoa with their culture in tatters (see JACOBITISM). They continued to copy some of the behaviour of the parent culture, but developed their own quaint interests and ways of doing things eg. “rugby, racing and beer”, the Edmond’s Cookbook, Buzzy Bee (now made in China), etc. “Kiwiana” could have been the beginnings of a true Pakeha culture in the 50’s and 60’s. Whether these concepts constituted ‘culture’ or not, is debatable, but even they have been swamped by market driven, consumerist, US corporate ideology, which reduces culture to a commodity and the population to a spectator.
The Maori, too, have had their strong culture weakened to a shadow of its former vibrancy. First by military invasion, then land acquisition and individual property ownership, then finally urbanisation and the bop, burgers and baseball caps of the current American monster. All this has left Maori and Pakeha in much the same boat.
The McGillicuddy Serious Party wants to revitalise culture in New Zealand. The best way to do this is to encourage all peoples to readopt the Clan or tribal system, which will again be the basic unit of social organisation.
Clan McGillicuddy provides a blueprint for other emerging Clans to create their own culture and mythos. Clan McGillicuddy is a fanatically Scottish movement loosely based on traditional highland culture. Also included are aspects from wider Celtic traditions with layer upon layer of fun and a strong sense of absurdity. Scots, despite compromising the largest ethnic group in New Zealand, have no living culture. The Highland Clearances and the Anglicisation of the original Scottish Culture over the centuries has all but eradicated it. Many see the Scots culture as being dour, puritanical and sexist. Clan McGillicuddy is here to prod and tickle it back into shape.
The Clan or Tribe is the most successful social structure for nurturing culture. Your position in the Clan and the emotional and physical security that this brings, coupled with the Clan’s role in education and health will mean that tribal identity will become the most important aspect in everyone’s lives. The Clan will develop and implement all laws, myths, art, medicine, legends, language and costume, as well as tuition in work -
and general life skills necessary for life in a medieval, Funist society. A Clan’s laws, myths and legends are vital for everyone to appreciate who they are and where they stand in the world. Without this you might as well be a robot.
In the course of revving up the clan system, some new clans may need to be created to act as ‘umbrella tribes’ for people who wish to club together but who are not presently related to one another. This poses no problem for the Scottish Clan system, as a Clan is any group of people who trace their ancestry from the same real or mythical figure. Coupled with the fact that clans may grow, not just through births but also by adoption, then it is easy to see how (with a bit of imagination) Clans can be created that fulfil all the usual requirements (see: CLAN PLANNING).
The Clan will organise all industries, most of which will be of a subsistence nature, that produce the things that the Clan needs. The training for these activities will ultimately be carried out by more experienced Clan members. During the transitional period of the GREAT LEAP BACKWARDS© the peasants will be taught by The McGillicuddy Serious Parties medieval training programs (see: EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT).
The establishment of each Clan’s irregular Pacifist Army will deal in a stylish way with any border disputes between Clans. They will also stage large scale and regular contests and pageants. The basis for this is already in existence throughout New Zealand. The McGillicuddy Highland Army has long been trained in the art of non-violent warfare and is able to conduct all menacing in a thoroughly delightful way. (see: DEFENCE).
People think that democracy is sacred, almost carved on stone and beyond question. Nobody questions whether democracy is a good idea or not. The range of political activity has narrowed to be simply a system of which idiot we choose, missing the all important choice of whether we want to be ruled by idiots at all. This misunderstanding arose because existing alternatives seemed worse. That was before the appearance of the McGillicuddy Serious Party in 1984.
The great catch-cry of enthusiasts for democracy is that it gives everyone in society a say. This misconception is clung to fiercely in spite of the fact that peoples “say” only consists of marking a voting paper once every three years. Even proponents of democracy should find offence at this. Instead of citizen involvement we have nothing more than a hoax designed to shut us up. Instead of people exercising their democratic rights, we have a parliament where the members of the party in power invariably all vote the same way. This is not representation. Politicians are in a position to do anything they jolly well please, oblivious to the wishes of those who put them there (although if they wish to stay in power, they will take pains to appear to be acting in the public interest).
People are often grizzling about their MP or favourite party failing to cater to their needs. This lack of representation, a serious fault, is at least easy to recognise. More dangerous and of much more concern to the McGillicuddy Serious Party is the way in which elections encourage deceit, greed and others of the more despicable human attributes. Members of parliament are elected not necessarily on their ability to govern, but on their ability to create the impression that they can do so.
In order to outdo their competitors, every candidate needs to become a highly skilled conartist, if not an outright liar in their 3 yearly exercise in self-glorification and one-upmanship. At the end of any election chances are that the people of Aotearoa will have more or less blindly chosen a parliament full of rogues and scoundrels. Another major factor in any candidate’s success is the amount of money that they have to spend on publicity. This stinks...
The regular massive publicity drive and the ongoing petty backbiting in parliament and via the media is an appalling waste of everybody’s time and energy. As it stands, an MP’s first concern is staying in power. Second is financial self interest and doing well out of the position. Coming in a miserable third is the actual governing of the country.
The arguments between Democracy and Monarchy fall into three broad categories: Honesty, Efficiency, and Style.
Funism is the maximum amount of fun for the maximum number of people. A Funist Society is one in which everyone has the most fun possible. This is the basis of all the Policies of the McGillicuddy Serious Party.
All political ideologies claim to be trying to make life more pleasurable. But you only have to look at their record to see how strikingly badly most of them have failed. Political doctrines have, so far, led us to misery, poverty and genocide.
With the collapse of Communism, many people think this has proved that Capitalism is therfore the best form of society. Actually, the only difference between the two, is the degree of the disaster. Most people living under capitalism, especially those in the third world, are thoroughly unhappy. Even those regarded as “successful” under capitalism, are often miserable. They just get to be miserable in comfort. Such suckers have fallen for the capitalist slogan “happiness is just another .......(1) away.”
People have been practising Funism in their spare time since the first amoeba learned to square dance, but it wasn’t introduced to the world of conventional politics until Karl Marx’s son in law, Paul La Fargue published his ground breaking essay The Right to be Lazy.
After years of creative research, a form of Medieval Tribal society has been scientifically proven to be the most fun. Medieval because low levels of technology will mean that people will spend more time enjoying each others company, both in work and play, and will live in a much healthier environment - healthier for themselves and the planet. Tribal because a society made up of many and varied tribes allows every individual to find their own place in the world and gives them the security of being a valued member of a caring community. Conditions for the pursuit of fun are maximised so everyone can have an inherently enjoyable lifestyle.
Working towards a Funist Society is neither a stupid nor childish activity. It is the most important and sensible of all human endeavours, and the McGillicuddy Serious Party is the first party in the history of the world to elevate it to the status of a fully-fledged political doctrine. The means for achieving this goal must also be Funist. The McGillicuddy Serious Party make use of satire, slapstick and ridicule, stupidity and jocular performance in their pursuit of power, despite the widely held view that such activities are not really politics.
(1) Insert the name of your favourite luxury item.
The Reducing Lunar Sand Standard
New economic formulae
The McGillicuddy Serious Party will establish a new method of fixing the value of the means of exchange, It is the “Reducing Lunar Sand Standard.” It works as follows. At the new moon, the value of the means of exchange is pegged at the weight of the monarch in sand, ie. the citizens can either pay for goods, services, rent etc. with cash, or the approximate 60-70 kg of sand (or similar, eg. gravel, small rocks, river pebbles or silt etc). Daily, this standard is halved; that is, the next day 30-35 kg of sand will buy you a dollar’s worth of goods etc.
This process of halving continues for a lunar month whence the standard is set again at the Monarch’s new weight and the process repeats. The responsibility of the Reserve Bank will be exchanging money for sand at ‘up to date’ rates.
Credit
It is the right of every person to put things on tick and pay at the end of the month when sand is worth more.
Conclusion
Since by the end of the lunar month the means of exchange will be worth approximately 0.6 milligrams of sand, the citizenry will be able to pay goods and services without having to lug enormous amounts of sand around.
Conversely, if you felt like annoying someone, there is the opportunity to dump mountains of the stuff at their feet for the purchase of minor and unnecessary goods. Finally it is hoped that by the time there is an extremely fat Monarch the ridiculousness of exchanging sand for the necessities of life will have sunk in and the practise will have fallen into disuse.
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ANSWERS TO SPOT THE DIFFERENCES
1 No window on far left hut. 2 Track, near gate. 3 One less apple in top tree. 4 One less flag on castle. 5 One less bird. 6 One less tree in top of forest. 7 Extra sock on Scotsman 8 Longer point on sign. 9 Horse has no front hoof. 10 No axle stub on front wheel.
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Credits
The 1999 McGillicuddy Manifesto was written by Graeme, Greg, Sam, KT, Droid, Bernard in Tongariro National Park, early April 1999. Art by Bryce(4, 18, 19, 20), Droid (pop-up, p29), Heidi (p7), Sam (cover, 6, 18, 22, 23, 27, 30, 31, 32). Additional images sourced by Anna, Greg. Again, this is a revision of the 1987, 1990, 1993, and 1996 manifesti so thanks to all whose ideas have added to the McGillicuddy ideology and mythos. Special thanks to Diane and Ron, Pip, and Jazz Blues Concept Bar Hamilton. Edited by Greg, Graeme, Paull and Jo. Published by Och-A-Non Publishing Empire Inc. Printed by John Walker Printers.
Recipe
BlackBun
Black Bun is a rich and delicious fruit cake formerly eaten on twelfth Night, but nowadays served at Hogmanay. (New years eve). It should be made several weeks before it is wanted, like a Christmas cake, so that it can mature.
FOR THE CASING
8 oz. (2 cups) flour 1 beaten egg for finishing A little cold water
4 oz ( 1/2 cup) butter 1/2 tsp baking powder
TO MAKE THE CASING
Rub the butter into the flour, add baking powder and mix to a stiff paste with water (about 4 tbsp). Put on to a floured board, and roll out to a thin sheet. Grease a loaf tin 8 in. by 4 in. and line with the pastry, keeping back enough for the lid.
FOR THE FILLING
2 lb seedless raisins 1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 lb currants ¼ tsp black pepper
1/2 lb chopped blanched almonds 1 flat tsp cream of tartar
¾ lb (3 cups, scant) flour 1 flat tsp baking powder
1/2 lb (1 cup) sugar 1 tbsp brandy
2 tsp Jamacia pepper (allspice) 1/4 pint ( 1/2 cup) milk
1 tsp ground ginger
TO PREPARE THE FILLING
Mix all the filling ingredients together except the milk. Then add just enough milk to moisten the mixture. Put it into the lined tin and put the pastry lid on top, damping the edges well to make it stick. Prick all over with a fork, and with a thin skewer make four holes right down to the bottom of the cake, brush with beaten egg and cook in a slow (225°F) oven for about 3 hours. It will keep for a year in a airtight container.
Further Reading
The first McGillicuddy Manifesti were written largely free of direct outside influence. Since then members have been exposed to a number of authors working in the fields of Deep ecology, Permaculture, Utopianism, Sociology, Anthropology, and Anarchism, to name but a few. What follows is a recommended further reading list of these works as well as other relevant material in the fields of Scottish history and culture, Absurdist politics and propaganda and street performance. We hope this will help those interested in exploring the very real possibility of a Great Leap Backwards.
(Where more than one title by an author is relevant we have listed the most appropriate).
BETTELHEIM, Bruno; The children of the dream, Paladin. Britain, 1969
BELICH, James; I Shall Not Die
BLACK, Bob: The Abolition of work, Och-A-Non, New Zealand, 1991
BRAHMA, Earnest: Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat
BUCHANAN, Sam: The Transmogrification of Everyday Life, Och-A-Non, NZ, 1993
CARROLL, Lewis; Alice in Wonderland
CARTER, Forest; The Education of Little Tree
COULT, Tony (ed); Engineers of the Imagination, Methuen, Britain, 1983,1990
de MONTALK, Count Geoffrey Potocki, Kahore, Kahore!: Which is what the chieftains said when the pakehas wanted to buy Remuera.
DPRK; Bestial Atrocities of Military Fascist Clique in South Korea, Govt. of North Korea, 1980
FLANNERY, Tim; The Future Eaters
FUKUOKA, Matsuoka: The One Straw Revolution
GOLDSMITH, Edward; The Great U-Turn: De-Industrialising Society, Green Books, Britain, 1988
GOSKINNY and UDERZO; Asterix Series
GRAHAM, Winston; Poldark Series
GRAIL, Marcus: Lipstick Traces: The Secret History of the Twentieth Century
HENRI, Adrian; Environments and Happenings, Thames and Hudson, 1974
HOFFMAN, Abbie; Revolution for the Hell of It.
HOME, Stewart; Assault on Culture
HUXLEY, Aldous: Island, Penguin, Britain, 1962
JANSSON, Tove; Finn Family Moomintroll
JUENGER, Fredrich; The Failure of Technology. Gateway, U.S.A., 1949
LIONNI, Leo; Parallel Botany
MAYBERRY-LEWIS, David; Millennium: Tribal Wisdom in the Modern World, Viking Penguin, USA, 1992
MCGILLICUDDY, Clan; Th ‘Noo, No.s 1-13. Och-A-Non, New Zealand.
MCGILLICUDDY SERIOUS PARTY; Manifesto 1987,1990,1993,1996. Och-A-Non, New Zealand.
MCLUHAN, Marshall; The Medium is the Message, Bantam, USA, 1967
MASON, Bim; Street Theatre and Other Outdoor Performance, Routledge, Britain. 1992
MANTAK, Chia; Taoist Secrets of Love
MOLLISON, Bill; Permaculture Designers Manual, Tagari, Australia, 1990
NEVILLE, Richard; Playpower, Paladin, Britain, 1970
OAKLEY, Graham; Henry’s Quest,. Britain. 1986
PARK, Geoff; The Nga Uruora
PLEASURE TENDANCY, The; Thesis against Cynicism
PREBBLE, John: Culloden, Penguin, Britain, 1961
RALSTON SAUl., John; The Doubters Companion, Penguin, Canada, 1995.
ReSEARCH; Pranks, Research, USA, 1987
ROBBINS Tom; Jitterbug Perfume
SHAKESPEARE, William; Macbeth
SHAWCROSS, William; The Year Zero
SITUATIONALIST INTERNATIONAL; Revolutionary Self-Theory
SWIFT, Jonathon: A Modest Proposal, circa 1723
WALKER, Ranganui; Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou
WORSLEY, Peter; The Trumpet Shall Sound, Paladin, Britain. 1957
McGSP 1999 Manifesto Contents