Starting A Political Party

How do we decide on a name for a major organisation like a bank or political party?

I once heard the comedian Steve Martin make a joke about how you had to call a bank something serious and stern like ‘Savings & Mutual Fund’ and couldn’t call it ‘Bob’s Bank’, but recent trends have proved him wrong. There is now a bank called ‘Me Bank’ and an insurance company called ‘Frank’.

Similarly political parties are usually called something like ‘Democrats’, presumably based in the ideal of democracy. Certainly all political party names seem to have some ideal they are framing and capturing with their name, however far from this ideal they may ultimately drift.

Amongst Australia’s major political parties, the ‘Greens’ party’s major aim is maintaining a green planet, or at least one that is able to sustain human life. Our current Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, recently gave a speech about how his party, the ‘Liberals’, are based in conservative values but are open to new ideas as well. (The ‘Liberals’ seem to be in favour of small government and a free economy market, with as little financial support provided to the community by government as possible.) As for ‘Labor’ well I’m not sure what they are in favour of today, but as they were founded in the Trade Union movement assume their policies support the working force, or labour, that keeps our nation going.

Below: Political symbols that represent the major American parties

So I was thinking if I were starting a political party (which seems to be happening a bit round our way lately) what would I call it. Something short, memorable and which captures the things I think a political party should be aiming to achieve. So here we go, these are the issues I believe our politicians should be providing leadership, protection, governance, guidance and consideration for our future as a nation and as a group of individuals.

Basically I think we’re a community for a reason and are therefore here to support each other, but we also need to feel valued and to be able to contribute appropriately to others and our own welfare. I believe we have an obligation to future generations to improve the world they inherit, if at all possible and therefore:

• We need to make provisions around climate change so future generations have a planet they can live on and enjoy
• Let’s make life as easy as possible for people in terms of the essentials like shelter, food, clothing, warmth and access to social needs
• Let’s treat everyone as if they have intrinsic worth and try to educate any who don’t feel this way

However I’m aware that all of the above is much harder to achieve than to talk about.

Below: A timeless, satirical comment on politics from Groucho Marx (https://www.zazzle.co.uk/politician+gifts)

Anyway I’m suggesting the following name for my political party ‘ Today for Tomorrow’ by which I mean let’s put in place today the steps we need for the world to become the place we would want to live in tomorrow.  To quote Style Council in ‘My Ever Changing Moods’ “The past is our knowledge, the present our mistake and the future we always leave too late”

I often wish world leaders; the rich, the powerful, those with any real influence on today’s major decisions believed, and I mean really believed, in reincarnation. Really believed in a reincarnation that meant they were coming back to inherit the consequences of their actions and not with any guarantees they would be in positions of power. How different their choices might be. How different our world could be.

 

Alison