
NZ Flag Referendum – Pseudorandom Numbers in Legislation - polemic
http://notstatschat.tumblr.com/post/129692767316/
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Matsta
I think what people outside New Zealand don't realise is that not many Kiwi's
really give a damn about the new flag at all.

There's definitely a few people that voice their opinions about it, but the
majority of them don't really care.

I think regardless of what flag gets chosen, people will still use the old
flag and it will take literally years before flags get updated on websites, or
it will get completely ignored and we'll end up reverting back to our current
flag down the track.

Another thing to note, is that we don't have the same level of Patriotism that
America has. You don't see NZ flags wherever you go, maybe outside some
government buildings, but it is rare to see a flag in a residential area in
someone's front yard.

~~~
chris_overseas
Speaking as a NZer who's parents have a flag flying high outside their house
(rural, with B&B), I disagree. My parents love countries where the flag is
flown proudly - Canada being a great example where it's everywhere to be seen,
Bhutan even more so. But my parents don't feel the same, mostly because they
don't feel particularly patriotic about the current Kiwi flag. They partly fly
it because they wish there was some sort of patriotism associated with it and
they feel that flying it might help that, but partly just because it helps
guests find their house when they're staying at the B&B.

Given the NZ flag's Union Jack and very close resemblance to the Australian
flag I can understand why people don't feel too strongly about the current
state of affairs. There's nothing evocative, nothing that feels distinctive to
NZ. How many NZ flags do you see being waved at sporting events compared to
silver ferns and the like? Almost none. Based on that alone I think it's high
time we shrugged off the flag's colonial roots and changed it to something
that's uniquely NZ. It might take a while for people to adjust to the change
(after all, people generally don't like change), but in the long run people
will support it just because it's truly ours.

~~~
philliphaydon
I don't get the resemblance to the Australian flag because nz registered its
flag years before australia did. So technically the Australian flag
resemblabes our own.

Regardless as a kiwi I wish they would leave the damn flag alone. This is as
bad as wanting to give the north and south island official names. Instead of
just calling them the north and south island.

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sandworm101
Pseudorandom numbers to break a tied referendum? Talk about overthinking.
Nevada does it better. They literally draw cards from a deck. This has
happened as recently as 2002.

[http://napavalleyregister.com/news/candidates-draw-cards-
to-...](http://napavalleyregister.com/news/candidates-draw-cards-to-settle-a-
tie-vote-in-nevada/article_b7f98faa-65de-559f-bb38-149a46094981.html)

~~~
yitchelle
I was going to propose rocks, paper and scissors, best out of 15. But that can
be gamed [1].

[1] -
[https://www.google.de/search?q=winning+at+rocks,+papers+scis...](https://www.google.de/search?q=winning+at+rocks,+papers+scissors&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=uvgEVt6aDMW4UajAjsgC)

~~~
joneil
The first result suggests announcing your move, and following through,
gambling that most people think you are lying. In the last 10 years I've only
ever played scissors, and I usually tell people ahead of time, and I still win
about half the time.

