Fighting Like Kilkeny Cats

By Andrew Crowley, Rock The Vote NZ Party Leader

During the late 1700s, English soldiers stationed in the Irish town of Kilkenny supposedly amused themselves by tying two cats together by their tails and hanging them over a clothesline to watch them fight. To avoid getting in trouble when an officer approached, one soldier quickly cut the tails off with a sword. When the officer arrived and asked what had happened, he was shown only the two severed tails—the cats themselves had vanished. The officer was told the cats had fought so viciously that they had devoured each other, leaving nothing but the tails.

The Kilkenny Cats Metaphor in NZ Politics

The tale of the Kilkenny cats describes two cats who fought so ferociously that they destroyed each other, leaving nothing behind. It’s a metaphor for self-destructive conflict—where both sides are so consumed by winning that they lose sight of the bigger picture.

In the context of divisive New Zealand politics, the Kilkenny cats represent:

• Partisan trench warfare: Parties locked in zero-sum battles, more focused on defeating opponents than solving problems.

• Polarisation of citizens: Communities split into camps, each convinced the other is illegitimate.

• Erosion of trust: Institutions and leaders seen as combatants rather than guardians of public good.

This dynamic risks leaving New Zealanders with “nothing left”—a hollow democracy where energy is spent on conflict rather than progress

Rock The Vote NZ & Liberty Principles

Rock The Vote NZ emphasizes individual sovereignty, civic empowerment, and liberty. Applying these principles offers a way out of the Kilkenny cats trap:

1. Reframing Politics Around Liberty

• Shift discourse from party vs. party to citizen vs. disengagement.

• Liberty means ensuring every voice counts, not just the loudest or most entrenched.

• Encourage participation by reframing politics as a tool for empowerment, not division.

2. Accessible Language & Civic Education

• Replace jargon and adversarial rhetoric with clear, inclusive communication.

• Use storytelling, visuals, and metaphors (like the Kilkenny cats) to make politics relatable.

• Empower disengaged citizens by showing how liberty protects their everyday choices.

3. Institutional Transparency & Consent

• Liberty requires informed consent: citizens must understand how decisions are made.

• Push for open government practices—clear budgets, transparent policy processes, accessible data.

• This reduces suspicion and weakens the fuel for polarisation.

4. Civic Collaboration Over Combat

• Promote forums where citizens and leaders co-create solutions rather than fight over ideology.

• Liberty thrives when individuals can act together voluntarily, not under coercion.

• Encourage local initiatives that bypass partisan bottlenecks and show practical empowerment.

5. Guardrails Against Self-Destruction

• Just as the Kilkenny cats annihilated each other, unchecked political conflict can erode democracy.

• Rock The Vote NZ can champion constitutional and procedural safeguards that prevent majoritarian overreach.

• Liberty is not chaos—it’s structured freedom with protections for minority voices.

Closing Thought

The Kilkenny cats remind us that politics without liberty becomes self-destruction. Rock The Vote NZ’s mission is to reframe that fight—not as cats tearing each other apart, but as citizens reclaiming their sovereignty. By grounding solutions in liberty, New Zealand can move from destructive division to constructive empowerment.