The plundering of the Netherlands will continue

In general elections many month ago, the two political parties in power lost heavily. The conservatives lost 25% and the socialist a whopping 75% of their seats in parliament. This was what the electorate thought of the now outgoing Government. That had spent all its energy on “being responsible,” which means saving the economy in times of crisis, which actually means getting more money from the citizens and as little as possible from the rich, as the latter “are needed to restore the economy.”

Most socialist voters apparently did not think that this was the responsible thing to do and “punished” them on election day. Voters who had been tricked into believing that the conservatives are actually reasonable people seem also to have woken up to reality, taking their votes elsewhere. Of course the rich never doubted the value of the biggest party and those conservative voters stayed put.

One would think that these two parties with big losses would have retracted themselves into small corners to humbly lick their wounds and accept the verdict of the Dutch voters. Well, the socialist actually did that. However, the conservatives were not really defeated. They had big interests to defend, now the economy was doing much better and battered Dutch society needed to be rebuilt. Again, they recognized the “responsible” thing to do, to form a new coalition to “serve” the country (they mean the narrow interests of the wealthy) again. But how could they sell that, given their enormous loss at the polls? Not so difficult.

Firstly, opinion polls had predicted a neck-and-neck race between the conservatives and the ultra-right. Exit polls already showed that there never had been such a thing. The conservatives secured a big lead over the extremists. No party in parliament wanted to sit in government with the ultra-right, for several reasons. It’s not a real party (Wilders is its only member), and it can’t stop electioneering and speaking in demagogic untruths, and previously negotiating with the person of Wilders had proven to be a waste of time since he gains more votes by complaining and accusing than by taking responsibility.

So, the second-largest party was excluded from the coalition. It would be “unthinkable” to also exclude the largest party, no? True, they lost 10 seats, but they’re still the largest.

Much more reasonable would have been to seek a coalition between the Center, Left and Christian parties. Some of them had won big-time. So how did the conservatives block this? By claiming that the coalition should form a majority and not consist of more than four parties “to keep it workable.” Of course, this is as arbitrary as it gets. What’s wrong with an alliance of more parties? Works fine in Israel. The conservative mantra, adopted by almost all other parties, has been: four at most. Again, the Left is kept out of government.

Now, you might think that the Netherlands is a very liberal, free, left-leaning nation. Nation, yes, but government no. The socialists in the now outgoing government might have been the closest to power that they have been in decades. But the Left is heavily divided – and the Right not, because much money is at stake, and then you stay united.

If some of these successful Left-wing parties would unite, they could easily become the largest and dictate what Dutch society should look like. Not in the years to come, it seems.

Dutch society is quite social but that is the wish of the Right too. How so? It understood that if you rob the working class and the underclass from all you can, you’ll get social unrest, and that costs money. It is actually cheaper to give the unemployed and other social weak some funds. It will keep them quiet, less defeatist, and this money they spent immediately (too poor to save), helping the economy.

Similarly, it has figured out – different from US President Trump – that it’s no use to “save jobs” by ignoring climate change goals. Actually, going for zero greenhouse gasses will boost the economy with innovations, making the Dutch come out ahead of the pack – together with Israel. Automation is also no problem. The art is to create and educate for jobs that can’t be done by machines soon.

Negotiations for a new government in the Netherlands could drag on many more days, weeks or months, but without a miracle, the Right will stay in power – again. It’s a small but rich country, with a polite blooming democracy, and with many poor people nevertheless.

I don’t know if the Left, Center and Christian parties rather dance with the Right, if they are too establishment to go for Center-Left, or if they are actually fooled and their thinking is boxed in by the conservative narrative.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1