New politics in 2024?

The election results are still reverberating. It was just a month ago that we didn't know what we were seeing when the results of the exit poll appeared on the screen. Not much later we got to witness Frans Timmermans' Greek tragedy in a hall in Amsterdam, surrounded by GL-PvdA fans. They had to hold each other, he told his audience. Something terrible had apparently happened. War in Ukraine? Gaza? Climate? Poverty in the Netherlands? No, the election results. Once again, I didn't understand a thing.

Democracy, media, and Europe in perspective
It dawned on me when the following day spontaneous demonstrations by GL-PvdA supporters were held in Utrecht and Amsterdam. By the way, two of the few cities where they are still the largest electorally. Where else than in these leftist strongholds do people take to the streets to demonstrate. But against what or for what? It was about democracy, which would be in danger. Aha, now it begins to dawn on me. If the right wins, democracy is in danger, according to the left. That confirms my earlier assertion that democracy is the property of the left. The right should stay away from it.

The same applies more or less to the media. They are supposed to propagate leftist ideas. That became fatal to Op1. The daily NPO talk show has to stop because they are being blamed for the success of the PVV. They have been too right-wing in their reporting. No whining by the way from these journalists, no demonstrations. They don't have to, these people will find work everywhere again. After all, they are top-notch. I'm going to miss them.

Even Europe was under the spell of the Dutch election results. Yes, that leftist invention is now under fire, too. One of the first text messages under the exit poll was the congratulations of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. For hours, that message kept coming back. So was that so important? Or were we supposed to draw fear from this? Get the hell out of Europe, because things are going badly wrong here, the message seemed to be. That insinuates that things are now good in Europe. The wave of immigrants, which we haven't been able to control for years. The attitude toward Ukraine, escalating a border dispute. The questionable attitude in the Gaza conflict, the massive inflation. The successive crises that keep distracting us from a happy life.

A sober look for 2024
I don't think that much is going to change at all. There are still refugees coming in, Ter Apel continues to groan. If a right-wing cabinet is formed it will not mean that we will do nothing about the climate, that we will destroy nature, that intensive cattle breeding will grow explosively, that our children will have to sleep on the streets because there are no houses and that poverty will not be fought. The left needs to talk to itself and show respect for voters in the Netherlands, who want something different right now. Fortunately for them, there is a Christmas recess.

We are closing an eventful year and will surely face another eventful year. At least that is our perception. But just imagine living in Gaza or Eastern Ukraine or spending Christmas on the grass in Ter Apel. Then we have absolutely nothing to complain about.

Happy holidays and a happy and healthy 2024.