There was a lot of greed in the warm air this week. Unhealthy lot. It came down to this, as usual: those who were not rich still wanted to become rich, preferably at the expense of others. And those who were already rich could not restrain themselves from becoming even richer.
If you want to get rich, you often have to start small. For example, I noticed that I was very annoyed – it could hardly be worse – at the fact that I could only buy my favorite razor blades at the drugstore in ridiculously expensive packages of 50 and 70 euros. Why, guys, I mumbled under my breath – I conveniently assumed that razor blades are made and bought by men only. 70 euros for a bunch of silly blades? Be happy that there are still men who don’t want to wear a beard because they already feel manly enough without a beard. Reward these hairless apes, don’t punish them with grotesque razor blade fares. In protest, I looked up some more Christian offers on the Internet – and soon with success.
I would not like to share this experience with the footballers Ronaldo, Benzema and Ziyech. They would surely burst into uncontrollable laughter.
Benzema is going to collect 200 million euros net in two years in Saudi Arabia, a kind of Afghanistan in terms of human rights. Ronaldo already earns that there every year. Interesting addition: Ronaldo was probably already a billionaire when he left for Saudi Arabia. Benzema has declared, hand on his religious heart, that he will also go because as a Muslim he will then live closer to Mecca. Would Allah believe that without suspicion?
Compared to them and, not to mention, the immeasurably wealthy Messi, Hakim Ziyech will, if it continues, become a low-income earner in Saudi Arabia with a salary of €13 million, just €7 million more than he made a year at Chelsea. After three failed British seasons, he finally squanders his great talent.
This inevitably brings me to the disappearance of the submarine Titan, in which three very wealthy people and two employees risked their lives for an expensive, useless submarine trip to the Titanic. Would life become hopelessly boring if you no longer have to work for your money?
The tricky thing about money is that, like power, it corrupts. You will end up with dirty hands if you are not careful. Sywert van Lienden and his associates can relate to this, although they prefer not to.
Recently we have a new ‘Sywert’. The Volkskrant (Frank Hendrickx) revealed that the young entrepreneur Sjoerd Fauser must have made a lot of money from million-dollar deals with the government for protective equipment during the pandemic. The difference with Van Lienden is that Fauser never suggested that he supplied ‘free’. But, like Van Lienden, he did benefit from good contacts in The Hague. His father is Bart Fauser, emeritus professor and partner of former PvdA minister Guusje ter Horst. She texted in favor of her stepson with former PvdA State Secretary Ella Kalsbeek, who then addressed her contacts at VWS. „Bluff and PvdA connections sufficient for corona deals”, headlined de Volkskrant.
Not pleasant for those involved and the PvdA. But that’s especially the case with money: everything has its price.
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of June 23, 2023.