It is difficult to look back on the past year without sadness, and difficult not to become despondent about what the new year will bring. About Gaza, where there are no safe havens and human suffering is indescribably great. And that it seems an impossible task to find an answer to the question ‘if there is a ceasefire, what will happen next between Israel and the Palestinians?’
Despondency also about the stalemate in Ukraine. There is still a fight for the sovereignty of their own country, as well as for the security of the rest of Europe. With a president who nevertheless has to beg abroad for renewed financial and military support.
Or closer to home; about the election victory of a party that does not consider part of the inhabitants of this country as equal and only wants to put its anti-constitutional policy proposals on hold. And, as was seen last week in the debate about the formation, about a country where liberal values of other political parties are also eroding.
In fact, the Netherlands has been in a negative mood for several years now. The ever-increasing accumulation of problems – from the housing shortage to asylum reception and the climate crisis – and the inability of the national government to come up with concrete solutions are weighing on people’s minds. Because most parties seem to agree on the pain points, but not on the way out. And the citizen sees that.
A majority of Dutch people are gloomy about the direction in which the country is developing, the Continuous Research showed Citizen perspectives from the Social and Cultural Planning Office (SCP) in October. This has been examining the state of mind in the Netherlands since 2008. And compared to the past fifteen years, confidence in national politics is low, the SCP sees. In fact, while trust in politics usually revives after elections, voters have high expectations about what can change, but little hope that anything will change. 2024 may therefore not feel like the fresh start that other new years were.
But the Citizen Perspectives reveal something else; most people are positive about living together in the Netherlands. Dissatisfaction is focused on the government, not on each other. In general, people trust their fellow man. And that social trust, the SCP notes, has been stable for years. The planning agency concludes: “Many Dutch people mention solidarity in their immediate environment, generosity in the event of disasters and commitment to each other as points of pride.”
It Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) writes the same: trust in national politics is the lowest in ten years, but since 2012 trust in other people has been increasing. Those who are longing for something to hold on to can enjoy this. Solidarity still exists, even in dark days.
It deserves protection, and therefore commitment from everyone. Solidarity and trust can only flourish when people come together. If people not only keep talking to each other, but also keep listening. Also with people who may be considered ‘the Other’.
People are concerned about the lack of dialogue. Mutual differences seem to be increasing. Conversations about certain topics are avoided in family circles for fear of arguments. A single message in the friends app can quickly go wrong.
Especially now that the world seems dominated by conflicts and contradictions, we ourselves have the ability to prevent things from getting to that point. An opinion does not always have to be given. An interesting question can also be the start of a good conversation.
That requires some degree of optimism. Believe that the strength of a society lies in connection. Trust that a conversation with someone who thinks differently does not have to end in frustration or high emotions. Hope that, in a gloomy world, unprecedented things are possible. And that every individual can contribute to this.
In the trenches of the First World War at the Somme, the British soldier would Alfred Victor Ratcliffe poems about optimism: “Little bits of hope, like the first spring buds / Will blossom, even though death and destruction grip the land / The storms may rage, but cannot break the wing / Of the lark whose song is always friendly / Hard years without pity, slow days of contempt / Your kind is dying out, gentler days will come.”