I would like to congratulate you from this place. Really moving what you have done. Or should I say ‘we’? Because at moments like these, the us-them thinking is completely gone and we are all one. This fraternization is what makes our crazy little country so special. Do you remember when we all clapped for healthcare? That was goosebumps, wasn’t it? Recently, in our neighborhood, we all turned off the lights for Ukraine in the evening. You just can’t imagine how much you can mean to people in need with such simple gestures. Little effort, big pleasure. Priceless.
And now so Peter Pancake. The comedian held back This was the News a program that ‘takes a satirical look at the news of the past week’, a flaming speech. It concerned the 1,115 children who had been placed out of their homes as a result of the allowance affair and now, six months later, have still not returned to their parents. Pannenkoek called it ‘mindblowing’ and spoke of state kidnappings. An excellent speech. But that didn’t end the matter. You (we) also wanted to contribute. Show solidarity. And where better to do that than on social media? And so you (we) all tweeted how good Peter’s speech was. the ADHis own tweet with the clip alone was liked 4,400 times and retweeted more than 1,200 times in a matter of hours, while other versions also racked up hundreds of likes, with captions such as ‘appealing’ and ‘extremely strong’. You made both #peterpannekoek and #state kidnappings and #1115children trending. wow! Over the past few nights, a few high-ranking gentlemen in The Hague have slept very restlessly.
Yet. Do you remember that the previous Rutte cabinet resigned because of the allowance affair? After a long formation, the same club returned to power. With the VVD as the largest party and Rutte in the lead. So you voted for that. Not so smart if you’re against #state kidnappings. Or you didn’t vote. That doesn’t seem very smooth either, but political commentator Jack van Gelder gets it. He put it with his gesundes Volksempfinden fine out at Jinek: Because of this kind of political games and mismanagement in The Hague, people are so fed up with politics that they simply let the elections sit. Apparently also those for the city council, who have little to do with this.
Now suppose that Jack is right, then that is oil cake. If you don’t vote, chances are the #StateKidnapping Party will win again. The VVD has a loyal following who believe that everything is going well in this country. He doesn’t care at all about those 1,115 children. If you want this to change, you have to make another party big. A party that represents your interests. A party that ensures that rich people do not pay less, but more tax than poor people, that ensures enough affordable housing and tackles energy poverty. A party that not only wants to grow the economy, but also ensures that the fruits of that economy are distributed more fairly. Hashtags alone will not get us there.