"The Fourth Wave" organizes a number of contemplative evenings in De Balie in which left-wing thinkers take a critical look at the behavior (or rather: the absence) of the left-wing parties during the corona crisis. Where was the criticism? Where was the control? Where was the opposition at all? This evening a leading role for Prof. Marli Huijer.
After a response by Martijntje Smits (philosopher of technology) to Marli Huijer's lecture, questions are asked to the panel: Saskia Kluit (Member of the Senate GroenLinks), Jazie Veldhuyzen (Chairman of the Amsterdam BIJ1) and Klara Boonstra (Director of the PvdA's scientific bureau and professor of international labour law at VU Amsterdam).
I can't do much with this discussion because I'm not left-wing (I think, when I hear this). One of the critically thinking politicians still wears a face mask out of 'solidarity', even though it is no longer mandatory. Should you have a meta-discussion with such people? Of course, ideology and free thinking do not go well together: if you think completely freely, can you actually have an ideology? No ideology without 'belief' in something, predetermined goal or some other irrational element.
I found the addition to 1:30:45 by Judith Sargentini (2x, to 1:35:05) particularly worth listening to. But that was not a typical left-wing insight. She is actually reformulating what Marianne Zwagerman was previously surprised about: 'the eagerness with which we have surrendered our freedoms'.
Page on website De Balie with further explanation
"Left" problem!?
Left... This is where it already goes wrong for me. The apathetic behavior of the House of Representatives in the corona crisis is addressed here as a "left-wing" problem while it is undeniably an existential democratic problem. It is commendable that left-wing intellectuals scratch their heads, but the center and the right should do the same; basically everyone. Except for the creeps of the "ultra-right" or "populist" – or however the somewhat scientifically substantiated sound has been dismissed by the others.
If an opportunity arises to deliberate together on the substance in a plenary debate, no one gives in – they just don't want to and the urgency is apparently not there to seize every opportunity to move forward. That's not a left-wing problem at all. That is the bankruptcy of parliamentary democracy, the failure of a people's representation: laziness, bureaucracy, incompetence, politicized outplaying, calving. "The subject is regularly on the agenda" is then said. Apparently without any result: in the House of Representatives it was decided at the time to speak of "infections" when "positive PCR tests" are meant. They still allow themselves to be bullied by a minister who screens with an "A-status".
Furthermore, both in the introduction and by Marli Huier, seemingly complicated questions are raised to which the answers can simply be found in the law, as can be heard in this interview with Gideon van Meijeren. Or else in the more recent speech by Gideon van Meijeren, at the bottom of this post. But yes, they probably put that aside because FvD. You just don't want to agree with some people. Not with Maurice because he was also wrong with the Deventer murder case and you can stand it, not with Capel because he has a broken accent and has been retired for 20 years, not with Willem Engel because he has a dance school and not with Forum because of immigration. If that is really the case, we already have an important explanation of the problem: ideology stands in the way of the right approach.
In this particular crisis, the "left" should have largely embraced the dissent of the "ultra-right", opportunistically or not, and vice versa. Unfortunately, that is unthinkable in the ideological positioning of power bloc thinking. The truth is lost in the political-ideological fray. The interest of political image and pleasing the supporters then prevails over the citizen interest. Beautiful democracy...
There are situations in which political parties should also be able to rise above themselves. Unfortunately, that turns out to be too much to ask.
