So the previous 13 years we had more or less the same government led by Mark Rutte and his VVD. It’s been 13 years of neoliberal budget cuts, privatization and increasing inequality. Healthcare was brought down, housing became unaffordable for both renters and buyers, climate policy is non existing, we have huge problems with enormous farms and their impact on the environment while nothing gets done about it. In those 13 years, the government stepped down four times, only to be re-elected with the same parties.
And then we have migration.
Our refugee centers did not escape the budget cuts. They were hit hard and as a result they are understaffed and concentrated in just a few spots. People sleep outside, first in the open and then in tents. Refugees and asylum seekers have no real prospects and it caused some of them to cause trouble in the places they stay at.
The last time the government fell was because they could not agree on how to solve the asylum crisis. And for this elections, the VVD decided to run on an anti immigrant campaign and it dragged the other parties with it, because that was the hot topic. And this was a gift for the PVV. Suddenly, everything was caused by migrants or muslims or non whites or ‘the left wing policies of the last 13 years’ (which do not exist, we had right wing governments). PVV can play the blame game as no other. It only had to put minor restraint on overly racist talk in their campaign. And it worked.
A strong left in The Netherlands does not exist, unlike Belgium with our marxist party and huge unions. The big Green/Labour fusion seems to only target city folks who are generally more progressive than people outside the big cities. The vast majority of towns and cities have PVV as their biggest party now. The left failed in every campaign they launched. They did not manage to convince people that left wing policy is the best for them, especially after 13+ years of neoliberalism. Their problems are real problems too. Healthcare is shit. Public transport is shit and expensive. Housing is broken. We have an asylum crisis. And the left did not reach out to them. Instead, a fascist party managed to convince them and now they believe all their problems are cause by migrants, muslims and left wingers.
Since you’re the resident Benelux leftist, what’s your take on this, and how it came to be? Any insight as a person that has lived in the Netherlands?
So the previous 13 years we had more or less the same government led by Mark Rutte and his VVD. It’s been 13 years of neoliberal budget cuts, privatization and increasing inequality. Healthcare was brought down, housing became unaffordable for both renters and buyers, climate policy is non existing, we have huge problems with enormous farms and their impact on the environment while nothing gets done about it. In those 13 years, the government stepped down four times, only to be re-elected with the same parties.
And then we have migration.
Our refugee centers did not escape the budget cuts. They were hit hard and as a result they are understaffed and concentrated in just a few spots. People sleep outside, first in the open and then in tents. Refugees and asylum seekers have no real prospects and it caused some of them to cause trouble in the places they stay at.
The last time the government fell was because they could not agree on how to solve the asylum crisis. And for this elections, the VVD decided to run on an anti immigrant campaign and it dragged the other parties with it, because that was the hot topic. And this was a gift for the PVV. Suddenly, everything was caused by migrants or muslims or non whites or ‘the left wing policies of the last 13 years’ (which do not exist, we had right wing governments). PVV can play the blame game as no other. It only had to put minor restraint on overly racist talk in their campaign. And it worked.
A strong left in The Netherlands does not exist, unlike Belgium with our marxist party and huge unions. The big Green/Labour fusion seems to only target city folks who are generally more progressive than people outside the big cities. The vast majority of towns and cities have PVV as their biggest party now. The left failed in every campaign they launched. They did not manage to convince people that left wing policy is the best for them, especially after 13+ years of neoliberalism. Their problems are real problems too. Healthcare is shit. Public transport is shit and expensive. Housing is broken. We have an asylum crisis. And the left did not reach out to them. Instead, a fascist party managed to convince them and now they believe all their problems are cause by migrants, muslims and left wingers.