Translation:

One of the arguments that often get used over here is that we could earn much more in the private sector and that’s why the private privileges (higher wages) must be applied to us as well. First, allow me to doubt about this statement when I look around the Parliament.

I think we should analyse the mechanism a bit closer, how why politicians in Belgium and Europe assume they should earn as much as corporate elites controlling capitalism. This mechanism that allows politicians to earn as much should be reviewed by an independent commision. I also want to use my time today to reply to the accusations of us being a populist party. No, we are not populists. We are marxists. That’s very different. Populism uses an analysis of the people against the elite. We marxists make an analysis of class in society. Wage labourers and independent contractors as a united front against the bourgeoisie who own the means of production. We don’t do populism, we do marxism.

But you asked the question: ‘how come marxists get so angry about politicians’ privileges?’ Because the labour movement, marxists, from the start were interested on this very crucial question: how do the economic elites make sure they control politics? The first ones who wanted to answer this question were Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in their book ‘The origins of the family private property and the state’. I cite Engels: ‘In the most democratic system, the rich impose their power indirectly but surely. On the one hand in the form of direct and indirect corruption of politicians, on the other hand through a bond between government and the [stock] exchange.’ It’s very interesting to see that even then a debate was held about giving economic privileges to politicians. This is a sociological mechanism that doesn’t even relate to individual choices: Pierre Bourdieu discussed the ‘habitus’ greatly. The fact that politicians make 6000 euro a month leads to them becoming detached from the people they represent. A politician can vote for the wage index leap, like the right has done for example. Because politicians earn pensions of 9000 euro it is easy for them to lower the minimum pension. There is a very clear connection between the material basis of the politicans and the decisions they make. This is an important lesson from the labour movement. And that’s why we should analyse this decision in detail.