Dark Clouds Packing

When it is dripping in Paris it rains in Brussels, they often say. But does that also go when clouds are packing above The Hague?

It seems the Dutch society is growing harsher and harsher. We, Belgians, were first with our countless Black Sundays, but in the end we managed to keep the Big Danger out of the seat of our power, something they did not manage to do right across the border (albeit for a very short while). While we are still moving towards the right wing, they seem to be governed by a regime leaning towards totalitarianism. The Dutch do not only take down their public broadcasting corporation – e.g. they are stopping satirical shows, thus these get banned to commercial stations who tend to flat this kind of things down – but they are also cutting down public health care. Don’t you just love Christian’s compassion? After that the media inform us the Dutch government is considering to put away unemployed youngsters in re-educational camps (even though they have never done anything wrong in their entire lives) and the same day they bring the news they feel like scraping all 10,000 homeless Dutchmen from the streets. I think many among you will feel familiar with this image. Perhaps our dear Philip Dewinter feels like learning a lesson from this.

Meanwhile also French president Jacques Chirac is thinking to point some nuclear missiles towards terrorists as a fin-de-carriere, just in case. He thinks to wipe out an invisible threat by using the big means. But how about the people living right in the middle of this invisible threat, you can’t zone them out together with the handful of really dangerous people, can you? What would your reaction be if the president of Somewhere-istan would be saying this?

In Belgium too they’re planning to make new arrangements for the public broadcasting corporation, and because some Liberals – with quite an interest in the commercial networks – are chasing Geert Bourgeois, it is nearly certain he will take down some of the public network’s. Alright, there has to be more culture on the television, more focussing on the target groups, but when you do not have a single program to draw the public’s attention; it will be very hard to succeed.

But the question what culture actually is still rises, Bourgeois left aside there won’t be many people that consider Laura Lynn real culture. Humour? Alright, but let everyone pick his own kind.

Then there’s Flemish minister Anciaux. Bucket loads of critic pile up on his desk constantly. Only the other day some cultural big shot called the way he was moving totalitarian, because he is cutting subsidies here and giving them away there without even considering why. Cultural popularity should not destroy our pole position in avant-garde circles. Sure, there has to be popular culture, but one thing cannot be without the other. Firm analyses have to be made before you cut down something. Certain genres can take care of themselves, others cannot do this and need to be looked after.

Of course, in Belgium there’s a whole lot of nagging too, but not every Fleming thinks as black as Philip Dewinter does, nor are they as depressed as Pieter De Crem. And the voice of people like this does still not seem as important as they do across the border. The dark mind of specialists crowding the news broadcasts, politicians and people with opinions really is frightening over there. Could this be tracked down to the short reign of the far right? If so, we should consider ourselves rather lucky with our ‘cordon sanitaire’, disregarding the fact people say it leaks from all sides – it has saved us from demagogy.

We never should forget what Benjamin Franklin once said: People who are willing to sacrifice essential freedoms for security deserve neither freedom nor security. And I think essentially this is why people that do not realise what we’re becoming should firmly be reminded of our past. We cannot let the hope flee, this would be giving in to all the threats, and that’s just what both terrorists and totalitarians want us to do. They’re both the same, and we should never forget that. We should not become a fake televoting-democracy, because this is neither a democracy, nor a just thing to do.