Election results in perspective.

Posted on 26 March 2019 by Arjan

The elections in the Netherlands for the members in the states of the provinces has been done. And yes there are winners and losers. Disappointment and euphoria. But the valued votes have been made.

The Forum Of Democracy have won and are almost shouting from joy. The media tries to brighten the sensation. Enlarging it also. Points of view accentuating which causes these results in their favour. A nice game to get and keep audience ratings as high as possible.

But lets go back to the basics for a minute. The foundation is a democracy in which there is an abundant participation. How can we see or measure that in a good way.

As for me the election attendance rating is a good indicator to judge this. Lets have a look at that number. Wow , that number is 56,1%. This means that all parties do have only a small majority compared with all that people who are “finished” with voting. Not really a good grade I would say. Modesty would the right attitude for all politicians.

Let have a look at het so called winners. The Forum Of Democracy scores with a 14.4%. This means that 85.6% did not vote on them. For the other parties this is even worse.

There is a group of 44.9 % for whom it does not really matter. They have no trust or confidence in politics. Thinking my vote is not worthwhile. They do not see a purpose , difference or use. They are avoiding the responsibility of citizenship but are really the biggest party.

Is this something recent. No , the attendancy with these elections are generally rather low. Elections for the Tweede Kamer , so national level , are better. So also more representative. At least more clear.

What should be clear in a democracy is how do you get all the mindsets of the voter represented. And if that is not the case it would be good to think on that. As said modesty would than be appropiate. But reality is rather different. A combination of power and arrogance maybe.

My thought would be making a citizenship agreement. I will give everybody his freedom , fair rights and more time but also the obligation for a well chosen vote. Preferably in a direct way. As direct as possible.

Sounds fair if you will be provided a Basic Income. But you are free to disagree. Please let me know your thoughts.

The Jesus Principle

Posted on 18 March 2019 by Arjan

Two years ago I was sitting in the train from St.Petersburg to Moscow. I got into a conversation with two Russian ladies. At that point in time I was already engaged with the movement as reflected on this website. One of the ladies did speak her mind saying that war was coming. Also without a doubt she said the first bomb would fall on Russian soil. The question for her was only when.

Her idea was formed by the closed imaging from Russia and the Russian media. This media also gives in the Western world a complete deformed image of Russia. It seems as if the media has forgotten her task to inform people in an honest , calm and in putting it an perspective.

Media has sold his soul of impartiality and objective criticial way of thinking to the commercial forces of neo-liberal mindset and acting. Audience ratings are key. Therefore also sensation and magnifying bad news. It is also not solely to sell advertisement spaces. It is also about favouring those parties in return who are supporting their business and existence.

It even looks like that they see fake news as real and are throwing it into the world. Information pollution is my thought. Lots of people are unhooking. They , politicians and media , don’t know what people are really thinking anymore. But opinion polls they understand very well and they adjust their tactics. Vision and fortitude are easily being sacrificed. They chameleonize in order to get as much votes as possible. Adjusting their campaign in a calculating way. Making extra commercials on tv , YouTube , Facebook and other social media. It has significant costs but they do not (yet) have to make known who are really paying for that.

But a vision where we should go to with our world and planet is far away. Their future is only reaching the next elections and not the following generations. They are putting themselves in first place. Not mankind. They talk about it. They also say that they a lot. But that does not mean anything because their mantra is economic growth. But that is always at the expense of ecology.

That story is not being told. Not by the politicians. Not by the media. It looks like a pas de deux.

Will another story even be accepted. By the politicians. By the media. By the people. Do not forget that people and specially large groups of people are being tied and bound by stories. Those do not have to be true. In other words correct.

The bible is also a story. It describes the faith of Jesus and God. But it are not the exact words that he used. On his real thoughts we have more or less to guess. What he really told to the people was his real message. Direct , mutual and you could ask questions. That is what I call the Jesus Principle.

This principle I do favour to spread my thoughts , knowledge and story. Not what the second Russian young lady proposed. To campaign via YouTube movies and on Social Media on a large scale. This website is not more than an internet calling card to make you think. To have a contact if you are looking and can not figure things out. Otherwise as well. If I meet people in the street or somewhere else I will first start a conversation. If you have an interest I will give you my calling card. No twittering and other superficial media in which you can not put things in the right context. It should be real , personal and complete.

When I said this to the the second Russian young lady her reaction to me was: So the Jesus Principle. Yes I said , the Jesus Principle.

The magnetic attraction of prosperity, and how to reverse the flow of migration.

Posted on 22 February 2019 by Arjan

A pretentious title. I am aware of that. The western world is for most people in the world the place to be with regards to prosperity. A place to whom they are drawn to in order to experience a good human existence.

Question should than be: Is this really the case? Whats is the prosperity there. Mostly it is an economic prosperity. So money. Better facilities. It looks like that.

But it is not directly available for a refugee. You have to comply to rules. You can go into illegality. Work in anyway you can find and send money home. It is a way to find improvement in life. But in illegality you are in most cases close or in the crime scene as well. Not something I would call real prosperity.

Prosperity also means that have you no or almost no real worries. That you can be in the neighborhood of your family. Being there where your social ties started and grew. Having the possibility to build a reasonable existence. Doing things you like and in which you can help others also. Giving respect and getting recognition. That is the kind of prosperity we should be seeking.

Not the prosperity of a big house , a car , another car , a vacation , another vacation. Materials things will never be enough to fill the greedy caterpillar. There will not become a beautiful butterfly from that but a never satisfied and consuming dragon.

That this dragon is working on eating our world is a different story. I would like to talk about that beautiful butterfly. Can we bring that beautiful butterfly into the light? And while we are doing that halting the flow of migration and maybe turn that around?

I think it is possible. There is already a huge gap between rich and poor. A way to diminish that gap is a Basic Income. You share some of the wealth and pull up the poor to a higher level. They are than able to develop themselves in a human way in the place and country where they where born and grew up. Starting initiatives and or companies that will be an added value to that region. Creating prosperity in an own and just way. In consideration with their own culture.

The local government needs to make just and good regulations. Local companies should get more space than the multinational. You should be thinking on an other way of taking taxes. The use of patentrights should be different. Making products should be according open-source. Trade agreements should be fair and more free. There should be implemented a real fair trade , fair profit and fair use system.

If that has been taken care of you can provide the basic income. This should be done by the budget holder. So in The Netherlands it should be the government in the Hague. Not the provences. Not the parishes. It could be moving to Europe. Or even de UN and than probably the IMF.

My idea would be to deploy it to the IMF controlled by the UN for this. If we are doing this we could create a bottom up approach. Rank the countries form poor to rich. Start with the poorest country or countries. In affordability also the best approach. For how it works also. Possible improvement can be taken into account in proceeding to the next countries. In this way people can find their happiness in their own country. Without antics in having to flee and making illegitimate money and sending it home. Prostitution in the broadest sense so to speak.

Most people do not see any other way to survive. Therefore we can not even blame them. We condemn them as searchers for luck and criminals. But we are creating this world in full awareness. Then we look at each other , avoid each other and let it happen. As long as we are doing fine nothing else matters.

At the moment we create and make barriers and borders in order to shield our not shared prosperity. There will be more than a whole lot of people there shortly which you can not really stop. It will escalate into violence. We should let go of the egoism in the neo-liberal and western worlds mindset.

But if we think in reverse and create a social and humane magnetic force as an opposite. Giving the poorest countries and than the less poor a basic income we would create it. Which way will we go as humanity than.

Take a while to think about this. It will not be easy but there are many good advantages coming out of this. A world on which Thomas Moore would have been jealous.

Its time for the move to a better world.

World Economy.

Posted on 12 February 2019 by Arjan

Yes , world economy. Why am I writing this. Well there is a yearly Forum on this subject. The World Economy Forum. This year it was held at Davos and lots of people and organizations are there to talk about the problems in the World. And yes they are there.

But the readers of my website realize this as well and do know my view on these matters. There is a good video published on YouTube in which many issues are discussed. I would like to share that video with you. So here it is.

Many matters are well stated. Taxes for example. Bono may think that he is like Jesus but that would be a lie. Multinationals and shareholders , it are just people with names and addresses by the way , all look like to have a business side only.

Bill Gates does share some money with charity but his fortune has been made by letting other people pay. He has made considerable profits. But did he pay taxes in a fair way? Let me go through the list of head offices in Amsterdam South. Than it is pretty clear.

Banks earn and make their money by creating bubbles. In the real estate market for example. High prices on houses gives them the ability to make money from nothing and getting nice fees from the charged interests.

It also raises the question what should be really taxed. Is that largely labour? Labour what might not exist anymore. At least less than nowadays. Or should it be on profit and fortune. A fairness principle is crucial here. Will get in more details on this later.

Queen Maxima promotes on behalf of the IMF microcredits as the way to fight poverty. Still their interest rates are going to 30%. Many thanks Queen Maxima. But when you have worked in the world of banking human principles are lost on the horizon and financial gains are in the picture only. A beautiful smile hides the face of a monster.

Labour conditions and wages are also mentioned in the video. They have been transformed by globalizations and profit maximization in such a way that we are living in a new form of modern slavery. The companies are making the demands. The demands are being dictated by their financers. Banks and shareholders. Together they are in a ratrace , they even start to look like one , in which all means are allowed. The managers and politicians do try , because of certain motives , to give it a kind of human dignity. That it is actually something good. Sorry but this is just a bad fairytale. In correct words a nightmare.

As promised I am getting back on the fairness principle. If you want the strongest shoulders to carry the highest burden we have to think on fortune. If you are striving for a fair economy you have to tax fortune , profits and products in such a way that the ship we are sailing on is going in the right direction. Growth of the economy , the famous “holy” growth of the Gross National Product , is something you have to let go. It is mostly going at the expense of ecology. That is where we have to make a good choice.

The planet is our home. Not only for us. Good maintenance is crucial. No growth does not mean there is nothing happening in our economy. The point is that we are doing good things. Circular is one of the principles. Using natural reusable raw materials is an other one. Products are also not always physical. Healing , creating happiness , sharing knowledge making people positive are good and beautiful products.

It is not about more but about good.

Politics , the last line of defense …

Posted on 7 January 2019 by Arjan

The last word , line , suggests there is a war. But also in a battle of interests you can speak of a last line of defense. Sometimes there are more. But there is always a last one.

The other lines are more or less settled. Not the least by the way. Unions do not have that many members anymore. The urge for working people to unite is almost gone. The power they could build can through globalization easily flow away.

Work , real work , could become scarse easily. AI can replace you work any moment. What will be left in the near future. What is the battle really about. Who are the parties in the battle? Where is the frontline?

The frontline is flowing along and between all kinds of interests and forcefields. It is hard to describe it clearly. Economic interests. There are less people in real poverty but but still poor and the rich are getting richer. There is something there. Economic growth is always at the expense of ecology. Again there is something. A liveable climate for everyone and not only the rich. Again a pressurepoint.

Which party can bring a vision and apply a regulating structure. The ngo’s. They can make something clear. Trying to defend a certain interest. Mostly a part of an interest. Which means , of force , do they have. They are at least not democratically elected. Furthermore they have a business model. Another point of attention.

The multinationals , companies and banks are located at the other side of the front. At least the rich who are earning via them lots of money. Their interests need to be secured.. How they do that? There have been made many comments on that. True and not true. Lobbying , specially in the politics , is one that is true. War creation , deliberately even , is also one. It is a strategy of divide and conquer that they are playing.

So we are now back at politics. What is their role. Where is their obligation. Do they take responsibility. If so. For whom , for what and why.

Let me give a smal sketch of politics. The politics as it is organized in Holland currently. A second chamber with members. All fulltimers. A first chamber with senators. All parttimers with jobs/functions on the side. There is also a councel of state with people , mostly old politicians , appointed by the king who have an advisory role. Further we have in the provinces the provinciale staten. Only the administration , the gedeputeerden , are there fulltimers. The rest are parttimers. Than we have townships with a councel (/gemeenteraad). Here the alderman (/wethouders) are fulltimers but the councillars (/raadsleden) are parttimers again.

Than now a beginning of a perspective. Why are there on these important positions that many parttimers. Furthermore they are elected and donot need a special education. Let me put in a different way. The academic and real specialists are hard to find here. They are more working in the business life or university. Politicians are representatives of and for the people. But are in the straight-jacket of their political party. The parties who see themselves as the nobility of The Hague. Not really connected with the people. The people may vote but not much more than that.

I would like to add the fact that multinationals are not operating on a national scale but on an international and global scale. If you want to deal with this situation in a good way you should organise yourselve also on the same scale. An independent , democratic and transparant Europe or even worldwide alliance/organization. As it is now it is almost a lost cause.

Maybe politics will find time to think on their role and responsibility.

Getting awake and reinventing themselves. If not there will come a point of discontent and the yellow vests will colour all the streets. The Bastille has once be raided. There are more towers in the world.

Global warming , and what to do.

Posted on 27 December 2018 by Arjan

Indeed and what to do. What are all the things we should really do differently. How is that global warming on this planet created. Who is really the creator of the greenhouse effect? Where should the government put their priorities. The cars? Using warmth from the earth? The aeroplanes? Just have a look at the following movie.

So everything should be much clearer now. That piece of meat on your plate. The glass of milk that you are drinking. That fridge also.

At this moment they put a lot of effort on windmills and solarpanels. But we have to realize that this energy is not uninterrupted. Just like the usage of electricity. It needs to be stored somehow. A good , fast and big network could help. There is at any given moment somewhere wind. But storage is less developed at the moment. There is quite a big challenge there.

One of the things we need to keep in mind is the energy density. The space that is needed to produce the energy. For windmills this is gigantic and solar panels also huge. Fossil fuels are very compact and transportable. Do we fill half of the Netherlands , or even world , with windmills? Yes , because that could be the consequence. We than can also say goodbye to all the birds in that area. Windmills also need a lot of maintenance. More than solar panels. Planes are using less energy and produce less C2 that all data centre’s form Google, Facebook etc.. all together.

There are many things that are not being told. Politicians and people with a certain interest and agenda are that transparent. In their way only. Ed Nijpels , Diederik Samson are politicians and people with their interest but not much more than that. Whose interest? Wit what kind of agenda? Diederik Samson is in origin coming from Greenpeace. Greenpeace who is guarding and trying to safe the climate in their opinion. But they never spoke out against the meat industry. One of the biggest if not the biggest causer of the climate change. Whom can you trust? Who can I believe? Where can I find the right information.

I have a suggestion for that two books.1.) The green Illusion , Why we can not save the climate with a few windmills and solar panels ( In Dutch by the way ). – Maarten Van Andel. 2.) Drawdown , the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to roll back global warming – Paul Hawken.

You could just read these books. Trust is sometimes good but checking is always better. That is something we have to do ourselves. Yes , you as well. Wishing you lots of wisdom.

The table model , the new dutch way of compromise.

Posted on 22 December 2018 by Arjan

It is again almost time to take your seat at the Christmas table. A time to enjoy the many pleasures that we believe to be attached to Christmas. The house can be beautifully decorated. The lights may shine abundantly. The groceries need to be in on time. Before you know the turkey , tournedos , steak and more are sold out. Quickly fetch that exquisite wine at the liquor store. Should I take that cognac as well?

The whole family is welcome to join on the first or second day of Christmas. To enjoy these wonderful days. There have been written articles with advice how to behave and avoid quarrels. Apparently it is handy to stick to a few rules. This to avoid problems. To give an example. You can wear an wrong Christmas sweater. Maybe decorated with lights as well. But if put those lights an a yellow vest and join the table you will have a problem.if you throw the problems of the world on the table. It is not a time for that. It is time to….. .

You have to be dressed appropriate and also behave in that way. I am wondering if the climate tables , that have to finish this week by the Dutch government , do have a good and appropriate occupation.

The motto was to create a big and broad basis for climate measures. I am curious whom from the yellow vests have attended. The multinationals could for sure. Other organizations , foundations with entwined interests or not , also. But the common man , woman or child? No.

Furthermore you are already making compromises but there is no space for half measures. Does politics know that this way of handling will not work. They talk in nice words about their ambitions and promises but it is all make believe. They are the worst boy in class. Its about doing things. Real things only. .

In the current way you are losing time and efficiency. They do not realize that there is no more time. Do as much as you can as fast as you can should be the motto. If something works go full for that. Take the lowest hanging fruits first. Eating less meat is a good start. No meat at all even better.

But wars are not over yet as well. Again the same year done over. When are we finally going to fulfil our real potentials. Going to the barricades. Put on a yellow vest . Put people in first place. Not the economy but us. We all together.

Yellow Vests , a triumph from Paris.

Posted on 4 December 2018 by Arjan

The world is in movement. The money is still on its way to the rich.

Subsidies for the energy transition is going to the companies. The taxes therefore have to be raised another time. The polluter has to pay. They let us believe that the car driver is the one who has to pay more excise duties on the gasoline. The people who are doing their groceries in the supermarket can pay extra VAT. Lets get the money from the mass. That’s where you can get the most in the easiest way.

Does the politician have to choose for the lobbyist? The man who gives him things , assurances and deludes him to a nice future. The politician thinks it is not that wise. The lobbyist has that much power. We can better be friends. He is also to smart. The citizen I can tell them anything and they will eat it like candy.

The citizens , specially those who are vulnerable , are being divided. Divided by politician with populistic agendas. Like for example Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders. Its all to blame on the foreigners. Not the real point of pain but for them a nice insurance to get a few seats in parlement. Or Macron who is just taking over the points of view of the companies. Just like Mark Rutte. If we let them make huge profits and at the same time low taxes everything will be fine.

The political party for education , the one of Rob Jetten , is saying that a good education is key. Meanwhile there are supporting that all students have to lend for their entire education. Also forgetting that it is not a job guarantee. Specially in a more and stronger globalizing world. The Party of Labour , where Lodewijk Ascher is the leader , who do not understand that because of their name they are only representing robots and artificial intelligence shortly. The Green & Left party , with Jesse Klaver as their leader , who is only for real safe and sustainable energy. This will however make the world only less green and put a very heavy bill with the citizens of the world. Poverty on a major scale lures around the corner and with that their left point of view as well.

Things are already getting hot in Paris.

Is it really going to turn into chaotic situations. Looking at the last few days it could go easily go that way. The yellow vest could become a symbol in which many people can find themselves. Going into an avalanche and possibly turning into a severe revolutionary situation.

It could also become the symbol of the Precariat. Strange and also anarchic is the fact that there is no real leadership. A dialog for example between Macron and the leaders is not really possible. Leaders like Macron have to think themselves and work on the solutions. That will be difficult. Although they are representing the people they are not a part of the people already for a long time. They are the elite and therefore elitists. Their intelligence also seems to help them to get in that situation.

But if I would be in their shoes I would go quickly on a crammer. In earlier times the Sun King was abundantly to late with that. That is the reason why the word revolution still has a French flavour. But that could become European or Global now as well.

To be continued.

The Social Human Movement

Category Archives: Politics

Election results in perspective.

Politics , the last line of defense …