The battle of votes

[janestarz]

People were shouting. The throng of commuters descended the stairs but slowly. Several enthusiasts at the bottom of the stairs were the cause of their slow pace. Papers flew, hands flung out trying to force the flyers into the hands of the unwilling unawake.

"Young lady!" the man to my right shouted as I approached the spot where he was physically forcing himself and his flyers onto the crowd. "Vote for D'66! It's for your own future!"
The other man harassing the crowd tried to drown out the first man's voice. "Here, have a flyer of the VVD!"
I slowly shook my head, and walked to my next platform. I'd already read the flyers of my parties of choice and had made up my mind. VVD and D'66 did not even feature in my selection of the finalists.

Tomorrow, we vote!

And while we're on the subject, let's consider...

Show me a young Conservative and I'll show you someone with no heart. Show me an old Liberal and I'll show you someone with no brains. - Winston Churchill
I don't agree with this statement. Let me tell you why.

When I read the left-wing, liberal, social agenda what I notice is that, generally speaking, they are against expanding large airports, adding more asphalt to existing freeways, etc. while at the same time focusing on the social aspect of helping out the unemployed and those who need guidance and even the arts.
While honestly, we all know that in ten, twenty years these new roads will have been built, these airports will have expanded, because the population will have grown to a point where we can't cling to the ideals of 1966 anymore. In the 1970s we stopped driving our cars for a few Sundays because the oil prizes were too high. And compare them to today's oil prizes... are they higher? Do we get out of our cars and into public transport because gas is too expensive? Do we cycle to work more often? No, life went on and change happened. It takes a lot more than expensive gas to stop us taking our cars.

On one hand, I feel that perhaps you can't stop progress. You can't stop airports from growing larger because the population will grow, the economy will have to keep up and all those mouths will have to be fed. But I think that the left-wing will still be very important, because they look beyond just the expansion of airports to the effects it will have on the environment. Even if they never become part of the ruling party but stay in the opposition, they will still force people to look at the bigger picture. Never mind that progress can't be stopped, because maybe that's not the point...maybe we should progress but take care to look at the bigger picture. And the bigger picture isn't money!

As for the social aspect: yes, I agree that our country has a lot of people abusing the system. I'm sure there are numerous people who refuse to work even though they're perfectly able to. (Let's not point to immigrants right away, because look at all the christian housewives...)
There are also plenty of people who are quite willing to work but can't find a proper job. Business is turning sour, it's a dog-eat-dog world, but guess what? We're not all dogs. We're human beings.

We're forced to make life-deciding choices at the age of 14 or 15. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life back then and I'm not sure I do now. Maybe if we were a bit more social and spent a little more money on helping eachother out, people would find a job they're not only good at but they enjoy a lot more. A happy worker is also a happy shopper! Of you loathe your job you're not going to go out and spend that paycheck to get a healthy economy.

Be a social bee. Be a good employer. Find a job you love. Help eachother out. See how our society will bloom.
Tomorrow we vote for the Provincial Parliament, who will then in turn vote for the Eerste Kamer, who will have to pass the legislation. It's an important vote, so if you have it: use it!

Comments

[kenshinichinyo.livejournal.com]

"While honestly, we all know that in ten, twenty years these new roads will have been built, these airports will have expanded, because the population will have grown to a point where we can't cling to the ideals of 1966 anymore."

Is that true these days? As things are now, it might well be that in a few decades, the population will have shrunk, and we don't need all the extra roads and airports anymore. Less children are being born, and the 'babyboom' generation is 'nearing extinction', so to say...


"We're forced to make life-deciding choices at the age of 14 or 15. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life back then and I'm not sure I do now."

I wholeheartedly agree. I think this a really, really big fault in our educational system.


And, while we're at it, two more random points:
* Nobody in the world is só important that they really should make more than a million euros per year. There's an afwul lot of good stuff you can do with this kind of money instead of buying private jets.
* Be content with an item/service that's simply good, instead of DEMANDING the best IMMEDIATELY. In contrast to what commercial advertising may want you to think: no, you're not a total loser if you settle for a little less than the best.

[janestarz.livejournal.com]

We can only hope... we're using up natural resources very fast and innovating too slow to make up for it. Progress will halt if people die of hunger or asphyxiation or mass flooding.

Wealth distribution isn't, and has never been, fair. And the problem is at the root of all the world's societies. If we change the wages in the Netherlands, people will probably move to other countries to be more wealthy (and we cannot afford to let that wealth of knowledge and expertise walk out the door either, or can we?). Mostly, the rich just want to hold onto their wealth, never realising that monetary wealth is not really worthwhile.

The Demanding mentality really rubs me the long way. If something is good, it's worth waiting for. And why must we all own plasma tv's? I don't even own a tv. I don't know who Oh Oh Cherso is, exactly, but is that such a bad thing?
We mostly buy mass-produced crap from low-wage countries, transported over millions of kilometers, that is sold at megastores and will break within a year. Such wealth! Such progress!

Mostly, we want it Now, we want it Cheap, and we want the Best. Pick any two at most, because if you don't you'll just get crap. I'll settle for just the good stuff, which doesn't have to be cheap because it'll last me longer anyway.

[kenshinichinyo.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I think that we'll hit the Middle Ages again in due time, just like after the collapse of the Roman Empire: back to square one. At least if we'll be carrying on the Dutch way:
- "we need an alternative to oil."
- "what about solar power?"
- "that can't provide 100% of our energy needs, so we won't do it."
- "and wind power?"
- "that can't provide 100% of our energy needs, either; so we won't do that, either."
- "and bio-fuels, maybe simple wood?"
- "hah! if we'd all fully switch to that, there wouldn't be a tree left standing, so that's out as well."
And what about doing ALL OF THEM?? All of them, a bit? It would mean we wouldn't be dependent on one power source anymore, isn't that nice? If you sit still, wait, and do nothing, you're _100%_ sure it will go wrong. Stupid politics.


"Mostly, we want it Now, we want it Cheap, and we want the Best."

And, don't forget: don't deliver, and we'll sue your sorry ass :)

[cabaray.livejournal.com]

In my mind, going green is progress. What if those people who are building plasmatv's where making solar panels, windmills and electric cars. They still have a job, still be earning money, there company is still selling products, but the upside: it would be real progress.

We will run out of oil and after that the prediction will be only 10 years of nuclear after that. So if we want to keep up our standard of living, changes for the greener have to be made.

And what is it about demonizing the left (which the PVV does in kind). The left provided a lot of things we hold dear (social structure, 8 hour work days, collective pensionfunds, Saver work inveroment).

Abuse of the social system comes in at roughly 3 procent of all people dependend on it. In my mind a small loss to the benefits of the system. Not only is it human to help the poor, but studies have shown the corolation between poverty and crime. By helping the people who struggle, we make the streets safer.

The current government is one of stagnation. Cutting, but never trully with a vision. Not making any investments that would bring our nation to the next level. Bringing in meagre things like 130 km/hour on the freeway, to get home a mindblowing 2 minutes earlier, while studies show more change of deaths and even more clogging up. Making the wrong choices when it comes to our education system (kids with special needs into the regular system, which is undermanned as it is, lowering the standard even more). Wanting to be an international big boy by joining the Afghanistan mission again. Not doing anything about the financial policies which could prevent a banking catastrophe...

So yeah, go progressive left I say, one with a big picture plan!

[wannabe-bitch.livejournal.com]

Quote [Making the wrong choices when it comes to our education system (kids with special needs into the regular system, which is undermanned as it is, lowering the standard even more).]

Yes But the one standing in front of the class needs to have a universal degrey, so then they can help the childeren that have special needs.
Or so the politics said in the Metro.

But you cant pay the universety anymore, if all gos to plan.

[cabaray.livejournal.com]

If a teacher has to manage at least 30 children already, even with a degree, a kid with special needs, needs time for special care, which will uptake time usually used for the teachers primary role.

I rather have such a kid in a special needs class where it gets the care it needs then in a class where its a secundary thing.