Imagine

Imagine that you are a columnist and write for the Volkskrant (volk = people).

The name already says it, a newspaper for the people. It probably couldn't be better, provided the people also read that paper and your column.

There are elections. Of course you wrote about them. You believe that as a columnist you have the right to express your opinion. Not only because you are a writer, or because you have the right to freedom of expression, but also because you are a man and a foreigner. Someone who was lucky enough to be educated by the new home country and therefore now knows exactly what your rights are.

This is a great plus for those one to two generations younger than me.

My generation had to remain silent, integrating was the keyword, adapting, tackling and not whining. The word 'discriminate' may have existed, but it was not something that came up in our mind or the first thing we said. Even if we were wronged, we remained silent. After all, there is always a big difference between being right (having the law on your side) and getting your right, as my lawyer told me decades ago.

Back to those elections.

It may well be that you, as a columnist, wrote about it, but did not vote. Experience shows that no matter what you vote for, the outcome is always the same. As a columnist, you also dedicated a few words to the elections the day before that big event. At the same time, you made it clear what your thoughts are about people with different voting behaviour.

The great thing about a columnist is that as long as your text is published, it doesn't matter whether only two people read it or 2,500, because you get paid anyway.

A decent columnist cares little about his readers. The columnist writes because he has something to share, something on his mind. By the time the article has been printed, he is already busy with something else.

No writer bothers to read all the comments. That is just a waste of time, energy and it affects creativity.

A day after the elections, the political party you don't like appears to have won. The election poll was wrong. I personally think that this in itself means nothing because the current parties that govern together have the majority. What the people want doesn't count either. We all know that. After all, it is not without reason that the people's referendum was taken away, and the past three to four years made many sleepingheads wake up.

However, the imaginary columnist mentioned earlier is furious.

He does not hide his anger. "If that party starts ruling, I will stop being a columnist", he reports on X.

All I can think is: Great! I hope you stop right now since anyone who only has a big mouth when he thinks he is safe and protected should not be writing for a newspaper. Anyone who cannot respect the opinion of the people should certainly not write for a newspaper meant for the 'plebs', and certainly not live in this country.

This country is a country that hosts foreigners for hundreds of years and together we are the people. Each one of our votes should count equally. If you ask me there should also be some loyalty towards the new homeland if it's that bad why stay? The world is big enough. Manipulating the people is below par.

I'm certainly not going to beg this columnist to stay. I would say: Go! A hundred others can take your place. There are plenty of people who are flexible enough to write about a possible new era, who can imagine new worlds, and see this as an opportunity, a challenge to write about. Writers like these make people look forward to reading them which can only do the already abandoned newspaper good.

The photo was taken by me.

23-11-2023