Tomorrow we will go to the polls for parliament, but I myself still don’t know for whom. It would help me if all parties had more or less the same goal, but differed in the way to get there.
I could be wrong, but I wouldn’t be surprised if parties were much more distinctive in the past, but at the same time more often had a common denominator. A shared image of the Netherlands of the future at the time. Progress, prosperity or reconstruction. Depending on how far back in time we go. Each party, each pillar gave its own interpretation to the route to get there.
How cool it would be if we could look a little further ahead and paint a picture of the Netherlands in 20 or 50 years. At our office, we have focused on vitality for our research into the future of Midden Zeeland. No one can be against that. Food supply, sources such as freshwater and energy, community, nature, historical continuity and a thriving economy form a flywheel. Safety is the conditio sine qua non. A historic shift to the right is apparently on the menu tomorrow. Not surprising now that the future is uncertain. Uncertainty is fought with a defensive reflex. And politics routinely goes around in small circles. Let’s think about the world of the future. What do our children need to live well in the future? That’s not too much to ask, is it? Isn’t that what we do it all for? When the bigger picture is clear again, the common ground has been found, then the politicians can fight again how best to get there. With a dot on the horizon, today’s decisions are a lot clearer and easier to explain. And I can vote again for the person who works towards that according to my ideal line.
Henk Hartzema, LinkedIn, 23 November 2023
