| Amsterdam,
May 21 2002
Dear reader,
Nine days before the Dutch general elections the charismatic, gay, nonconformist
leader of the populist “List Pim Fortuyn” was shot dead. Nevertheless his
party got 17 % of the vote. A big shock because the List Fortuyn was only
founded in the beginning of February! The
masses were dissatisfied by the coalition of Labour and Liberals and voted en
masse for the oppositional Christen Democrats and the new List Fortuyn. The
political program of this List is based on the ideas of its deceased leader but
I doubt if his followers will abide by these (albeit vague) ideas. Fortuyn put
the desires of the masses into words. Most politicians lack this quality and
only want to impose their own ideas. Left and right do not exist anymore,
political parties have become interchangeable, they are just a power instrument
of the political establishment that wants to preserve the privileged position of
the elite.
The funeral of Fortuyn was a huge demonstration against the political
establishment. Many had hoped that this new leader should lead them towards a
better future. The success of Fortuyn makes clear that something is
fundamentally wrong with democracy. But people do not realize that new leaders
always make common cause with sitting leaders and that the interest of the
masses remains in second place. For a better life you have to depend on your own
activity.
The star of Fortuyn rose fast. He propagated profound changes but after some
months he tried already to compromise with those leading politicians that had
proven to represent the sitting elite. Holland is an elitist democracy led by a
political elite that only gives the masses an illusion of democracy. Political
parties have become places where you can make a career. Political ideas are
reduced to monetary problems. The waiting lists for medical operations, the
feeling of uncertainty and insecurity, the deteriorating public transport system, etc.
remained even when the economy was growing. I never expected much change because
elections alone cannot remove a political oligarchy. Only some new politicians
will replace some old leaders who withdraw in the background where they continue
to pull the strings.
The fast rise of Fortuyn showed the hidden discontent of the masses. In a few
months he got more than a third of the vote in Rotterdam and two months later
17% in the general elections. It seems a confirmation of the catastrophe theory
- in a complicated world a small event, the rise of Fortuyn, can cause a huge
change, the election result. But a real catastrophe is not possible because one
of the preconditions, the continuous activity of the masses, is not fulfilled.
See also my articles about political catastrophes.
An alarming factor is the lasting trust in leaders. The autonomous activity of
the masses is restricted to the election of a new leader. People like Fortuyn
give the masses some hope that ‘they’ will listen more to their plights but
in the end they join the old ruling group. Fundamental changes will stay away
because these only occur when the power of the elite is weakened. In four years
new elections will be held and then it will be clear nothing has changed.
But one of the other preconditions for a real change was fulfilled, the growing political consciousness of the masses. The masses are more and more
annoyed with the elitist democracy. Maybe they will now understand that Montesquieu
only proposed democracy to solve problems within the elite.
Democracy gave the masses never any influence on society. (see Chapter 5 of
The Scarists).
But was Fortuyn a right wing extremist? He made some remarks with a racist
undertone (“Holland is full”, “the Islam is backward” …) and he
advocated less government influence. But he had also leftist ideas caused by his
open homosexuality and his staunch believe in the freedom of speech. The
difference between left and right in politics is an illusion. It is one of the
methods by which the political elite incites one part of the masses against
another part. The contradiction left-right obscures the much more important
contradiction between elite and masses. Fortuyn in The Netherlands, Le Pen in
France or Haider in Austria are the result of the existence of a privileged and
closed political elite.
Fortuyn did not (yet) belong to the political elite, he was even openly despised
by sitting politicians. He belonged to the masses, he said what the masses
wanted. But he presented himself as a strongman (see Chapter 4 of
About Violence and Democracy) who acted in the name of and
not together with the masses. In this respect he was right wing. Others could
advance opinions but only HE decided. Many people liked that, trusted him and
hoped HE should make their life better. The elected members of his party
lack his power and will be outsmarted by the sitting political elite. In the
coming negotiations for a new government it will become clear that the wish of
these new people to get a nice job will be more important than the desires of
the masses. Within a few years the List Fortuyn will collapse. See for the
beginning collapse after only three month Letter
30 and after a few years the Fortuyn party was indeed
decimated though the old
discontent did still e3xist. Old and new leaders will become
indistinguishable. (Free after George Orwell in Animal Farm).
It was wrong that leftists attacked Fortuyn, they still live in the past when
different parts of the masses fought each other while the elite continued to be
in power. Many people understand that the old left-right contradiction does not
solve anything. The presence of a mighty elite is the cause of the discontent.
Not Fortuyn but the existing establishment has to be attacked. But it was
disappointing that the masses continued to look for leaders to solve their
problems. Maybe in a next election people will turn away from all political
elites by not going to the ballot boxes. Then the way will be free for alternating,
involved
and interested minorities of people who belong to the masses to carry out
independent and autonomous actions against the leading minority that is called
the elite.
See also the article in the series Political Catastrophes: Electoral
Landslide in Holland.
Yours truly, Joost van Steenis
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