Looked at from the contemplative distance of
the High Wallowas, one salient feature of the recent
descent of Dutch political life into the rightwing
populist world of Geert Wilders has been missed.
Over the past decade, the program of shifting
all things public into the hands of corporate power
& the private sector (Neo-lib, or Neo-con: both
unfortunate names. . .) has been aggressively
pushed by North American PR firms.
From a distance, Pim Fortuyn was the first to
project very knowingly this new in-your-face
and highly uncivil style. He was followed by Rita
Verdonk, and now, Geert Wilders.
If my readers would like some background on
how these NA PR firms works, I recommend
the documentary by Rachel Boynton, OUR BRAND
IS CRISIS (2005):
“Following members of a political consulting firm
to Bolivia, where they’ve been hired to help
controversial candidate Gonzalo “Goni” Sanchez
de Lozada reclaim the presidency, filmmaker
Rachel Boynton reveals the manipulation and
orchestration involved in big-time political
campaigning. With only a few weeks before
the election, consultants […] work their magic,
shaping Goni into the ideal candidate.”
[This doc is part of my project,
THEATER OF THE NEW.]
Indeed, an “ideal candidate.”
The high price of this Americanization of
Dutch political life will be — if not quickly
reversed — the clear cutting of 50 years
of culture building that has brought forth
one of the most vibrantly alive arts
communities in the world.
According to my close friend, trombonist of
the ASKO/SCHOENBERG ENSEMBLE, Toon van Ulsen,
budgets like his own performance group’s will
be slashed by as much as 50% over the next
two years.
This has become the short-sighted
hobby of the populist right. What Wilders and others
like him fail to see is that, much like an old-growth
Doug-fir forest, the creation of high culture is a
very slow and arduous process, whereas razing
it to the ground is the work of a few days.
[Added V.23.2011 Ik heb jaren lang als een jonge wilde
aan een orkest tot stand te brengen in Amsterdam gewerkt.
En nu, zie ik vanuit de bergen in Amerika in m’n lieve
holland alleen maar kaalslag. Wilders Inc. en de politiek
van haat en angst moet gezien worden voor wat ‘t is.
A cheap populist American imitation.
[lees meer bij: http://whitebark.picture-poems.com/?p=8
OUR BRAND IS FEAR: Geert Wilders & the vulgar
americanization of Dutch political life ]
NATUUR/CULTUUR wet #1:
Creativiteit gaat langzaam, is moelijk;
Vernietigen gaat snel, is dood eenvoudig.
Laat het maar niet gebeuren!