the anti-wilders rant

it’s no secret that i’m not a geert wilders fan. i feel there are some pretty strong reasons to dislike him and his political views, which is why i cringe every time i hear people saying that geert is simply being misunderstood by the media and by the dutch people. there seems to be some prevailing belief (propegated largely by geert himself) that the ‘liberal media’ and leftists in general label him unfairly as a racist and don’t take him seriously as a result. 

this is frustrating to me because i feel like i’m simply being labelled as a hysterical, leftist hippie who wails in protest every time someone’s feelings get hurt and therefore my opinions about geert are irrelevant. i’ve also had people suggest that i’m pro-islam and in denial of all the probems caused by islam and/or immigrants and their descendants here in holland. as if, by disagreeing with geert wilders’ views, i believe the complete and total opposite of what he does.

that’s not the case. i am no fan of fundamentalist religions of any kind, including fundamentalist islam, and resent the damage they do to people’s freedom. i’m a huge supporter of women’s rights, as well as gay rights, and feel like fundamentalist islam, amongst many other things in this world, stands in the way of these rights. i also resent the rising crime rates in holland and the lack of safety that many people have to deal with - i live in a totally shitty neighbourhood of utrecht where extra locks on the door are a requirement and break-ins, robberies and fights are not uncommon. i would be delighted to see this change. and finally, i do believe that immigration policies in holland have led to a huge range of problems which need to be solved and not ignored.

i just don’t think that discrimination and fear is the solution. i don’t think that kicking out all foreigners and blocking immigration will instantaneously eradicate all crime. i also don’t see the link between fundamentalist islam and arrogant, pot-smoking street kids who terrorize passers-by, skip school, and steal laptops from people’s living rooms - these kids don’t give a damn whether dutch women are marching around in burkas or not. my point: geert identifies some serious problems in today’s society, no dout about it. but instead of offering solutions, he creates an atmosphere of fear and panic, pointing fingers, breeding hate, and discriminating. to me, that’s not a solution; it’s a very negative and dangerous way of making many problems worse.

for all those non-dutchies who think that geert is simply a misunderstood man fighting the dangers of islam, here are some useful facts for you:

• wilders wants “ethnic registration of everyone arrested.”
• wilders wants to impose a tax on women who wear headscarves, comparing the wearing of a headscarf to taxes imposed on trash and litter, saying “the people who pollute must pay.” his word for headscarf (kopvod) is hard to translate but is, at the very least, highly derogative.
• wilders wants to reduce cultural subsidies enormously, including subsidies intended for cultural projects and the arts (including commercial art such as games). since it is enormously difficult for artists to start a career in holland (the industry for games and animation is growing but small), many of them (game designers, painters, graphic designers, and so on) depend on government subsidies to get their business going, helping them to grow and nurturing a valuable industry. wilders wants to eliminate these subsidies, feeling they are a waste of money.
• geert has no interest whatsoever in environmental issues (which i believe are hard to ignore at this point) and doesn’t see this as a worthy issue to address in his political campaigns.

and for anyone who suggests that i’m getting these ideas from ‘the media,’ all these facts are from direct sources - quotes right out of wilders’ own mouth or from his website. the facts speak for themselves - he doesn’t have to be labelled a racist by lefties in order to come across as a racist, blaming ethnic groups for all of the problems in our society just like others have done in the past. time and time again this approach has proven to be a disaster.

so, those are my views on wilders. as an artist and as someone who believes in individuality and human rights, i’m enormously opposed to this man. and i hope no one will confuse me with a brainwashed liberal or pro-fundamentalist islam for it.

June 20 2010 | Comments | 7 notes
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