PVV apologists think PVV voters are stupid – Joop – BNNVARA

It has been a common argument since the elections: Many PVV voters did not vote for the PVV because of racism or anti-rule of law, but because they are angry or concerned about something. That argument comes from the left and especially the right and is an insult to those voters.

You can’t have it both ways. You cannot claim that the unheard and disengaged Netherlands voted for the extreme right because they are unheard and disengaged and at the same time claim that you should not take their vote so seriously.

It is really very disrespectful to call voters misunderstood, unheard or disengaged. That you claim to understand their choice because of their concerns and thus approve of their extreme right-wing vote. They don’t get it or they don’t mean it that way. You then state that they cannot think for themselves.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t somewhat true. How many (PVV) voters have actually thought about the consequences of their vote? What are the real consequences of your vote for the economy, that trendy social security and the international position of the Netherlands? Many Dutch people will not have thought about this very carefully. PVV voters may be slightly less on average.

It is striking that a certain category of right-wing people now becomes angry if the PVV does not get into a cabinet. Mood makers like Wierd Duk, Zihni Özdil and Ton Elias, that category. Because it is the voice of the people and the right-wing voices carry more weight, according to their logic.

As if the racist and anti-democratic ideas of Wilders and his one-man company called PVV have not been crystal clear since 2007. As if the man has not been further radicalized since the tolerance cabinet between 2010 and 2012. As if Wilders’ preference for dictators was hidden somewhere. As if a new cabinet with the PVV would be ‘center-right’. No coalition with the PVV can be ‘center-right’.

The apologists of an extreme right-wing cabinet have no other argument than the PVV’s seat gain. And because that is their dream cabinet, they are prepared to abandon any form of decency. To convince the moderate part of right-wing voters, they drop their masks. Wilders’ voters ‘don’t know any better’, ‘don’t mean it that way’ and ‘it won’t go that fast’. Mr. Hyde became Geert Milders, right?

Anyway, let’s assume that many PVV voters are not rabid racists who want to destroy democracy and the rule of law. Should you give them a pat on the back? Or do they also have their own responsibility?

With choice comes responsibility. You don’t have to pamper people because they have genuine concerns. They may have been indoctrinated by more than twenty years of the same rhetoric. By lazy media suffering from the Curse of Fortuynor by opportunistic politicians who PVV chore doing. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take them seriously.

Take the voter seriously. You hear that a lot since the elections. You don’t do that by declaring them incompetent. Take their concerns seriously, just like those of other voters, they are often the same concerns. Identify the racist choice they made and blame them for it. Are they adult voters with their own responsibility or are they stupid voters? Neither seems like an option to me.

Finally: For the PVV voters who are reading along and do not consider themselves rabid racists who want to destroy democracy and the rule of law. You have two options: either you are, or you have been frivolous and irresponsible with your voting rights. Own it or fix it.