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Chapter 13

New optimism

“Don't sit sulking on the sidelines. Do something and show your courage. Let your anger go hand in hand with the good that you do.” Dutch novelist, journalist and activist Karel Glastra van Loon (1962 – 2005)

A history of peaks and troughs

The history of humanity is a history of peaks and troughs – but throughout, also one of progress. I do not believe in cultural relativism, the idea that cultures are of equal value, no matter what cultures and at what stage of development. These things do indeed matter. Besides, the fact is that we all live longer, and I fiercely support the idea: long live life! This is in itself also a form of progress. But I also believe that through its existence humanty has grown greater, in our reduced dependence on climate and nature, for example. We have, in at least a part of the world, been able to arrange our environment to suit ourselves. Science has brought us a great deal, from knowledge of nature to prosperity, from knowledge about the human body to good health. We can therefore speak in terms of development and I do not know why, in the 21st century, this development should stop. There is also, however, a great deal amiss. Society does not move automatically in a positive direction. I am no feelgood prophet of progress! I am also constantly preoccupied with climate change, overpopulation, worldwide hunger and economic inequality – and above all with the terrible inequality of prospects, of hope. These problems are enormous, and it is logical to expect that many people feel despondent in the face of them. Despondent and hopeless: the lack of prospects and of hope is a terrifying catalyst for the creation of movements driven by hatred of others. It leads to barbaric fanaticism and even to horrifying terrorism.

Global village

The idea of the 'Global Village' is in itself sound enough. Improvements in transport and communications have indeed made the world, as far as relationships between different regions goes, smaller. The world also became smaller on 11th September 2001, when even people living in powerful countries turned out to be vulnerable to relatively small powers from far away. What happened in New York that day was sure to lead to our looking at the world in a different way. ‘9.11' forced us to reflect. Of course, what we had here was an unacceptable terrorism, which must be forcefully combated; but what also had to be considered was the question of what lay behind this terrorism, of where this fanaticism had come from, of how it can find a breeding ground in certain parts of the world. Such questions lead us also to consider the issues of worldwide inequality, the extremely unjust revision of prosperity, of good health, of hope and the prospects for a better future. In my opinion these questions have been for too long confined to the sort of discussion which leads to no commitment, and to their being too infrequently dealt with. They are talked about on Sunday morning, but rarely tackled when the working week begins. Look at the World Trade Organisation, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, all organisations which claim to wish to contribute to a fairer distribution of prosperity in the world, but which in many cases in practice contribute instead to still more inequality.

The socialist movement has since the nineteenth century been in essence nothing but a movement which has repeatedly attempted to make possible what has been considered impossible, which has tried to close the gap between the is and the ought, always to the advantage of people and of humanity as a whole. And so much was, we were told, impossible! The forty hour week, for instance, would certainly mean the end of prosperity – yet this turned out not to be the case. The eight hour day would bring economic progress in the west grinding to a halt – this was also said, and thus also turned out not to be true. The abolition of child labour would prove impossible – it would signal the death of industry. The opposite turned out to be the truth. Elsewhere in the world all of these things – a working week of forty hours, a working day of eight, and a ban on child labour – remain even now impossible, at least that's what we are led to believe by those who hold the power over these places, over India, Pakistan, in Burma, in the Philippines, in fact in huge areas of Asia, Latin America and Africa. And those who live in these places and yet do not agree with this assessment, can gain hope and a belief in a better future from others who in the past have proved that it can indeed be done.

For the people, with the people

Humanity has been perfectly capable of coming up with alternatives, precisely because there were people who demanded what was called impossible. The German philosopher Herbert Marcuse, who became a US citizen in his forties, talked about ‘the one-dimensional man’, a person who can see reality only as it now is. Marcuse saw this one-dimensional person as the biggest threat to the eternal will of human beings to strive for change. My guiding principle is this: that the things we do we should do for the people, but also always with the people. We must not confuse emancipation of the people with patronising the people. That is why a politician should always avoid pretention. True, it's best to try to lead the parade in a certain direction. But don't go thinking that you will always know in advance just what that direction will be! Think carefully, do your best, have courage when it's needed, don't be afraid to offer leadership or to say what you really think or which side you want to be on – in this way you can perhaps provide the match with which others can ignite the fires of change.

New optimism

I call this the new optimism. You don't see it in everyone, but happily enough it can indeed be seen in growing numbers of people and ever more strongly. And this new feeling of optimism is sorely needed, quite simply to give people hope for a future worth working for, to free ourselves from the cynicism into which so many people have now fallen. Critics have of course a point when they draw attention to another development to be seen in our society. In contrast to the new optimism there exists also a great deal of ‘hedonism’. This is difficult for optimists such as myself to stomach, yet here also, after twenty-five years of rank neoliberalism, rampant individualism and a surfeit of cynicism, I sense the turning of a tide. We have in the Netherlands during these twenty-five years seen a rise in incomes and in Gross Domestic Product of unprecedented dimensions. Nevertheless we have, in a number of ways, become poorer. The social divide has grown, health care and education have deteriorated. The soul has been torn from our society, by which I mean the mutual understanding. Recently someone said to me, “What belongs to all of us has been lost.” And this is also the case. Public space has disappeared and the public sector has fallen into decline. I adhere to the dialectical idea that the more intensely something becomes itself, the more likely it is, ultimately, to cancel itself out.. I am convinced that in the next few years the indifference and superficiality will give way to a greater involvement and engagement.

Ever more people are starting to feel that we really must begin to look for an alternative. 'Do nothing and wait and see' is seen as an option by fewer and fewer. Many people are for the first time getting involved, or renewing their involvement. If I look at the number of discussion meetings in the country or listen to what all sorts of people are currently saying to me, I see an ever-growing number rejecting the idea of “me, me, me and the rest can go hang”. They understand that the weight of your wallet is not directly proportionate to the happiness of your life. Human happiness is not something which falls just like that into your lap; on the contrary, you have to do a hell of a lot to achieve it.

I'm glad that I am far from being the only one who thinks this, that in fact the numbers of people seeing things in this way is growing, and quickly. The high water mark of the period of superficiality and postmodernism has now been passed. We must now, and with the greatest urgency, offer resistance to all the pessimism and negativism in politics and society. Of course, it is not easy to put undesirable developments to rights, of course things which have grown crooked cannot always be straightened out, and of course new policies will also have their ups and downs – but there is decidedly no reason to take a purely negative view and kid ourselves that we do not hold our future in our own hands. I truly believe this, in any case, and hope that this belief will prove infectious. It is time for new optimism.

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“Enough” Contents:

• Index
• Preface
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 The wondrous rebirth of liberalism
• Chapter 2 The death of social democracy
• Chapter 3 The disempowerment of the people
• Chapter 4 Poverty in the midst of plenty
• Chapter 5 The assault of the market
• Chapter 6 The unbearable lightness of commerce
• Chapter 7 A question of civilisation
• Chapter 8 The United States of Europe
• Chapter 9 The spectre of the world market
• Chapter 10 The inevitability of an alternative
• Preface to the 2006 - updated edition
• Chapter 11 Ten years later, in the Netherlands
• Chapter 12 2006: Another world is possible
• Chapter 13 New optimism