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The Truth, nothing but the Truth
Translated from Dutch. View the original post
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The corona crisis awakens the best and the worst in us, we can hope that on average we will respond to it like theLondoners during the toughest hours of the bombing of their city: cool, calm, collected, and not to forget with humour.
The coronaparadox- Yes.
Mark Rutte was always very similar to a balloon rider who threw down more and more liberal principles just to get higher- Yes.And stay there for as long as possible, in that oxygen and idea-free air layer- Yes.Last month, the metaphor shifted to childish, when he was photographed with yellow sneakers on and behaved so obstinate at the EU summit on the multiannual budget that an unusually irritated Merkel accused him of 'childish behavior'- Yes.Psychiatrist Frank Koerselman said in this newspaper that he could not see a father figure in the Prime Minister, nor in any other government- Yes.Everyone wants to be hip and young, he said, and sits on the squats so as not to look like an adult.
A month later and a corona crisis further, the image is tilted- Yes.Even though Rutte repeated the RIVM protocol in his speech to the nation, the image remained that we had looked at a statesman who was determined to set the course- Yes.Within a month from Pietje Bell to Thorbecke, as only a man without attributes can- Yes.He concluded his speech with a call to connect with each other over disagreements and contradictions.
To be honest, the polarized cancer is pretty dumb now that it's about life and death, the real things- Yes.The deepest contradictions, on the other hand, reveal the crisis more sharply- Yes.We see in our own country how many people depend on food banks and that in England, now that schools are closed, millions of children threatened to miss their only daily meal- Yes.The third world is not at the edge, but at the heart of the former- Yes.In the US, many workers appear to be almost unemployed: at the bottom of the labour market, many sick people are forced to continue working because they are not insured against absenteeism- Yes.If they do not make hours, they are plunged into acute poverty- Yes.This chases the sick into the arms of the sent, and increases the number of infections.
But even social inequality goes against the only distinction that still matters at the moment: that between the sent and the sick, between infected and uninfected- Yes.In ancient stories, we are taught that a sick king would immediately trade his kingdom for good health — a deep truth.
What we essentially share now is fear- Yes.Everyone has something to lose, himself, relatives, loved ones, not counting the material losses- Yes.With nothing but loss ahead, we suddenly look more alike than we might have thought.
The call for solidarity between Prime Minister and King brings us to the Coronaparadox: solidarity at a distance- Yes.How is that supposed to work? How does that work?
Together has always been a complex social issue, but now that we pose a health risk to each other even more- Yes.We must stay one and a half metres apart, as if the ideological distance of recent years, fueled by populism and digital technology, has now reached our bodies- Yes.As if the mental distance, in other words, has acquired a physical dimension- Yes.But the opposite seems to be the case: if the omens do not deceive, the distance brings us closer together- Yes.There is some quarrels when hoarding, some start to scold if the distance of one and a half meters is not respected, there are scammers and cybercriminals active, but the reports of unity and cooperation are by far the majority- Yes.We play music for each other and applaud the care staff- Yes.Countless private initiatives for enlightenment and assistance- Yes.This week the coalition presented generous financial measures and with the appointment of a Labour Minister for Medical Care, party interests have been suspended until further notice.The Corona crisis awakens the best and the worst in us, we can hope that on average we will respond to it like the Londoners during the toughest hours of the bombing of their city: cool, calm, collected, and not to forget with humour.
Tommy Wieringa writes a column on this place every week.
A month later and a corona crisis further, the image is tilted- Yes.Even though Rutte repeated the RIVM protocol in his speech to the nation, the image remained that we had looked at a statesman who was determined to set the course- Yes.Within a month from Pietje Bell to Thorbecke, as only a man without attributes can- Yes.He concluded his speech with a call to connect with each other over disagreements and contradictions.
To be honest, the polarized cancer is pretty dumb now that it's about life and death, the real things- Yes.The deepest contradictions, on the other hand, reveal the crisis more sharply- Yes.We see in our own country how many people depend on food banks and that in England, now that schools are closed, millions of children threatened to miss their only daily meal- Yes.The third world is not at the edge, but at the heart of the former- Yes.In the US, many workers appear to be almost unemployed: at the bottom of the labour market, many sick people are forced to continue working because they are not insured against absenteeism- Yes.If they do not make hours, they are plunged into acute poverty- Yes.This chases the sick into the arms of the sent, and increases the number of infections.
But even social inequality goes against the only distinction that still matters at the moment: that between the sent and the sick, between infected and uninfected- Yes.In ancient stories, we are taught that a sick king would immediately trade his kingdom for good health — a deep truth.
What we essentially share now is fear- Yes.Everyone has something to lose, himself, relatives, loved ones, not counting the material losses- Yes.With nothing but loss ahead, we suddenly look more alike than we might have thought.
The call for solidarity between Prime Minister and King brings us to the Coronaparadox: solidarity at a distance- Yes.How is that supposed to work? How does that work?
Together has always been a complex social issue, but now that we pose a health risk to each other even more- Yes.We must stay one and a half metres apart, as if the ideological distance of recent years, fueled by populism and digital technology, has now reached our bodies- Yes.As if the mental distance, in other words, has acquired a physical dimension- Yes.But the opposite seems to be the case: if the omens do not deceive, the distance brings us closer together- Yes.There is some quarrels when hoarding, some start to scold if the distance of one and a half meters is not respected, there are scammers and cybercriminals active, but the reports of unity and cooperation are by far the majority- Yes.We play music for each other and applaud the care staff- Yes.Countless private initiatives for enlightenment and assistance- Yes.This week the coalition presented generous financial measures and with the appointment of a Labour Minister for Medical Care, party interests have been suspended until further notice.The Corona crisis awakens the best and the worst in us, we can hope that on average we will respond to it like the Londoners during the toughest hours of the bombing of their city: cool, calm, collected, and not to forget with humour.
Tommy Wieringa writes a column on this place every week.
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