98. Of cowardly liars

Dear Jan

I have never been fond of the majority of journalists, politicians and of politics in general. I do not like the manipulation, the breaking of promises, the misinforming of the public on purpose, the withholding of information, the deception of supporters or an audience and the running down of others. It is completely destructive and ultimately serves no purpose. I loathe it.In recent weeks, I have entered this world. I was drawn into it by a mendacious trade union and politicians and I am very shocked by how these people work (for the full story see www.Lugera.nl, most of the content is in Dutch). It is all about lies and manipulation and trying to win the favour of an audience and there is no room here for facts. These people are not interested in the truth. Either they have no idea what ‘truthfulness’ means, or they cynically believe that the end justifies the means. These people, along with journalists who are only interested in a spectacular headline above their insignificant articles, which lack facts and are often just a copy of other sources without any check of the original source, represent a caricature of society. I am not surprised so few people vote and I know very well why I do not read newspapers.

I am even more amazed that all those people, political leaders, MPs, the leaders of the largest union in the country, the respective Minister, the directors of controlling bodies only want to discuss the issues with like-minded people and not with their opponents. How do they expect to get new insights and better understanding if they do not enter into a dialogue with dissenters?

We are trying to form a discussion panel with supporters and opponents of the employment of international labour migrants from Central and Eastern Europe and, one after the other, the invitees are stating that if ‘so and so’ comes, they will not attend. In addition, many of those who claim to know exactly how things should be in private are not willing to take this opportunity to publicly express their opinions and do not dare take a consistent position. They are afraid of the reactions of others and afraid of their superiors within their institution or company. This is just cowardly mendacity and backstabbing and I am very concerned about this, as you may have noticed.

I rarely meet with this kind of attitude in business. Occasionally to a mild degree, perhaps, at large multinationals at the headquarters, but this is not the same situation as with this particular trade union and the left politicians (I wonder how things stand on the right in the Netherlands, but I’m afraid it will not be much better). Is this the reason why politicians are so powerless when trying to solve big problems?

Why are trade union leaders and political parties telling lies and manipulating people? Do the trade unionists and political leaders not care at all about their credibility? Are these people really surprised that they are losing members and voters? Few politicians (The Netherlands has had many strong political leaders) are able to make a successful career in business. Perhaps this is because lying and manipulation do not get you far in business.

With angry and disappointed regards,
Gerard