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Right-wing radical parties draw people into the “false battle of a culture war”. They “make people believe that there is only one battle: the culture war between so-called ‘real’ Dutch people whose identity is allegedly being taken away and shadowy elites who are said to be responsible for this. This culture war is not going to get us anything other than division.” Jesse Klaver said this on Wednesday evening during the Spiekman lecture in Rotterdam, writes Trouw newspaper.
The culture war stirred up by the radical right distracts from what, according to Klaver, it should be much more about: the fight for a decent wage and affordable housing. “Those who have an interest in low wages, high rents and low profit taxes rub their hands with satisfaction. For them, radical right parties are the useful idiots who ensure that nothing changes.”
While the radical right divides the population, nothing is done to solve social problems. Klaver: “Who cares whether you have oat milk or cow’s milk in your coffee? It’s about solidarity.”
Hendrik Spiekman, after whom the Spiekman lecture is named, was co-founder of the SDAP, the predecessor of the PvdA. The Spiekman lecture is traditionally given on May 1, Labor Day.
