Alienation

Frequent commenter Ralf Goergens writes in response to my election analysis:

I guess you aren't happy with that result, :

"For the establishment, tonight's result is a success. The foreign body of the LPF has been largely repulsed"

given what you think about your political establishment.

It's weird, but I had not even thought about it in those terms. I accepted the result with equanimity. Getting upset over it is just as effective as trying to stop the tide. Socialists win elections in the Netherlands. The lack of non-socialist parties pre-ordains that.

It's also because happiness is not something I associate with thinking about Dutch politics in general. Even when Pim Fortuyn was shaking the political landscape and the LPF won its victory last May, I was not really happy. I was gloating, but that's different from being happy. Fundamentally it boils down to a deep cynicism about the political establishment. I have become convinced that things simply aren't going to get structurally better. Sure, we might have governments on occasional that are less socialist than others, but the gap between what I think is desirable and what is politically feasible is too large to be bridged. It's just not going to happen. That's why I was not really disappointed or unhappy at the election result. I just accepted it as something that was going to happen anyway. I observe the elections and the result as if from afar, insulated from the actual reality that I live and work in the same country and that I am affected by the results. I feel detached. Sure, I use my blog to vent now and then, or poke fun at the goings-on, but there's always the subtext of not caring much anymore. In short, I have become alienated. This is not good. I fully realize that, and this is not a situation that can go on forever. I don't think I am in the danger zone yet though (denial is one of the warning signs, right?). So at some point there will have to come a resolution. Either I have to come to terms with my existence here, or find an alternative existence elsewhere.

That's more than enough about me. On to more interesting issues...