That’s what I’ve seen it called. And it’s quite apt. And true too. May signed the Brexit letter and now the negotiations start with two possible outcomes: Either the UK finishes negotiations with the EU, or they crash out of it. Either way, the UK will be out of the EU. It can’t be blocked, or reverted (no matter how much the remoaners cry about it).

Now, I’ve seen the news reports, and the mainstream media is quite busy scaremongering about it, especially towards expatriates that live and work in the UK. Oh dear, they would have to get visas and work permits. What a bother. Ask any American, Indian, or any non-european that works in the UK (there are quite a few of them) how much of a chore that is (hint: it isn’t). If you have work, you won’t get kicked out. If you’re married/widowed to a UK citizen, you’ll be okay too. 

Well, it’s spring, and with spring comes the spring cleaning. Or so I’m told. Anyway, because my loud-as-fuck amp is in the shop for repairs (busted fuse, I think. Anyway, a warranty case), and subsequently am not using it, it gave me an opportunity to untangle the cable junction behind my 4×12 cab. I also rotated my desk setup 90 degrees. The result is quite a lot more room made free, and better audio coverage for my monitors. Also, my lovely wife now has access to the window, something she has been asking for ever since I set up shop in the side room. I also have easier access to my guitars now, and it will also provide a nice backdrop for when I ever decide to shoot videos for YouTube again. I’ve been meaning to do that again, but inspiration for stuff to yak about has been lacking.

Just to clarify, I’ll explain what my policial and social viewpoints are. I often disagree with liberal leftists, who then promptly assume I’m on the right-hand side of the political spectrum, while I’m actually pretty far removed from that, other than that I agree with a few things that the conservatives like to put forward. Just because I think modern day feminism and social justice is dangerous and harmful, doesn’t mean I’m automatically part of the alt-right. I find many of the alt-right viewpoints deplorable. But the so-called ‘liberal left’ likes to lump people into boxes, I guess.

So, I’ve been withholding direct interaction on social media for a while now, and I have to admit that I sometimes miss posting random thoughts into that churning mess. But other than that, I’ve been lurking in every now and then and several things come to mind when reading what people post and share.

• Most things that people post are inane and of little importance.
• Most times it’s not even their own material.
• When they do editorialize, they just sheepishly copy opinions from somewhere else.
• Most ‘debates’ end in identity politics and Godwin’s law is often in effect. The level is often times ‘everyone that disagrees with me is literally Hitler’.

I often have to fight the urge to jump in, only to wait and see that the intellectual level is definitively subpar and the person that attempts to inject common sense is called a fascist, racist, xenophobe, or whatever label seems the most apt to shut down the discussion. And then I’m glad I never participated. For the people that are getting tired of all the bullshit, I can certainly recommend switching to read-only mode on social media.

The Dutch elections of 2017 came and went, and we’re stuck with 4 more years of a VVD coalition. While Groenlinks won big (relatively seen), and all the pro-euro trash is patting themselves for stopping the “wrong kind” of populism (what an abject terminology), they are dismissing that PVV and also DENK won seats in parliament. The media likes to gloss over this and ignore it, but they shouldn’t. As Wilders influenced the campaign, while he’s in the opposition, he can still steer the discussion. Now with even more people.

Might as well continue with a little series about what made me not want to choose one of the other parties here. This list will probably not entail all 28 parties running, because I either didn’t really look at their party platform, or have no past experience with them.

Well, here goes:

PVV:

I actually very briefly considered PVV (although I wouldn’t have voted for Wilders, but rather Fleur Agema). They are very supportive of personal freedoms, freedom of speech, cultural and national sovereignty and totally not politically correct (which are all pros in my opinion). I found them just a bit too polarizing. I do understand why people will vote for this party though, and unlike many people I know, I will not judge people because they did vote for these people.

For the longest time I was torn between the Dutch pirate party, and the direct democracy initiative of Geenpeil. I was really conflicted. But I went for Geenpeil anyway. The reasons:

• It’s a social hack. As someone with a hacker mindset, this appeals to me.
• It’s an idea that needs it’s tires kicked, so actually getting to use it is a pretty good road test. Yes, there are security concerns, but the risk is acceptable since the concept can now be battle tested (if they do win some seats)
• I can change my alignment at will. The system they want to implement will not inundate you with voting requests. You can pick and choose the things that interest you.

This is what tided me over. The concept of direct democracy has always had my fancy. I hope I convinced others to give geenpeil a go.

You’re all a bunch of idiots. It’s their choice to make. Conversely, to all the people that get flak for their choices; more power to you. Screw the naysayers. Don’t let them influence you into making a different choice. 

Because then you will exactly get what you never wanted.

It’s how we got into this utter mess in the first place.

I’m actually proud of my country for once. The small country that refused to back down to the dictator in Turkey. Of course, the wayward Turks that live here that seem to have more sympathy towards their homeland are waving their red and white crescents about and are being a general nuisance. 

Their glorious leader is calling the Dutch fascists, but I guess that guy should look in the mirror. How many judges, journalists, teachers and other dissidents have the Dutch thrown into jail? That’s right, none. How many people did the Dutch jail for being openly critical with the ruling government? None. How are the Dutch being fascist? Hmm? 

Everything is false. Everything is also true.