I take quite a tumble. My whole body hits the floor. I recover myself and stand up. I can feel the skin around my bones burn. Pulsating, inflamed. I am confronted with unexpected quality.
Wageningen is one of the world’s best universities in terms of agriculture, nature and food technology. The quality of the slides at sports centre De Bongerd leaves much to be desired, however. Did I say slides? I meant squash courts! Normally, I float over the Wageningen squash courts as if they were made of gravel. Now that I squashed elsewhere, on a proper court, my feet remained in place while the rest of my body wanted to keep going. I tripped over the unexpectedly good grip and fell to the floor.
I expect the energy transition and issues in the housing market to have a severe impact on my life in the coming two decades
I fear I may face a similar experience this week. As you know, elections are to be held on 22 November. In the agriculture debate last Tuesday, our board president said, ‘If we fail to make choices time and again, we will regress.’ Dare to make choices. Ambitious governance focusing on the future. Moving ahead. That is what we -or at least I- expect from politicians. The chances of me becoming a farmer are small, and there are more issues on which to base my choice. I expect the energy transition and issues in the housing market to have a severe impact on my life in the coming two decades.
A conservative right-wing consortium made up of NSC, VVD, PVV, and BBB holds a combined total of 80 seats, according to the most recent poll. Some of the politicians within these parties have elevated migration as the main cause behind the housing crisis, and they advocate reducing migration as the solution. That is more of a tickle for gut feelings than offering a constructive and realistic solution for the housing market. Moreover, these parties don’t convince me that they will make brave and future-proof decisions for our agricultural policy, let alone the energy transition.
The Netherlands must move ahead, but I fear that our feet will stay put while we trip over established interests, laziness and populism.
