So there's a politician from Groenlinks who had a few good (in the Dutch sense of the word) one liners for PM Mark Rutte on the radio here Saturday in rain drenched Netherlands. He said Rutte insulted his own "Ministercrew" by offering big bucks to Gerard van Olphen to run now state owned SNS Reaal. Rutte says the market must continue to determine salaries. Well that's not how he said it exactly but that's how I'll translate it until I get charged with slander. Actually I think he said the Dutch must continue offering the private sector (which is helping him figure out the way through this nightmare for him) salary for the new public sector boss. That may not be exactly correctly translated either. Perhaps the fairest translation is that you have to offer good people lots of money and he knows how to find them. Rutte is from VVD which is not an STD but a political party standing slightly to the right of the jellyfish known as Dutch politics.
http://www.nu.nl/economie/3078336/rutte-beledigt-ministers-met-salaris-s... [3]
Then again, a politician, who is not directly chosen, can sit on the benches for a single day, fart, retire or go to the private sector and be assured of a damn good income for the rest of his or her life. My sense is that the Hague machinery works much like networks anywhere. Whereas earlier this could still be associated with some sense of general wellbeing for the population as a whole, it is turning into a monster that may just have to be taken down entirely. That is perhaps hyperbole considering the battons that have to be kept in the air to maintain the teetering global system. Food banks are now the biggest growth industry, followed by debt counciling services. Insiders fighting harder for privilege and outsiders out of luck.
Readers: Sorry if I wasted your time with this. Perhaps I should rename my blog shitehumourfromthenetherlands and you'll understand my positioning on ZH better.