Mother's column – the leftist ideas of a traditional mom unmasked

I won’t blindly follow the advice of such a voting aid application advice, but it is always nice to find out what your position is on the political spectrum. And to compare results with the rest of the family. Traditionally, we share the results in the family WhatsApp group. As always, my dad’s political views turn out to match exactly with the program of the reformed SGP party.

This is the political party reformed Christians in the Netherlands usually vote for. I am definitely one of them, but for some reason the election compass always advises me to vote different parties. This time, I end up closest to the Socialist Party. When I tell my husband, I detect a pitying smile around his mouth. "Better watch out," I say, "when you act like that, you remind me of Thierry Baudet (the populist leader of the far right Forum voor Democratie party). Remember that interview with Quote?" On YouTube, I find the excerpt in no time. "It's normal for a woman to be a bit leftist", the politician proclaims. "But then she meets a right-wing man and she will say, 'He's right, too.' So first you get some left-wing talk, and then you say how it really is, and then she says, 'Well OK, true too.'"

Nonsense

"At least this video proves that right-wingers can talk nonsense too", I say indignantly. Jan agrees wholeheartedly. Duly noted.

Yet there is some truth to it. My husband fills in the electoral compass a tad more conservatively than I do. But then again, such a voting aid doesn't say everything. It is impossible to capture all the nuances of the debate in one statement. Besides, as an ordinary citizen, you don't know everything about thirty complicated issues, do you?

Ugly block boxes

Take the proposition: "In case of financial setbacks, Gelderland should cut its expenses instead of spending its savings." I am not in favour of throwing money around, but if there is still a savings pot, why let sectors go broke? And this one: "The province must stop the arrival of large distribution centres, even if jobs are lost as a result." Um, didn't we have an acute labour shortage? So why bring those ugly block boxes to the province then?

I'm definitely thinking too simple-minded. For that reason, at least once, I confidently click "totally disagree" on the proposition that the province should hold referendums on important decisions. Let the people who know about the issues make the proper considerations. And let us vote for wise people.

Neline is married and the mother of five: Martha (9), Abel (7), Jolijn (5), Reinout (3) and Sifra (1).