Dear Editor,
I would like to comment on the recent statements made by Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Stef Blok. With his remarks, Blok has now joined an ever-growing group of VVD-politicians who have disgraced themselves and by extension their party, government, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its entirety.
Despite Blok’s half-hearted and futile attempts at damage control afterwards, he clearly represents and expressed the true spirit of the Dutch government, which prides itself on being a globally-respected “rechtsstaat”, a state based on justice and integrity, when he made his statements. But Minister Blok didn’t regret that he made his statements. No, Minister Blok regrets that he was caught on tape, and that he exposed himself, the party he represents, and the Dutch government in general to the world and international media. He regrets that he is being criticized by fellow Dutch politicians, who have called him to Parliament to give accountability, governments in the Dutch-speaking Caribbean and South America, as well as the indigenous population of Australia.
Blok’s statement reflects the same VOC-mentality as praised by former Dutch CDA-Prime Minister Balkenende. It is this same mentality and attitude that made the Dutch the cruellest slave traders in history, caused the Dutch government to massacre 431 innocent Indonesian citizens in 1947, and be convicted to pay damages to their descendants. And since 1954, it has caused the Dutch government to continuously violate international laws when dealing with its colonies.
The most recent example is the unlawful decapitation of the legitimate and democratically elected government of Sint Eustatius, which is a flagrant violation of the UN-mandated obligation of the Dutch government to give all successor entities of the former Netherlands Antilles, including Sint Eustatius, a full measure of self-government.
The Dutch mentality as reiterated by Minister Blok in his statements, is typical of a more general superiority complex displayed by Western governments over the years.
Dr. Noam Chomsky, a well-known linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic and political activist, offers some unique insights into this superiority complex. The North, or the people of the North, he argues, believe they are superior to the South. He quotes Dr. Henry Kissinger as saying: “Nothing good ever came out of the South”.
In a 2015 interview on PBS, Dr. Chomsky states the following: “It’s a graphic representation of the fact that we are more important and better than them. We dominate the South because of our essential superiority of character, qualities of righteousness and so on. We are better in terms of superiority of character, righteousness, and so, it’s a graphic manifestation of the “We are better than them conception”. It’s a very powerful concept, it is buttressed by imperial domination; the more powerful you are, where you dominate others, the more you create justification for that ideology, by education, media and so on.
If you’ve got your boot on someone’s neck, it is typical to provide a justification, “We’re doing it because we’re right, we’re better, they deserve it and so on…”
With his statements, Minister Blok appears to express both his own true colonial, xenophobic and racist views, as well as those of the Dutch government. In this respect, the fact that MP Geert Wilders of the PVV seems to support Blok’s statements is very telling. It is proof that Minister Blok and the VVD, including Prime Minister Rutte secretly share Wilders’ views, but are hypocritical about it. At least with Wilders, one knows what to expect.
With his statements, Minister Blok has also shown a great deal of ignorance, a lack of common sense and basic knowledge about his own colonial history and anthropology. By making his statements, he has insulted and brought shame on all citizens within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, since he represents the entire Kingdom internationally.
Blok’s predecessor Halbe Zijlstra, also from the VVD, brought great shame to the Dutch “rechtsstaat” and the entire Dutch Kingdom recently, when he lied about being present at a meeting with Russian President Putin and having overheard the latter making statements about Russia’ supposed expansion in the region.
I am hereby calling on Minister Blok to follow the example of his predecessor, do the honourable thing, and tender his resignation before doing more damage to the relationships within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and beyond.
Clyde I. van Putten
Leader, Progressive Labour Party, St. Eustatius
