The ever enthusiastic one Laura Tesoro best summarized the efforts of the 505 concerts this week in Humo. At a concert that was supposed to mark the start of the Belgian EU presidency, she waved a Palestinian flag.
“I’m not making a statement for the sake of making a statement, there are already enough opinions in the world. But that night I couldn’t ignore what was happening. Of course I’m not going to wave a flag at every performance now, but at that moment I thought I had to.”
Sunday is no different.
Musicians, artists and writers do have a role to play in troubled times like these. Even more than the media, which chase their own tail until they become crazy, they can penetrate the hearts and minds of a broad group of people (voters) who have long turned away from politics and the news.
Bart Peeters, often the voice of reason and love, is very sharp in that same Humo interview: “I notice that my mental well-being nowadays suffers from the weight of the news. A person must be informed, that goes without saying. But it drives me crazy how wars are covered as if they were football matches with before and after analyses. The difference between Extra Time and some news broadcasts has become small, and that makes me incredibly angry. By analyzing wars in this way you give them a right to exist.”
You read that right, the nicest man in Flanders is “incredibly evil”. What must that be like about the state of mind of all of us?
Strong indictment
Elisabeth Lucie Baeten, who exposes the ego tripping in politics in hilarious sketches in a very cheerful and slightly provocative way, is amazed by the cheeky comments she receives on social media. “When I see what those comments do to my state of mind, I can’t bear to think about the impact on young people. We’re ruining an entire generation. (…) Young people learn from newspapers and institutions that gross racism and sexism can simply pass, I find that really disastrous.”
Musicians, artists and writers can penetrate the hearts and minds of a wide group of people in troubled times
Even though the 505 concerts are not directed against anything, due to their focus on “humanity” they are also a strong indictment against nonsense, against racism, against hypocritical behavior and against the boundless cynicism into which our social debate has sunk. Naive? Well then.
It is also a meeting. People will meet each other physically instead of sending each other virtual thumbs up or smiling poops. They will, when they go crazy, say Pregnant Guy or Flip Kowlier, being able to smell each other’s sweat. And they will make a statement too.
If Sint-Jansplein is packed, it will be a signal that cannot be ignored to precisely those cynical media and sophisticated politicians who like to keep control during election campaigns. The fact that they cannot harness the organizers and participants of 505 or push them into a corner makes them angry.
And yes, the concerts also become a powerful call to do something about global warming, social inequality, the war in Gaza and Ukraine and all those other crises the world is experiencing today.
Litmus test for Flanders
If the turnout is disappointing, that’s also a problem wake up call. Then the time when ‘tolerant Flanders’ could mobilize en masse will be over forever. And then those forces will dismiss those committed progressive citizens as naive, useful idiots. The 505 concerts also become a litmus test for the social climate in Flanders.
What remains of the powerful, progressive undercurrent that emerged in the 1960s and gave us the peace, environmental, climate and anti-racist movement that could build bridges with the classic labor movement. That undercurrent ran through all parties: from socialist to social democratic, green, Christian democratic, left-liberal and even progressive nationalist.
The 505 concerts are a strong indictment of the boundless cynicism into which our social debate has sunk
In the polls, these political parties still receive more than a third of the votes. So they represent a major power factor. However, there is no question of joining forces. Green and red have never been as far apart as they are today. The Christian labor movement is dying within CD&V, Open Vld is again dark blue and the last progressive Flemish nationalist has now left the N-VA.
The 505 concerts and discussions about the ‘undercurrent’ of Flanders are not the order of the day in the party headquarters today. There is plenty of speculation about who will be able to govern with whom after the elections. The strategic games are already in full swing and will only increase after June 9, when the mediators, scouts, informateurs and formateurs will enter the arena.
Vision sharp
On May 1, all parties focused on their vision: the purchasing power of the Flemish/Belgian is central. For the left, wages and benefits must increase. For the right only wages. Benefits may even decrease for those who are not diligent enough in looking for work or for those who are not ‘ours’. The universal dimension of social security is under pressure and there is almost a wall-to-wall consensus that newcomers have fewer rights than native Belgians.
Sometimes it goes very far: for example, Open Vld wants to reduce pensions for those who have been unemployed, while those employees have often paid social contributions (and therefore also the insurance against unemployment that is the stamp money) for decades. Something that cannot be said of many small businesses. Their minimum pension increased, without their contributions correspondingly increasing. It’s just one example of many.
The themes addressed by the 505 concerts go much broader than maintaining purchasing power (however important that is). Climate, peace, tolerance, humanity towards refugees, these are all footnotes in the election manifestos of most parties, especially those in the center or to the right.
The budget balance now suddenly seems to be the most important issue. But there is also fog about that. On the one hand, the N-VA proclaims that significant savings are needed, but it also wants a tax cut, which means even less income for the treasury.
The community theme is also not at the top of the agenda. That should not come as a surprise. The current parliament must outline the outlines of the next state reform by declaring a number of articles from the Constitution open to revision. That does not help.
The universal dimension of social security is under pressure
In addition, if we can believe the polls, it seems almost impossible to obtain the two-thirds majority necessary to revise the Constitution without the votes of PVDA and/or Vlaams Belang. Few observers in Wetstraat believe in state reform.
Attack on social security
That is why N-VA chairman Bart De Wever do everything we can to govern federally. There are the levers to implement his policy. A policy that amounts to significant cuts in social security. After all, there is no more money to be had elsewhere, except from the states. And the idea that Flanders must make significant savings to contain the Belgian deficits and reduce the debt is of course unbearable for a Flemish nationalist.
De Wever also realizes that he will have no choice but to govern with the PS (just as he may have to bring Groen on board in Antwerp to maintain his majority). He hopes that the rump agreement he concluded with the PS chairman in August 2020 Paul Magnette contains enough “fat fish” to convince his supporters. That negotiating memorandum is still shining in a remote corner of the N-VA party website.
It is striking that De Wever already made far-reaching concessions on a social level. For example, he agreed that the growth standard in social security would be 2.5% and that the welfare envelope that serves to increase benefits would be maintained. He also approved the increase of minimum pensions to 1,500 euros net.
The current N-VA program mainly aims to save on social security. And what do you think? Voka of the fact that De Wever also wanted to consider a tax on capital gains from the sale of shares. A…capital gains tax. De Wever also approved the intention to keep two nuclear power stations open – like Vivaldi. The agreement with Magnette did not mention investments in new nuclear power stations.
At the community level, De Wever was waving a ‘fat fish’ at the time: a ‘bicephalic’ or ‘tripcephalic’ effect. This strong example of Wetstratees means that ministers from the two (three) language groups are appointed within the federal government, each of whom is responsible for their own region.
A wonderful miracle would be that politicians no longer see their business purely as a football match
For example, there would be a federal minister for health care in Flanders and a minister of labor for each region. This system was already applied in the last century in the domains of culture and education, in anticipation of the transfer of those powers to the communities.
Blueprint of coalition agreement
It is actually a loophole to implement a ‘Flemish’ policy within the federal government without state reform. It is crucial that the federal government – as in corona times – consults closely with the state governments to coordinate policies.
At the headquarters of the trade unions and health insurance companies, the purple-yellow agreement of Magnette and De Wever is read with a magnifying glass. The idea that social security could be split in a roundabout way is unbearable to them. They fear that through this ‘bicephalic’ system, Flanders can limit unemployment over time or impose cuts in health care.
On the socialist side, the memorandum is strongly put into perspective. Almost its entire social component was realized by Vivaldi. According to them, it is also ironic that De Wever is now so virulently waging war against Vivaldi, while the purple-yellow bill actually did not differ much from the Vivaldi coalition agreement.
The ‘trick’ with the two or three-person ministers is also minimized. Socialists say that De Wever was happy with a dead sparrow at the time. Without state reform through a constitutional amendment, only very minor reforms could be implemented through that system.
The Greens say that there is a good chance that De Wever, Magnette and Vooruit will be chairman Melissa Depraetere (and/or Conner Rousseau) with that 2020 memorandum, we will have a blueprint of the coalition agreement ready after June 9. A government without greens, of course. According to them, the entire election campaign with sharp polarization around social, budgetary and community issues would be nothing more than a shadow play.
It will hopefully upset the asses of the – hopefully – thousands of concerned citizens who will descend on Antwerp tomorrow for the 505 concerts. They want to maintain the illusion that in a democracy the cards are shuffled by the voter and that it is only then that politicians have their turn.
Admiral Freebee will put it like this: I’m betting on a miracle again. A wonderful miracle would be that politicians no longer see their profession merely as a football match but as the noblest profession in the world.
