I've probably said it before and I'll say it again: I do not consider it appropriate to be demonstratively enthusiastic when what you're really feeling is malicious delight. But if I tell you that I was surprised to read in the 3 December issue of Het Parool that yet another referendum is on the cards, this time in conjunction with the plan of privatising GVB, the Municipal Transport Company, you in turn shouldn't be surprised at my rallying cries to all my fellow citizens to say no, with the additional advice to the electorate of not bothering to bone up on the subject matter. If the tide cannot be turned, by all means let the politicians have their hollow victory, which they invariably owe to having manipulated the vote, but whatever you do, be sure thereafter to let them go under in the quagmire of their own defence. Neither modesty nor vanity can remain hidden for ever, so this particular hall of fame will not remain the same.
But let's be practical for a minute. The Municipal Executive is to retain post-privatisation control in its capacity of controlling shareholder, so to speak. Controlling shareholders tend to insist that things are done the way they want them done, which to me sounds as if there shouldn't be much difference between a privatised and a non-privatised scenario except where it concerns public servant staffing levels. This makes it considerably easier in an ethical sense to manipulate this referendum in support of alternative purposes, and I would therefore like to suggest that all those who are against the subway, of the Inner City Constituent Council and of the Greater Amsterdam pipe dream in general, as well as all those in favour of that poxy little field in Sloten that nobody never even knew existed until they made it the topic of a referendum, should join forces, united in civic frustration, so as to push, under the guise of thwarting the privatisation of a public service (the very phrase, given the context!) which for many years has been run by pure chance with the cooperation of vast numbers of corrupt public servants (with all due respect for the splendid sense of humour displayed by the average tram driver, I hasten to add), for the final straw.
Then again, who am I to stop the most megalomaniacal project of this and the previous millennium, the Amsterdam subway? As a humble cyclist who at every junction loudly recites his recently revised rights: "Left has no right of way no matter how many horsepower you've got under your bonnet", do I qualify as an authority on the subject? So let's put it succinctly: if they were to abolish the constituent councils as well as reshaping the subway into a twinned orbital road, I'd be more than happy to resign to being ruled by a left-wing municipal executive. It's not as if the centre and the right are that conducive to gaining an insight, after all …
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