Transcription
A.D.Dirkzwager
Oranje Nasaulaan 38
31 61 BC Rhoon
Stuart Cook
Lower Farm House
Hambledon GU 84 HE
Surrey
Rhoon, 20st June 1993
Dear Stuart,
thank you for your learned explanation of the 16th moment on today's messy world in hindsight. I'm beginning to think that the communist threat of the Russian bear and the Chinese tiger wasn't so bad after all.
It was a convenient arrangement that allowed politicians to deal with it in its simplicity. That has all changed. The political, financial, social and economic aspects come into conflict in a likely integrated market.
It has all become too complex for our Western leaders. It seems we have forgotten the basic rules.
In the old days, when a gentleman had a difference of opinion with another gentleman, he would invite the other to a duel, that is, a single fight.
Strict rules had been agreed upon for conducting one battle and, above all, both opponents fought with the same type of weapon. Fair's fair.
Don't you think it is unfair if European manufacturers have to compete with manufacturers from emerging countries? Free trade implies no rules at all.
Why should those countries, whose governments condone slave labor for their workers and environmental pollution, have free access to the purchasing power of 300 million Europeans? Yes, they can sell in Europe, if they meet our strict competition rules, as is the case with single combat.
Maybe I have become a limited protectionist to save jobs in Europe. The Common Market, a single trading bloc, must protect itself from outsiders trying to sell their goods at dumping prices in Europe while keeping prices high in their own domestic markets. Equally important is limiting the import of goods produced in low-wage countries if these imports endanger our own industries.
Why do we have to jeopardize the carefully created social prosperity (over ±4 decades) because we have to compete with a Chinese, who only owns a loincloth, or with a worker from the former Eastern Bloc, who has not undergone democratic reforms since the Second World War and has such a low standard of living that he cannot even buy food for his dog? In all likelihood he will eat it himself.
Multinationals, international investment funds, etc. will object to this restrictive view, because they will then not be able to continue their arbitrage between markets. The weakness of today's world is that multinational corporations have amassed too many resources and overshadowed state power.
We have seen that central banks cannot fend off the enormous speculation against their currencies. The essence is that these supranational private institutions must not destroy the social fabric of our societies. Yes, I have contributed to supporting the social democratic system during my working life. It could be that 70% or 80% of my income is redistributed by the government. In return, we got a country with social justice. There are hardly any beggars, good education for everyone, we take care of pensioners, we have a 48-hour working week and labor councils, in short, a decent and civilized community has emerged. Tens of thousands of foreigners are jealous of us and seek refuge in the Netherlands.
Why abolish acquired civilization? I do not want to compete with a Korean contract worker and there is no need to. Yes, I agree that you cannot have your social chapter (the cake) and accept (eat) a disruptive "Free Trade" at the same time. "Free Trade" is not the bogeyman of politics, but the disguised free trade advocated by the respected multinationals that upsets the balance.Once again, I believe that fair and favorable free trade only exists between trading blocs that apply similar rules to their home markets. That is the essence of exhausting GATT negotiations.
Another important approach to creating jobs is promoting innovation. Historically, Europeans have been good at developing new products. Let us improve conditions for new technologies, which require highly skilled labor and capital to finance new high-tech industries.
As I indicated above, I do not share Prime Minister John Major's view on the social chapter. It is too much of a 'deja vu' -18th century 'Laisser fair -Laisser aller' capitalist vision. The self-regulating visible hand of Prime Minister John Major is the power of the market. No way!!
The population of the EEC consists of 300 million decent people (not Asian indentured servants/poor devils) with enormous purchasing power. Europe must cherish that purchasing power, otherwise they will all end up on the waste dump, like Adriaan Dirkzwager.That brings me to my own predicament.
Adriaan D. Dirkzwager has committed himself 200 percent to Lloyds Bank. The Rotterdam branch had positively contributed to the results in 1992 and in the first five months of 1993 the results of the branch were above budget.
I was fired for no other reason than because of the centralization of the Dutch activities in Amsterdam. The question is, "Why me?"
Sitting on a raft on the high seas with 11 other people. The raft is designed for only 10 people. What would be the most ethical approach to choosing one person to get off the raft? First of all: are you asking for a volunteer? If there isn't one, then you would be applying loser's bad luck to the lottery draw, wouldn't you?
Not so at Lloyds Bank. The man with the highest salary that the bank previously valued most highly is nominated first to become redundant.
I am reduced to a simple cost factor. How trivial! Recently I really enjoyed reading Oscar's Wilde's "Picture of Dorian Gray". I quote from the book: "It's not good for morale to see bad acting." It's just a slight variation, but in the same vein: 'It's not good for morale to experience poor management.
Brian Constant called today (June 21).
In his opinion, an amount of Nlg 2.5 million is a bit too much for an amicable settlement. I replied that any amount less would land me in poverty and that this amount would be peanuts for Lloyds Bank.
I gave Brian Constant 'cum suis' the chance to show that they hopefully have even an ounce of morality in their heads.
If the Bank does pay my calculated damages, I will not complain about the amount of CEO Pitman's salary. After all, some of his bad decisions caused the Bank to suffer huge losses and he is still employed.
I greet you with a 'Summa ius, summa inuria', love to Ursula too.
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