What "now?

What can I write now, at this time in this place? At the time of writing, we are several weeks advanced in the era of Trump and several weeks away from the elections in the Netherlands. At the time you are reading this text, the latter are behind us. You know as you read this, what I writing, in another now, do not yet know. You know how the elections went on March 15 this year. What can I write 'now' that will hold your attention 'later'?

I could focus on the positive things that strike me in all the craziness around us. That journalism seems to be getting a boost at a time when certainties are under attack. Journalists are investigating with more determination than before, are brighter and more motivated. And that's a good thing. To keep 'the rest of the world' alert they chase the facts. Perhaps finding "the truth" is a bit too ambitious, but unraveling lies is also important.

Journalism is doing its job. And around me I see "ordinary people" staying alert to not getting used to the rhetoric of Trump and other demagogues. This is also very important, and will not be easy yet. How quickly do people get used to change around them, and how quickly does our acceptance level change? What once seemed unacceptable may be experienced as quite normal not much later. Alertness, then, is what it's largely about.

In addition to journalists, artists also traditionally play a role in maintaining this alertness. As feelers in a society, signaling, pointing, and sketching possible future scenarios, proposing possible solutions. I sincerely hope that artists will continue to do this. Always and everywhere in the world. Keep looking, keep signaling, keep thinking and don't follow the crowd. Be autonomous in judging, in thinking and in doing. Set an example in this, be critical. Be the artist who - unlike me - can be at the moment of creation as well as at the moment of reading, seeing or experiencing. Be sensitive, alert and creative. Keep making art. Keep making the world more beautiful than it is, keep explaining the world, keep putting your finger on the problem, keep showing solidarity and do not let yourself be led by fear. So that we continue to believe in a better world, so that we continue to look critically at the current one, so that we can continue to hold those in power accountable for their position and actions, and so that we overcome fear.