The Weekly Forum - 30 april 2026
04 mei 2026 | Forum for Democracy Intl
We keep hearing about the gender pay gap – the fact that men generally earn more than women. This is taken as proof that women are disadvantaged in society. Naturally, governments, which are always looking for ways to augment their power, see this as a problem which must be solved. But what if the pay gap is due not to unfairness but to lifestyle choices? What if it is due to the fact that women work part time more than men, or that they work full-time and unpaid at home, as mothers? FVD’s parliamentary leader, Lidewij de Vos, addressed these issues in a recent speech to Parliament. As usual, it is only FVD which dares to break free of the stifling consensus to describe the world as it actually is, rather than indulging in meaningless virtue signalling.
Read Lidewij de Vos’ speech here
The great German-American political philosopher, Eric Voegelin, argued that modernity is characterised by a ‘dream world’ in which non-recognition of reality is the first principle. This is indeed often FVD’s own message. Ralf Dekker recently noted that the budgetary provisions of the new Dutch government take no account of the massive economic shock which is about to hit the Netherlands, Europe and the world. Instead of preparing for severe shortages of fuel and food, the government proposes merely to keep calm and carry on. The Dutch government seems keener on being top of the class in the EU and NATO than in looking after its own people - who are ever worse off but on whom the government keeps piling on extra taxes on foodstuffs, often in the name of health. The most Orwellian aspect is the new “freedom tax” designed to fund the war in Ukraine – at the same time as a new tax is imposed on camper vans, thus reducing the actual freedom of the ordinary Dutchman to set off on holiday in accordance with a timeless national tradition.
Watch Ralf Dekker’s speech here
The clash between ideology and reality is perhaps nowhere greater than in the issue of immigration. Towns and villages all over Europe are forced to accept large numbers of asylum seekers. When a hundred or more fighting-age single men suddenly turn up in small communities, people get scared. Given that 1,000 asylum seekers arrive every week in the Netherlands, there are tens of thousands of men to relocate. When you learn that Somalis are 20 times more likely to be suspected of sexual offences than native Dutch people, or that rapes in Spain have risen by 260% since 2017, you start to understand the problem. In one Dutch village, Loosdrecht, demonstrations against this turned violent recently when police attacked protesters. If this does not stop, Europe’s villages will become like Europe’s towns – Europeans will be in a minority. Tom Russcher laid all this out recently in committee, with devastating clarity.
Watch Tom Russcher’s speech here
The former US army officer, Stanislav Krapivnik, was our guest on The Forum this week, to discuss the collapse of American military power. He is a brilliant military analyst. If you missed the live watch back.