From puinhopen van acht jaar Paars

History

In August 2001, Pim Fortuyn declared he was going to enter national politics . ^[11] ALTHOUGH At That Time He Had not yet aligned himself with the recently founded Livable Netherlands, He Did express His intention to release a book later On That year Which would be titled Acht jaar wachtlijsten ( Eight years of waiting lists ) and Would Reflect on the two consecutive Purple administrations. ^[11] [12] When Livable Netherlands asked for their lijsttrekker , Fortuyn declared that their electoral manifesto had to be in line with its upcoming book. ^[12]

Acht jaar wachtlijsten was first published by the formerly Marxist publisher Van Gennep, who had also published a previous work by Fortuyn. ^[13] However, Van Gennep shares with Fortuyn in November 2001 when the latter became close to confirming the existence of Livable Netherlands, ^[13] citing the incompatibility between their Marxist roots and the party’s political positions. ^[13] Karakter BV, an imprint of Uithoorn , was announced as the publisher. ^[13]

After Fortuyn and Livable Netherlands ended their cooperation, ^[14] Fortuyn founded his own party called „Pim Fortuyn List“. ^[15] Whenever was asked what he wanted to do, he was asked about his book by way of answer. ^{[5] [16] [17]}

In February 2002, Fortuyn reported to de Volkskrant that this book was now called De puinhopen van acht jaar Paars . ^[18] On this occasion, he also said that his rationale for authoring it was the perceived laziness of the Dutch media. „As you may know, you can know how to do it so well.“ So I have reviewed my thirteen books in English. “ Paid ,“ Fortuyn was quoted as saying. ^[18]

Synopsis

De puinhopen van acht jaar Paars is divided into ten chapters (including an epilogue). ^[19] Fortuyn’s view of the Purple government’s policies, ^[19] [20] in required, unreserved criticism. ^[21]The chapters are titled politics, healthcare, education, security, restyling of the welfare state, agriculture and infrastructure, public government, immigration policy, and foreign affairs. ^[19]

Publication

Release of the book was planned for March 14, drank accidentally It was available two days Earlier Because The publisher failed to instruct book shops about the embargo for the Intended date. ^[22] In many stores, the book sold out on March 12, and the initial printing of 10,000 was already almost exhausted by March 13; ^[23] has second printing, again of 10,000 copies, had already been ordered one day prior. ^[22] [24]

Fortuyn’s murder on May 6 helped to increase the sales of Puinhopen even further. ^[25] Between May 6 and May 16, 2002, Karakter had more than 25,000 copies, bringing total circulation up to that point to 125,000. ^[25]

The book went on to become one of the biggest hits of the Dutch book trade in 2002, selling over 150,000 copies in the year of its release alone. ^[26] That year De puinhopen van acht jaar paars was the best-selling non-fiction book in the Netherlands, the third overall best selling book (after Nicci French ’s Land of the Living and Donna Tartt ‚ s The Little Friend ) , and the best selling book by a Dutch author. ^[26]

Sales of De puinhopen van acht jaar paars fell off in the summer of 2002. ^[27] HOWEVER, in May 2003, coinciding with the first commemoration of Fortuyn’s death, Puinhopen saw a small dirty face jump, with book stores purchasing „Hundreds“ of copies to sell to their customers. ^[27]

In the run-up to the tenth commemoration of Fortuyn’s death in 2012, Karakter announced the total sales of Puinhopen to be 270,000. ^[4] On May 14 of that year, an e-book version of the book was released. ^[28] [29]

Pieing incident

On March 14, Fortuyn presented officiellement From puinhopen van acht jaar Paars in the political society Nieuwspoort (News gate) in The Hague . The event garnered massive press attendance as Fortuyn had become a major agenda setter . ^[30] During the conference, Fortuyn Was walking by members of the Biologische bakkers Brigade (literally „biological bakers‘ Brigade“), ^[31]a radical left-wing movement Fortuyn’s „racism“ should not be given „a voice“, and wishing Fortuyn’s party to receive „zero seats“ in the upcoming elections. Fortuyn is one of the perpetrators of Fortuyn, but it is not a matter of opinion, but should be treated as a felony . ^[10]

After this incident, Fortuyn began expressing fear of being murdered. ^[32] After resumption of the event – when Fortuyn had washed the fecal matter of the pie off himself – he scolded Prime Minister Wim Kok for not protecting all of his citizens. ^[33] Fortuyn’s supporters also blamed the attending journalists for not doing anything to stop the pie attacks. ^[34]

Reception

Job Frieszo of the television news program NOS Journaal reviewed the book on its release day, calling it „unusual“ for an election manifesto to reflect the opinion of just one individual. Ideas like withdrawing from the Schengen Agreement were branded „unrealistic“. ^[5] Current affairs show Nova / Den Haag Vandaag called it the „funniest election manifesto so far“. ^[7]

Hubert Smeets of NRC Handelsblad wrote a negative review of the book, in which he compared Fortuyn to a burglar and rejected his ideas as duplicitous. ^[35] „Things could get crowded with shopping carts and cardboard boxes in the hallways of the non-privatized railway stations or other indoor places“, he concluded.

Kees Lunshof of De Telegraaf was negative, claiming Puinhopen was „pubtalk“, „nonsense“ and „asocial“, whereas Het Parool Writer Kees Tamboer praised Fortuyn’s plans for Dutch law on sick leave . ^[34]

In an op-ed of May 2012, De Volkskrant columnist Martin Sommer dubbed Puinhopen „indeed an unusual pamphlet“. ^[36] Citing Fortuyn’s reference to his departed mother and his colorful language, Sommer saw a world of differences between it and election manifestos of, for instance, the CDA and PvdA parties. ^[36]

Political reaction

Political response to Puinhopen cam immediately. On March 14, while the press conference on the book is still going on, members of the Socialist Party approached Fortuyn with a pamphlet containing their party’s analysis of Fortuyn’s views. ^[37] It was titled Leest u zijn boeken maar – of pimpelpaarse antwoorden van Pim Fortuyn ( Just read His books – the deep purple responses from Pim Fortuyn ) and Concluded That Fortuyn Embraced right-wing solutions to problems Caused by right-wing politics. ^[17] According to the socialists, if Fortuyn’s policies were adopted he would be even more purple than the Purple administrations themselves.^[17] However, SP leader Jan Marijnissenalso lambasted other political leaders who thought reading the book was not worth their time.^[38]

The lijsttrekker of the CDA , Jan Peter Balkenende , agreed with the SP’s that Fortuyn offered only purple solutions. ^[39] Balkenende was negative about Fortuyn’s „return to the government“ when looking for solutions, as well as its calls for ending the year-on-year increases in the respective healthcare and education budgets. ^[39]

The reception of Puinhopen from the ruling VVD and PvdA party Was Largely negative. ALTHOUGH prime minister Wim Kok regarded Puinhopen to be „a good read“, he Fortuyn Criticized for penning „the most abhorrent accusations“ against His government. ^[40] According to Kok, Fortuyn’s claims were „on the edge of being acceptable“. ^[40] Ad Melkert , the lijsttrekker of the PvdA, stated that Fortuyn would make the Netherlands „less strong, and less social“, ^[39] while VVD party leader and lijsttrekker Hans Dijkstalstated that he „held his breath“ when reading the book, and lamented the absence of a paragraph stating the financial consequences of Fortuyn’s ideas. ^[39]

Legacy

The title of the book (sometimes simply stated as “ De puinhopen van Paars“ ) has gained widespread notoriety to depict the policies of the first and second Kok cabinets in a negative way. ^{[41] [42] [43]} Occasionally the term has also been applied to the second Cabinet Rutte at the start of the 2012-2017 legislature (particularly by Geert Wilders ) ^{[44] [45] [46]} or as a synonym for Fortuyn’s 2002 general election campaign. ^{[47] [48] [49]}

On the last page of the paper , Fortuyn promised a sequel, which he planned to release in four years‘ time, at the end of the next legislature, and in which he would dwell on the successes and failures of his parliamentary career. ^[50]Fortuyn was shot and killed on May 6, 2002.

On April 25 a group of Dutch comedians released a book parodying Puinhopen called Expired From puinhopen van professor Pim Fortuyn ( The Wreckage of Professor Pim Fortuyn ). ^[51] According to its authors, the audience was able to write a book with „stupid plans“. ^[51] ALTHOUGH initial sales of the book were good parody, 10,000 copies dans le first FEW days icts of release, ^[51] It was pulled off the market Following Fortuyn’s death. ^[52]

Puinhopen aussi inspired Flemish N-VA politician Geert Bourgeois to write From puinhoop van paars-Groen ( The wreckage of Purple- green ) in late 2002, which – like Fortuyn’s book, qui attacked This is the current Dutch government – HAD beens written to accuse the Then current cabinet of Belgium of misgovernment. According to Bourgeois, the word puinhopen was the only one justified to summarize three years of Purple-Green. ^[53]

References