Arrogance blinds

For sure, every fervent and loyal blog reader remembers the recent story about meeting a media mogul and the revelation of shyness.
The powerlessness to approach the authority and present the project “The most beautiful people in the world” to him.
Coming to the conclusion sometimes there is a high level of cowardice present.

Yesterday was an opportunity to take revenge.
To show the world cowardliness can be overcome.
That it is a big boy nevertheless promoting the project “The most beautiful people in the world” .

There was an invitation to be interviewed in a well known Dutch radio program.
Therefore on Saturday the trip was made to the city of Utrecht where the program took place in an old fashioned bar.
Arriving in the bar, as a guest of the radio program, the request was to go to a special room where other invited persons were waiting.

One of them was Ronald Plasterk.
He is a 53 year old Dutch politician of the Labour Party.


Before, he was a molecular geneticist writing thesis like "Inversion of the G segment of bacteriophage Mu: analysis of a genetic switch".
Mr. Plasterk has been Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the past and is now member of the House of Representatives.
He is the financial spokesman of his political party and because of the economic crises he therefore is very often in the limelight.

Saturday this Mr. Plasterk, the former Minister of a Government, the current member of Parliament, the scientist who knows everything about how the G segment inverses, was sitting at the same table.
Alone and daydreaming.

Immediately the memory of being unable to approach the media mogul was painfully remembered and instantly the mind was made up not to have this happen a second time.

Politely a personal introduction was made and he asked what was the reason to be also in the radio program.
When explained he said he had heard about the project “The most beautiful people in the world”.
He had seen it in the newspaper.
Besides that, he had nothing more to say.
He looked away to continue his daydreaming.
Not interested in a conversation.

Meanwhile the Queen of Dreams had joined the table and she was introduced to Mr. Plasterk.
An opportunity to try again to have a conversation with him.
It was explained to the former Minister of Culture that the project “The most beautiful people in the world” was made without any subsidizing by the Government or sponsoring of commercial companies.
In the coming years the Dutch Government is going to reduce its budget with 18 billion Euros and for the Arts in Holland this means a reduction with 220 million Euros.
Less money to finance projects, exhibitions, purchases, etc
This is something Mr. Plasterk is dealing with as well.
As a politician with a focus on Culture a deduction of over 20 % of the total budget for the arts is something he as a Labour representative does not like at all.
By explaining that the project “The most beautiful people in the world” was performed without Government assistance it was made clear that global art projects could still be made.
That other ways of financing were available.

This remark triggered a long monologue from the man who knows everything about how the G segment inverses explaining that the majority of the artists in the Netherlands manage to make works and do projects without Government financial assistance.

This was an astonishing statement because also the Queen of Dreams knows that this is completely untrue.
The majority of the many artists in the Netherlands exist based on Government support.
There is no book, no major exhibition and no major art-project in the Netherlands or the Government has been requested money to make it possible.

After this idiotic monologue again Mr. Plasterk looked away, indicating that as for him, the conversation had ended.

So we all three stayed there sitting around that table: the arrogant man silent and absent.
The other two pleasantly chatting away.

One thing though in spite of Mr. Plasterk’s attitude: he was offered the business card which he put in a pocket of his jacket.

Later, downstairs, the interview took place in front of an audience in the large bar.
Returning, Mr. Plasterk was sitting right behind waiting for his turn to be interviewed.
He knocked on the shoulder and asked if he could see the photo book of the project “The most beautiful people in the world” .
The Queen of Dreams, sitting in a better position to hand it over, gave it to him.
And then she noticed he went through the book without seeing that each page can be folded open.
The man who knows everything about how the G segment inverses missed therefore most of the project “The most beautiful people in the world”.


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