transparency
I believe transparency is a good basis for public credibility.
Transparency of individuals and organisations is necessary for finding truth, because it reveals relations and interests.
There should be a balance between transparency and privacy though, so I'm very open for suggestions on what I could add to, or should remove from this page!
Personal focus
1 a) Building and maintainging meaningful relationships with kind, ambitous and / or inspiring people around me. 1 b) Taking care of my health (for me, mental & physical health are very much intertwined) by running, walking, sleeping well, and spending more time with people and less time with technology.
2) Elected council member @ Municipal Council of Enschede
3) Active membership of Volt Europa to improve effective societal engagement of (aspiring) members. On the European, national (Netherlands) and local (Twente) level – which also includes regularly meeting wonderful people from Volt Münster and organising events with them.
4) Thesis @ my study Cyber Security at the University of Twente. I struggle with finding the discipline to work on my thesis, so tips are welcome!
5) Learning through listening podcasts, reading books & articles and having dialogues with anyone who is up for it.
People around me
I don't believe in being independent, and I don't aspire to become independent. Many people have helped me to become who I have become, and still help me to do what I do. I love you :–) – My girlfriend, who complements me in so many aspects – My parents, who have already supported me for 29 years – My brother, who sharpens my thoughts and ideals
My dear friends, who: – Inspire me with their ideals – Walk with me – Talk with me – Run with me – Give me advice on books, jobs, courses, health and relationships – Give me feedback on mistakes & suggestions for improvement – Offer their precious time to have conversations and discussions :–)
When in doubt, follow the...
Money
Savings: ~€90.000 Investments: ~11.000 Study loan: ~€45.000
Current income
1) €2313,37 (netto), €2644,06 (bruto) per month as renumeration for being a member of the Municipal Council and for being the chairperson of our parliamentary group.
Investments
I often hear people from my age talking about investments. I don't really know what to think about investments. I don't want to invest in something that doesn't really tanglibly add value to society. If I invest I want to invest on something tangible. My money is a loan from the government anyway, so I know I shouldn't really invest. But then again, I understand the point that money on your bank account is only losing value. So for a low amount of money, I feel that I have to try how 'my way of investing' works for me. Ideally, I would like to invest in small non-profit entrepreneurs who need capital to grow a bit. If you have other ideas or suggestions, please let me know!
Currently, I invest in 2 things: 1) €10.000 (as of November 2024) in the Triodos Fair Share Fund via my bank. Through microfinancing in low-income countries, it should somehow help entrepreneurs there while giving return on investment for me. Let's see. 2) €1000 (August 2022) for the CrowdAboutNow loan campaign by the Dutch satiristic media outlet De Speld. If their business goes well, they will return my investment periodically over 5 years, with 3% per year. Let's see.
Periodical donations
I am in the 10% club, which means I strive to donate 10% of my net monthly income: see https://www.tienprocent.club/.
Currently, the division of this €2313,37 / 10 = €231,34 is: 1) €101,22 to Volt Netherlands. 2) €25,72 to Standing Together. 3) €10,00 to the Signal Technology Foundation.
The rest of the 10% I donate via incidental donations.
Currently, to hit the 10% I need to donate on average this amount per month: €231,34 – €101,22 – €25,72 – €10 = €94,40
Associations
1) Volt since 2021 → I became a member of the political party Volt as I wanted to become politically active myself. 2) Water Natuurlijk since 2023. It is a political party only active in the Water board (waterschappen) elections. 3) Nexus Institute since 2023. I read about this institute online and joined this Nexus-conference in 2022 and the Nexus-lecture of Emmanuel Macron in 2023. The founder, Rob Riemen, said that by joining the Nexus-institute you become a citizen of the Republic of Ideas. It studies European culture, European humanism, in dimenions like art, literature and philosophy. I was quite amazed. 4) Natuurmonumenten since 2023. I want to do more to experience and protect nature and this feels like a great association to be a part of!
Journalistic Subscriptions
1) De Correspondent 2) NRC
Public broadcaster memberships 1) VPRO → I became a member because of Zondag met Lubach :–) Now I'm also a big fan of Danny's Wereld. 2) Human → I became a member of Human because of one video that helped me a lot during a depression. I also like that they make stuff about philosophy. 3) Zwart → I became a member of Zwart because of the worldwide Black Lives Matter demonstrations. I didn't feel like I heard stories about racism from people in my bubble, so I definitely had to look somwhere outside of my bubble. I hope they will realise their goal of giving specifically people of colour more stage in the media. So far I have seen nothing but I believe they are still setting up the organisation (?).
Incidental or historical donations
2024-11-15: €277 to Stem op een Vrouw on Equal Pay Day. The pay gap in the Netherlands is 12%, and €277 is 12% of my net income this month.
2024-04-22: €1000 to Mona van der Berg, a photographer, lawyer and activist who is writing a book to give survivors and victoms of conflict-related sexual violence a face and a voice.
2023-10: €214 to StopArmoede053 after organising 2 meeting with Joris Luyendijk about the '7 ticks' (7 vinkjes in Dutch) together with Evelien van Hattum. It's very inspiring to hear about what Evelien is doing.
2023-09: €113 to Wikimedia Foundation for running Wikipedia, which I use regularly.
2023-06: €214 to Strong Minds after looking at the top 'poverty & health' charities of DoneerEffetief.
2023-05: €214 to Sea Shepherd after seeing Whale Nation by Jean-Albert Lievre.
2023: €25 to Concordia because it was on a poster on the toilet and I just went to a free event for which I would have been happy to pay for.
2022: €50 to AntennaPod: via OpenCollective
2022: €25 to Wikipedia
Historical income
2024: 2023: 2022: Aggregate income as specified on tax declaration: €19662 2022: A donation (€100.000) from my parents to maybe buy a house at some point in time. This privilege is also known as the 'jubelton' in the Netherlands. It is visible on the Waterworks of our money map by Carlijn Kingma, roughly at (x,y) coordinates (2,3) if you see the whole map as a 5x5 grid. 2011 – 2022: Monthly donation from my parents. For them, it felt like a bottomless well. Well... :') 2021 – December: €750 as keynote-speaker (1,5 hours) at the 'Future of Psychology' symposium of study association Dimensie of the University of Twente. 2021 – June: €1250 for my Show me the Data! series for the University of Twente's online talk show Campus Talks 2017-2020: I gave art & architecture tours on the campus of the University of Twente, for ~€45 for a 1-hour tour (we also got paid for preparation). It costs you €70 per hour. Or, if you organise a reunion for your association or student house, you can contact the alumni bureau and ask for a tour for free!
—-Last updated: 15-11-2024—-