Dennis Ram

Biography

“You can change everything with a positive attitude”

While I was born in The Hague, I moved to Groningen as a student and stayed there. I ended up representing the PVV in the provincial council and the municipal council for 12 years. My interests are very wide, spanning from artificial intelligence to physics and from mathematics to anthropology.

Constructive attitude

During my time with a big telecoms company, my manager once told me I did not have a constructive bone in my body. I started there as a call centre employee, where I learned how to deal with angry callers trying to solve a problem. It was a valuable lesson: you can only solve a problem together if you can empathise with the other person’s situation and understand the needs driving their emotions. Listen closely, acknowledge the problem, and analyse and solve it together. Empathy is not the same as pity: acknowledge the problem and other people’s feelings without taking it personally. I have found the same approach to work perfectly in politics.

Compensation for earthquake damage

Since 2011, earthquakes caused by gas extractions have wreaked havoc in Groningen. I am proud that the PVV had the provincial assembly unanimously pass a motion to reverse the burden of proof for citizens in 2014. Mister Klever later doubled down on our success in the House of Representatives, as a result of which all victims have received the compensation they deserved.

Domestic violence

Domestic violence against women is a well-known and terrible problem, but the approximately 80,000 male victims reporting domestic violence every year are much less known. Besides, they’re only the tip of the iceberg, because many men are very reluctant to file a report. We need much more money to fight all forms of domestic violence.