First, a little superficial history. In the Netherlands, we’ve had a very liberal society these past 40 years. Freedom was the default here, and everybody could do whatever they wanted. It was an utopia. I mean, we even had a somewhat working democratic system!
Over the years, I’ve gotten to know quite some people that are from non-Dutch cultural origin. They see us in a very different way than I do. When these people think of The Netherlands they see freedom, open drugs policies, people that respect others. They see opportunity and liberty. This is, however, often based on a lack of information. (Let’s be honest here: If you were to ask any Dutch person about Germany, most of them would start blabbering about lederhosen and beer as well.) And that is not a problem, because that is what information is for. Let me offer you my perspective.
About Myself
Like any warm-blooded Dutch guy, I love talking about myself. So here it goes; The Netherlands: The country I grew up in. I worked, lived and went to school here. My entire family lives here. I can only swear convincingly in Dutch. I eat a lot of cheese, and frown upon clogs and windmills. I like speaking really loud, drinking beer, cursing, and I continually concern myself with everybody else’s business. As you can see, I am very Dutch.
The Netherlands are a very crowded place. As I’m writing this, there’s almost 17 million people registered in the country. These people all live in an area of 41.500 square kilometers, which makes the country one of the most densely populated ones in our neck of the woods. That is even regarding the entire countryside, because cities like Amsterdam are infinitely more busy and full. Couple that with the fact that we’re all giants over here; The Dutch are literally on average the tallest people in the world. Add a love for loud talking, a screeching, tongue-knotting language, and you’ve got chaos.
Everywhere is noise
Without noise, Dutch people cannot live. A small anecdote about this; The government replaced the air raid signaling system. The old system was unreliable, and needed to be tested. So each first monday of the month at noon, the sirens made it sound as if war was coming. When the new system was introduced, these test weren’t needed any more. This was a great improvement upon the previous, noisy system. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard one of those things from up close, they are loud. —And when I say loud, I mean an ear-shattering 135 db at 30 meters— Anyway, the noisy tests weren’t needed anymore than once a year. The designers of the system were happy. But not the people! There were calls, emails, and signatures. People felt it was worse to not have a blaring air raid signal across the country once a month. Why, I have no idea. Some said tradition, some said security, most said something along the lines of “I like the noise!”. Then the government chimed in with the ridiculous idea that citizens would need to hear the sirens more often as “not to forget the signaling and the actions to be taken”. So now, even though it’s unnecessary, each monday it’s as if the Germans are dropping in again. (To smelt our bicycles for the production of tanks, of course.)
Another story. I recently came across a brochure. It displayed products for the visual enhancement of cars. Spoilers, shiny wheel rims, stickers for the windows, exhaust pipes, etcetera. There was also a section with audio equipment for use in a car. Speakers, subwoofers, and the likes. What caught my attention specifically was a device called a vibration unit. What this device did was weird. It did not produce audio, but when attached to the car, it would vibrate. Similar to a subwoofer it created rhythmic noise. People watching the car got the impression there was really loud music being played inside. This is a device not for creating an audible signal, but noise for the outside environment. This device breaks into the private sphere of people and forces upon them your musical taste. (Which, for maximum effect, is often rather simplistic.) So, noise is what we thrive on here. And as you know, noise makes you sick.
Was it always like this?
From what I’ve heard, this country used to be nice. It used to be a safe haven for free thinkers and artists. But during the past decades the atmosphere has turned quite grim. There’s a very strong political current towards a Nationalist and Fascist government. So far this has culminated in having a raving lunatic as a kind of shadow prime minister, and nobody to oppose him in any meaningful way. What else have I noticed? An almost total cut of the arts budget. A lack of implementation of open data and free software in government organisations. The ever increasing amount of camera’s watching us is a sign as well. The totalitarian system our public transportation has turned into; Severely crippled, insecure chip cards, the complete shift of responsibility to the customer, the armed transportation security officers. Combine this with the very real political goal of running the country like a company, De BV Nederland (this roughly translates to The Netherlands Ltd.).
Of course, these things are my personal experience. They will look and feel different for others, but there’s a pattern here.
Being a nation of conquering traders since medieval times, commerce is the highest goal for the Dutch. Moral responsibility is not present in any layer of society, least of all in the strange version of bureaucracy we have. Modernized almost to a fault, yet a completely immovable moloch at the same time. The problem is this: Our government machine used to work as efficient as could be expected. Cutbacks and loss of knowledge has slowly hollowed it out, leaving a rather shaky platform for running a country on. The system is way too complex to critically analyze in this short piece. But every day the lines between large corporations and government blur, and that is dangerous for civilians any way you turn it. The great problem is that companies have only one goal: Make money. They have no moral obligation other than that. If such a system becomes a big part of a country’s identity, commercially ‘uninteresting’ groups (read: outsiders and minorities) will suffer.
If this continues, Dutch democracy will return to its state of a tyranny of the masses. We’re already more than halfway there, and it’s worse than a dictatorship. The people of The Netherlands are running towards it as fast as they possibly can, like lemmings off a cliff.
Taxes as pressure
My fiancée and I have been together for seven years. We have done our taxes together, as one financial unit, for this entire time. Two people living together used to be calculated as one financial unit, and be taxed accordingly. But suddenly not this year, since the definition of this unit was changed to only include married folk. This means our taxes were suddenly increased by three thousand euro’s on a yearly basis. Not to bicker, but that money would be better spend going into my drawer labeled ‘Getting Married’.
As long as you own a house, have children and get married, your life is easy in The Netherlands. However, if you do not buy a house or get married, you pay. Literally. Increased taxes, exemption of tax cuts, such things. I surely didn’t start writing this post to complain about taxes, but these are taxes that force people into living a certain way. Perhaps this is no different in other countries. It’s just very obvious here.
I don’t want to be what the government wants me to be. I have the right to do whatever makes me happy. As long as that doesn’t hurt others, I should not be punished for that pursuit. That is not the case here in The Netherlands. I am forced into a shape the people have decided upon as ‘acceptable’. That is not freedom.
Business
I’m a freelancer, which means I’m always on the lookout for a new gig. This means a lot of conversations with potential customers, a lot of talk about price, and a lot of talk about price versus quality. Dutch people think that they are entitled to things. An enormous shiny new plasma television? They have to have it, because they are entitled to it. This exceptionally childish attitude has surprised me many times. It permeates the business world as well. People always feel they are rightfully entitled your services, and because of that, they haggle. It is ridiculous. There’s literally no client I’ve had who didn’t try to talk down the price, get stuff for free, or just plainly tried to rip me off. People consider this a source of pride; this is the venerated trader’s mentality. The strangest of all: These people think this is a normal thing to do. One day they’ll call you a liar, cheat and rip-off, to greet you next morning as if nothing ever happened. From my fifteen years of experience in the field, this is a symptom of the complete lack of respect for Dutch folk amongst each other.
The same thing goes for paying the bills. I have only once or twice received a payment on time. It is common practice to wait at least twice the period stated for payment clearance. Sometimes you’re not even that lucky. People will pay half, and then start haggling. It’s like being in a bazar trying to buy a carpet. But lest you get the impression the Dutch are unprofessional, of course there’s those that just threaten lawsuit if you require them to pay. Having worked with Danes, Belgians, Germans, Italians and French, I have only rarely encountered this. This attitude in business is typically Dutch. They believe there is always a drop of juice left to be pressed out. And as no surprise this creates stress, often sours the relationship. Apparently there are enough alternatives, because they all keep doing it until they find a fool that gives in.
Who cares? We sure don’t!
Another expression of this lack of caring for others is the story of the woman that was raped in Utrecht in front of hundreds of people. They were so busy shopping that they didn’t even care to even call the cops. Or perhaps the example of the small girl that drowned in front of hundreds, since they were all too busy getting a tan. People really don’t care here. The stories are all around. What was once considered a normal action (jumping into water to save a drowning victim) is considered heroic behavior nowadays. If you fall into the harbor or even a pool, you’ll be lucky to survive.
This uncaring attitude opens the door to even worse types of people. There’s drunk folk screaming in the street as I type this, as it has been every night for the last 3 years. This is nothing special, except that I don’t live above a bar, or even near any. Really, people are so utterly anti-social they just don’t care anymore. —As you might’ve guessed, the only moment this comes in handy is when you throw a party.— Where most people see a free-for-all attitude which leaves everybody alone, I see a sorrowful lack of respect for anything but money.
It ranges from things simple to enormous. From the traffic light not staying on green long enough for elderly to pass to the convoluted ways you are being ripped off by government-mandated companies. The threatening tone and invasive way you are being addressed by the community officials, the standard mode of being under suspicion when using public facilities. It is a place without simple social habits and without politeness. No respect and no space to live for others.
My solution
And yes, I’ve given up finally. I can’t stand it anymore. I decided to emigrate to a country which respects privacy much more than The Netherlands, where freedom is still perceived as important, and where minorities and freelancers aren’t automatically forced into living like their neighbors. For me, right now, this country is Germany, and more specifically the city of Berlin.
We’ll see what happens in a decade or two.