Is it the end of the Dutch liberal experiment?

[Cato1]

The Netherlands has seen a shift in attitudes, with multiculturalism blamed for a host of ills

EVERY morning Talin, an Iranian, waits for the letter she had hoped never to see. A doctor with a husband and a six-month-old baby, she has lived in Rotterdam for seven years with her parents and grandmother. But this week the Dutch Government passed a law ordering 26,000 failed asylum-seekers, herself among them, to return home, no excuses accepted.

...

Outside Fortuyn's house stands a life-sized statue of him, surrounded by fresh floral tributes. In two short years, Europe's traditional home of liberalism has turned itself into a cauldron of conservatism. The murder of Fortuyn, who declared that the Netherlands was full and that Islam was a backward religion, broke the taboo on speaking out against immigration and a host of other social issues. As liberal pieties crumbled, the Netherlands has been forging ahead with a new right-wing agenda.

It now has the toughest immigration laws in Europe, and has been adopting powerful law-and-order policies. A compulsory ID card is being introduced for everyone over the age of 12. Cannabis cafés are being closed by the hundreds. Prostitutes are being cleared off the streets, the generous benefits system severely curtailed, and even free contraception has been abolished for everyone except teenagers. Longer sentences mean prisons are so full that for the first time inmates are being forced to share cells.

...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1000792,00.html

It's sad that the Dutch of all people are falling for right-wing scare mongering.

[amazona]

1. i just visited there...

...and without a doubt it is overpopulated. I don't think it is scare-mongering to be realistic about the fact that a small, mostly artificial landmass can only support so many people. I honestly don't know how people keep their sanity with so little green space. Cannabis, mushrooms, and girls are still sold openly in the shops as far as that goes. I think maybe this article is a bit on the scare-mongering side; the Netherlands remains very liberal and secular from what I saw.

[thebigidea]

2. Cannabis cafes closed by the hundreds?

how the hell many did they have to begin with, thousands?

And Fortuyn is hardly your typical right-winger. Was.

The article itself sounds like right wing scare mongering.

[DemExpat]

3. The asylum seekers being shown the door now

have all been through 2,3, or 4 appeals cases in the courts, so "no excuses accepted" seems like they did not have a chance to present their case. Not true.

Yes, The Netherlands is taking a turn to the right, after years of left wing excesses that have caused many problems now to be dealt with, (so one can blame the problems on influx of immigrants and illegals OR on the left-wing government that was in power for 8 years, etc. etc.)....
whatever, the problems need solutions or at least attempts at finding them instead of sweeping it all under the rug - which seemed to be official policy....

The European Union pressures of coordinated policy and EU budget demands are also "forcing" Holland to review its policies with drugs and prostitution, social services, etc.
I find that this has mixed blessings, as it is taking away from Holland's unique stance on some issues while getting it more inline with the rest of the EU and in a competitive position.....


After my experience living here, I do see very clearly how power corrupts, and how ANY party in power long enough will start to abuse its privilege of governing.....

Checks and balances are vital.

All in all I would say overcrowdedness, excesses of the previous leftist government, European Union and international (U.S., globalization) pressures are causing The Netherlands' rightist swing.

Not scare mongering at all IMO. Realities.

DemEx

[Product of Evolution]

4. The EU is unworthy of my respect...

They need to review their drug policies...

[akitamata]

5. EU drug policies...?

Specifics please. As for our Dutch government, it IS shifting to the right a bit, but our society remains firmly and committedly liberal, tolerant and open-minded.
We have more freedom of choice here than in the US and we are not closing down our coffeshops by the hundreds. Our soft drug policy remains unchanged, it is our alcohol licensing policy that has changed. A cafe owner may not sell alcohol and softdrugs out of the same establishment, so we are enforcing the separation of the sale of these 2 substances.
Coffeshops are being told, once again, to deny access to people under the age of 18. We are a small country, geographically and economically we are not capable of sustaining unlimited and illegal immigration for very long. We have to draw the line somewhere and the truth is that we always take immigration requests seriously, with considerable review and appeals .Our immigration policies had always been amongst the strictest in Europe. I am personally against forced deportations, but the law is the law and we have a duty to obey it until we can force it to be changed. Our country remains committed to human rights and freedom of choice; we remain a welfare state and we provide for our poor and disabled.Prostitution is LEGAL and the practitioners pay taxes and get healthcare, etc. The article above attempts to use our reforms as evidence to suggest that our system is not working. Frankly, nothing could be farther from the truth. Nothing changing here, just another fine-tuning of our situation. As for being crowded, Amsterdam alone is a destination to an average 11 million people every year, so the throngs on the streets are visitors and tourists. Our quality of life remains very high. And as for the greenery, we keep it behind our buildings in our "hofjes". Now, get your house in order and impeach your little Hitler and his dirty Republicans. Groetjes, Akita

[Doctor Panacea]

6. Well stated

You stated your message very well, Akita.

[DemExpat]

7. Akita, you said it!

:toast: :toast:

:hi: groetjes :hi:

DemEx