I'm from Holland and personally I didn't like this documentary at all.
In all the world we are known as a nation of drug-using junkies who walk on clogs, build dikes and mills and are 'so tolerant' and welcoming toward foreigners.
Yes, we can buy soft drugs if we want. Yes, we can go to hookers. But that does not mean that everyone does on a regular basis.
Going to a prostitute is looked down upon by the major part of the population. And visiting a prostitute while having a family is a disgrace for which you should be ashamed!
About the drug use: Besides the fact that soft-drugs are hardly more dangerous or addictive than alcohol, only very few native Dutch use it regularly. Frankly, only because it is legal, the urge to try it is less since the 'Oh, it's illegal and thus exciting' part is not there anymore.
In fact, these so-called 'coffee shops' are populated mostly by immigrants and tourists.
Then about our so-called 'tolerance'.
Yes, we WERE very tolerant towards almost everything. Other cultures, other religions, other sexualities etc.
As the documentary already says: Everyone who got to Holland on an asylum base got a free house and money if you had no job (or skill). The government hardly urged immigrants to find a job and it was deemed 'unnecessary' to learn the language. This was all in 1994 and before (when the left-wing labour-party was in charge). Well, I think you can imagine what kind of people that promise will attract.
So here we are then, 15 years later. Our country is now filled with tension and distrust. Many people do not want to see it but our tolerant attitude has been abused by immigrants, radicals and conservatists to oppress their thoughts and culture upon us.
Hardly a day passes that the newspaper is not filled with stories of busdrivers being molested by Moroccans, Imams saying that girls who clothe lightly are whores and deserve to be raped, black people who think our national holiday of 'Sinterklaas' (A man dressed as a saint, riding a horse with many helpers who are painted black) should be banned since it is racist, etc.
Truth is: we are still open-minded and tolerant. However, more and more each day we get fed-up with the fact that though we allow others to express their culture and belief, we are restricted in expressing ours since the immigrants find it offensive.
It's exactly for that reason that more and more people vote on right-oriented political parties (who are undeserved denoted as extreme-right by left-wing parties and foreigners) that wish to uphold our culture over theirs. They say: "Yes, you may express your culture and live life as you see fit, but not at the cost of our culture or moral values. This is the Netherlands, so the Dutch culture must remain dominant."
Personally I don't see what so wrong about that quote but many people think it are quotes like this and quotes as "criminal foreigners and immigrants who committed serious offences or are jailed on multiple occasions should be returned to their homeland" that make the person who said them a fascist, a racist or even a neo-nazi.
Theo van Gogh (columnist) said similar things, Pim Fortuyn (politician) did, Geert Wilders (politician) does.
The first two are murdered because of what they said, the last one is heavily guarded 24/7 and has to live in a military compound. So, where is the freedom of speech for native Dutch now? I have never heard of a imam being killed because he said all Dutch girls are whores.
Anyway, this thing is getting too long. You can see that some things have changed and others are not as they seem to be in the documentary.
Overall, it is still a nice country to live. However, to keep it habitable things must change to the way they were. Anyone who cannot abide by a free society should leave.
Oh, and most of the Dutch do speak English quite well although nearly all of us have a heavy accent. In addition, we still do have our own language of course (although these days it seems that more people on the streets speak Arabic than Dutch... ;) )
On another note: Most of the native Dutch are still very tolerant towards homosexuality and such as long as you don't push it in our faces. I am not allowed to walk the streets naked, so neither is a homosexual. Some people still seem to think that is discrimination and intolerant...
reply
share
groggo
15 years ago
To Persekinn:
Many thanks for your well-considered and informative note.
I live in Toronto (metropolitan population: six million), which shares some of the same problems about immigration that you mentioned. It's a growing concern in many Western cities.
More than half of the six million people in metropolitan Toronto population were not born in Canada. This is astounding because it all happened within the past 20 years. To make matters worse, many (most?) bring their cultures with them, and do not abandon them (similar to the Dutch experience that you expressed). This irritates many Canadians, but they are reluctant to speak out honestly and forthrightly for fear of being labelled racists. They only voice their real concerns in the confines of their homes.
The big difference here (I think) is that, unlike Holland, we have not experienced (not yet anyway) murders of high-profile people (Theo van Gogh/Pim Fortuyn) by religious fanatics. This may be because our media and politicians are very, very reluctant to speak out about a problem that is glaringly obvious to any Canadian.
Again, thanks very much for your response to my query. I have tremendous admiration for the Netherlands and its people. Our two countries share a unique bond because of World War II, when Queen Juliana found a safe haven in Ottawa (Canada's capital). Every year since then, the Dutch government has sent thousands of tulips to Ottawa for that city's annual tulip festival. Canadian troops were directly involved in the liberation of Holland in the late months of the war. My brother was one of the soldiers, and he stayed on in the country for nine months, attending school outside Amsterdam.
reply
share