... for those interested to learn that a possible burqa ban will be (a) general, ie. not restricted to public employees only and (b) continues to be studied by a committee of wise men who will advise the government in early November.

Prediction: excpect a pragmatic Dutch compromise, not to be mistaken for 'tolerance'.

The Dutch Supreme Court has ruled last week that the earlier decision by the Court of the City of Amsterdam - the one that evicted Ayaan from her apartment in The Hague - needs to be revisited. Good news for sure, but not only is it late in the day, even a favorable ruling from the lower court will never eradicate the embarrassment and pain caused by the initial ruling.

Posts Related to the Hirsi Ali Court Case
Hirsi Ali Case: Translation
Hirsi Ali, The Hunted (3)
Hirsi Ali, The Hunted (2)
Hirsi Ali, The Hunted

Since I do not want to sound overly alarmist and let one incident define a broad social trend, I initially stayed away from the attacks on ambulances in The Netherlands. Yet there was simply too much to ignore and last night another incident occurred, in my old hometown of all places:

Two police officers in Vlaardingen were slightly injured last night after they offered assistance to two ambulance workers after they were threatened. In the downtown area of the city they were set upon when trying to help someone who had lost consciousness.

The reason for the threatening behaviour wasn’t clear. The windows of the ambulance were kicked in after which the police was called in. When it arrived some 250 men turned against the police.

Crime numbers however it seems are down, no doubt providing some good ammunition for the governing parties during the election campaign. It is probably harder to come up with indicators that measure the moral rot that enables some to attack first aid crews, as well as police when they arrive on the scene.

Andrew Sullivan is back from his sojourn, part of which he spent in Amsterdam. I was looking forward to some interesting observations, but alas, even our Sully is stuck in the same old rut when it comes to defining things Dutch:

It was nonetheless eye-opening to visit a free country, compared with the U.S. Observing people actually allowed to relax over a joint and a cappuccino in a coffee-house, or buy some soul-expanding mushrooms at small, regulated stores as common as Starbucks was a reminder that not every society is terrified of pleasure or freedom or happiness.

It depends on how you define freedom, but compared to the US and Canada, the Dutch are probably overregulated and overtaxed to an extraordinary degree, so let's keep things in perspective. Yes, this is probably a function of being one of the world’s most densely populated nations, but also because of a predominant culture that in the post-war years came to believe deeply in relieving the individual from as much responsibility as possible, the nanny state in full swing. Yet, that overarching and impersonal state at the same time retreated to let individuals flourish completely unhindered in their own domain. Sounds paradoxical, but there is no other way to explain it I think: we take care of you and you can essentially do whatever you like. The breeding ground of hedonist man.

Note that I am not opposed to drug legalization, on the contrary, but the Dutch model has somehow created sizeable groups of people that are devoid of any moral or normative compass. Consider the latest, from today’s news:

The CNV Companies Union raised the alarm about the aggression with which ambulance staff and paramedics are confronted. Last month one paramedic was assaulted in Amsterdam. This happened after he decided to treat a woman who had become unwell, something that was not fully appreciated by bystanders.

"The aggression is often the result of wrong expectations the public has about the work of ambulance employees", according to Jaap Jongejan of the union. He thinks it is time for a campaign to raise the awareness among the public about what ambulances and paramedics do.

Note how Jongejan finds the solution in launching an “awareness campaign”, that great tool with which the welfare state seeks to educate its citizenry. It’s beyond belief to learn that a new phenomenon of randomly assaulting emergency staff is the topic, but there’s probably no telling what you reap if you engage in unfettered social experimentation. And there’s more:

This spring the department of Social Affairs announced that 60% of ambulance staff has been subjected to violence. According to the latest numbers a figure that has increased significantly since.

Now, there is probably no direct no correlation between smoking pot and attacking paramedics. Still, the increasing absence of basic moral and responsible behavior I believe can probably only be found in the toxic realm of an unbound citizenry and a state that has totally misread its role in a modern society. However free the Dutch are, the excesses of that freedom now beg for the state to enforce at least some normative behavior among its citizens, and that I am afraid will take more than just a simple awareness campaign.

OK, to follow up on Eugene Volokh's request:

The State has bought an apartment in an apartment building and outfitted this as a maximum security house. At present the state lets the subject (Ayaan Hirsi Ali) live in this apartment. A number of occupants of the other apartments have objected to this. They feel they are running the risk of becoming a victim if the subject is attacked while she is present in the apartment building. In addition, they argue that the security measures around the subject constitute a nuisance to them. The court generally finds in favor of the occupants. It is however not demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that occupants have suffered an excessive nuisance. But that the fact that the occupants feel unsafe as a result of the fact that one of the apartments in their building is outfitted as a maximum security house is supported. The reason for this is that the occupants feel unsafe in the place where they should themselves feel safer then anywhere else: the home, so a breach of their rights to fully enjoy their homes is clear. As this violation of Article 8 of the European Treaty for Human Rights fails to have any legal justification, the State will be required to ensure that subject will leave her apartment within a period of four months. The mistake of the State to house subject without a legal basis in her present apartment can not be shifted to the occupants of the apartment building. The judgment of the court has been based on the specific circumstances of this case and more in particular on the fact that the protected house is inhabited by the subject. There are insufficient grounds to pre-emptively conclude that in the case of other protected persons a similar violation of Article 8 of the European Treaty for Human Rights can be established.

Again, it is not so much the content or the spirit of Article 8 of the European Treaty for Human Rights that is troublesome, it is the intent of the occupants and their lawyers to have used it to evict Hirsi Ali from the home that was provided to her by the Dutch State.

Hirsi Ali’s appearance at Harvard's JFK School of Government today triggered the necessary media attention and that started earlier today with a Michelle Malkin vlog, honoring the group of brave women that are challenging radical Islam.

Later today, Eugene Volokh picked up on the legal aspects raised by my initial post about Hirsi Ali’s impending eviction form her apartment in The Netherlands. Volokh is intrigued about the affair and it appears he will get someone to translate the ruling in order to give a more comprehensive review of the matter. Yes, I know, that is something I should actually have done as the native Dutchman here, but it is kind of hectic today around here, no time. As I mentioned before, the Dutch press has remained very quiet about this and there continues to be a chance that the case will end up in front of the Dutch Supreme Court who will assess whether the law was applied correctly by the lower court which issued the controversial ruling.

And finally, the first blogged accounts of Hirsi’Ali’s talk at Harvard are now available online, one by Miss Kelly (via Martin Solomon) and one by a Malkin reader.

NOTE: Shay at Booker Rising is also a dedicated follower of Hirsi Ali-related news.

Related Posts
Hirsi Ali, The Hunted (3)
Hirsi Ali, The Hunted (2)
Hirsi Ali, The Hunted

From a reader weighing in on the Hirsi Ali-affair and describing European attitudes:

" Total concern about individual comfort and safety with no regard for present morality or future consequence "

Indeed, and the quote neatly captures one of the core themes of this blog when Europe is on the table. For completeness sake I will give you the entire e-mail to put the quote in context:

The reason the Hirsi Ali story has no traction is that it is so basically and basely European. When I first read about her problem I thought this is Europe today mirrored in an apartment building. Total concern about individual comfort and safety with no regard for present morality or future consequence. Europe after WWII is like France after WWI, a place of total lack of will. During WWII France had a six week retreat and a war long collaboration. Were the lessons learned from Munich, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Vichy, and the Holocaust that evil ignore is evil that goes away?

In the meantime media debate about it remains scant, one of the bigger Dutch blogs notes that a parliamentarian from the Green Left has so far been the only one to raise questions in parliament. Which begs the question, do some have a vested interest - including Hirsi Ali's own party - in staying quiet about this? More in the days ahead.

It's five days now since the contentious court ruling, but all I can see in the Dutch and international media landscape is a ghastly silence. The blogosphere picked it up, looked at it and moved the story forward, the rest of the world didn't care.

Related Posts
Hirsi Ali, The Hunted (2)
Hirsi Ali, The Hunted

Just to show how far Dutch tolerance goes: Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s neighbors have sued the Dutch state in order to get her to be removed from the apartment complex in which she is living under police protection. The request was initially rejected, but following an appeal a higher court has now ordered Hirsi Ali to leave her house within four months, I translate:

The court considers in its ruling that the neighbors have been put into a situation that has contributed to them feeling less safe in their own house. That feeling is extended to the communal living spaces of the apartment complex, but also to their own apartments. The court argues that this is a severe violation of one’s private life (as per Article 8 of the European Treaty for Human Rights).

A few things. Firstly, it should be noted that Hirsi Ali is now booted out of her own house by virtue of the European Treaty for Human Rights which does indeed supersede Dutch law. Many cases are adjudicated by referring to this treaty, but given the subject matter here I would say: Euroskeptics, go knock yourselves out.

Secondly, and this is the one that really bothers me, is that somehow Hirsi Ali’s neighbors self-interest runs so deep that they are prepared to use the court system to throw someone whose life is in danger out of her own house. It goes like this: we’re tolerant, we support free speech and a critical attitude, but if it comes too close to our front porch, sorry, we are no longer interested. On the contrary, self-interest is the deciding motivator. True, Hirsi Ali’s flatmates do have a reasonable point in arguing that the Dutch State has an obligation to ensure that their security measures benefit the entire complex. If the State has dropped the ball in that respect, they should be compelled by the courts to correct this, but to put the burden on Hirsi Ali is a very disturbing precedent. Yet, the plaintiffs are quite happy with the ruling:

“We are relieved. We just didn’t feel safe any longer in our own homes. Of course, we consider it to be terrible for Hirsi Ali to have to leave her house. The case was not directed at her personally. The point was that the State should not open us to so much danger”

The State may appeal this ruling, in which case it will go to the Dutch Supreme Court. The potential of a ruling that will favor Hirsi Ali and is able to address the upset neighbors may turn out to become a costly adventure for Dutch authorities as it is not just about one outspoken member of parliament. Beyond a number of politicians there is a growing constituency of writers, artists and cartoonists who may rightfully claim government protection. And in most cases their neighbors are equally likely to take a less than charitable view of their right to exercise free speech. This is once more evidence of how Europeans fail to understand the bigger picture and are more than willing to let some short term comfort prevail over the long term survival of core values that built their societies in the first place.

So there are no winners here. The neighborhood is unmasked as a group whose shallow self interest is paramount, the State may have made a few mistakes and will have to spend yet more on security and Ayaan, well, she remains the hunted one. It seems that those responsible for threatening her will have the last laugh.

Judging from yesterday's visitor referral logs and Google searches I should have known that something was driving a renewed interest in the offerings on Dutch TV. And yes, there was.

NOTE: There was a time when we thought things were changing ...

Analysis and debate are always subject to all parties understanding the exact meaning of terms invovled. That is why I kept hammering on the definition of "tolerance", especially when it came to Dutch matters as the media almost treat the two as being synonymous. An American reader of Dutch descent nails it:

My main point here is to comment on your ideas of Dutch tolerance. I understand your point of view, but I wonder if your idea of tolerance sometimes borders on the post-modernist notion that tolerance implies -- or should imply -- a kind of cultural relativism which assigns equality and validity to all systems of thought, culture, and belief as opposed to the idea that all these systems, right or wrong, have a right to existence, but not to automatic approval. Or that to be true, tolerance must, in sense, unlike the Dutch version, be wholly altruistic.

What has always appealed to me about the Dutch -- or as I conceived the Dutch -- version of tolerance was a frank recognition of differences, sometimes on ultimate questions, but a willingness to live (put up?) with differences without assigning personal approval or denying personal disapproval. This is, of course, a quite politially incorrect version of tolerance. But far healthier than the denials of comtemporary, so-called, tolerant multiculturalism. For the Dutch, tolerance is an act of will; for the politically correct American, tolerance amounts very often to a sentimental orgy of denial. Any good Dutchman will be willing to let you go to hell in a handbasket, but he will tell you in no uncertain terms that is what you are doing. The American will just cheer you on.

Excellent point. The original Dutch tolerance, or pragmatism, mutated in a dangerously politically correct version, and in the wake of recent events there's a change in atmosphere that is trying to recapture the spirit of the original "tolerance".

NOTE: Other readers have prompted me to compare European hedonism and American hedonism. Give me some time, it will be explained in due course.

One of the major irritants with mainstream media in North America has been the standardized and predictable reporting following the Van Gogh murder. The Dutch tolerance-meme has been debunked here earlier, but the notion of Holland as some sort of paradise survived last year's troubles and remains painfully persistent, a great example being Slate which last week ran a five-day diary by one Seth Stevenson under the title, Should I Move to Amsterdam? Now, the fact that the traditionally left in North America live with some uninformed rosy notion about Holland wasn’t really new to me - just hang around long enough in the Vancouver to LA corridor and you can compile a book about the Dutch paradise - but this writer reinforces the stereotypes to a point that it felt like I was reading a parody. Seth, however, is dead serious:

The larger point is this: They live much better here. They carve out cozy, delightful moments anywhere they can find them. They bring their families on candlelit, nighttime boat rides through the canals. They chat with their friends at outdoor cafes as the sun sets. They leave work by 6 every evening. And these are not special, once-in-a-blue-moon treats. This is how they live, all the time.

Absolutely, Seth, no question about it, this is the way Amsterdam’s citizens live, everyday, year-in, year-out. The idea that Dutch have started to turn their backs on the candlelit boat rides in order to find a better future for their offspring is something Seth happily ignores, in fact he’s able to explain recent problems away with some brief and sharp analysis:

It's all quite depressing to think about. I'd built up Amsterdam in my mind as a progressive-thinking paradise—a perfect escape pod when I decide I can't hack it in the United States any longer. But it turns out the legendary Dutch tolerance (for soft drugs, prostitution, homosexuality, euthanasia) does not extend to immigration. Perhaps Moroccans are not “gezellig” The bottom line is: This country has its problems, too.

But Seth is happy to gloss over the problems in his search for more experiences that will underpin his Euro-dream. Still, he knows somehow he’s on shaky ground and wastes no time to re-assert that he really is an American, albeit a critical one:

I realize I'm in grave danger of sounding like a Euro-snob. So, let me be clear: I don't think they're any smarter or cooler than us (though they're certainly taller and slimmer). And yes, of course, we're capable of living beautifully in the States. But the "gezellig" lifestyle is a national priority with the Dutchies. I'm not even sure what our shared priorities are in America. Getting rich? Appearing on television? It's fair to say that coziness is not high on the list.

Note to Seth: getting rich features pretty high on the list of Dutch wishes and when it comes to appearing on TV, the Dutch have set a standard that puts even the trashiest American entertainment to shame.

Yet after visiting the Anne Frank House it becomes clearer why Seth prefers his homeland: it’s probably a lot safer than the blood-drenched streets of Old Europe:

Frankly, I don't enjoy living in the shadow of history. I don't like to be sitting at a sidewalk cafe, enjoying my coffee, when I suddenly flash on the image of Nazi boots tromping through the intersection. Each time this happens, I feel heavy with meaning and guilt. I can only take it in small doses. Give me some newborn American soil, with its blank slate and empty memory. History may be a nice place to visit, but I'm not sure I want to live there.

Normally I would say, read the whole thing but these excerpts should save you the trouble, although you may want to flip through Seth's slideshow.

NOTE: For a more balanced view on the Dutch streets - looking for some beacons of hope among all the negative and often poorly researched reporting – consider my observations after a visit to the lowlands earlier his month.

Instead of handing out welfare checks to them, there are actually ways to make money off the underclass. Leave it to the Dutch to discover new and unprecedented layers to their pragmatic approach to the world around them. In pushing the boundaries of reality-TV, a Dutch network recently launched a new series based around people living on the fringe in some of the country's most destitute neighborhoods. You guessed it: the more anti-social the behaviour of the show's participants, the higher the ratings. Alas, unscripted reality can sometimes prove itself to be a little too harsh and things got out of hand:

A Dutch reality TV show has been pulled after one of its participants admitted sexually abusing his daughter, provoking a riot among viewers that ended with 40 people being arrested.

More than 100 police in riot gear were called to the city of Den Bosch after the claim was made in an episode of a reality show called Probleemwijken, or Problem Neighbourhoods.

Apparently some pro-active members of the 'problem neighborhood' took matters into their own hands - the underclass tends to have a sense of swift justice - and attacked the house of the abuser. Police was brought in, riots ensued and in turn the neighborhood remained a battlefield for a number of days.

So the series has been pulled and some city councils are now contemplating legal action against the broadcaster for 'painting an unjust an unfavorable' picture of some of their neighborhoods. That of course is the right approach. Rather than control crime and clean-up trouble areas, you threaten to sue the media that have the nerve to report it.

NOTE: Thanks to Rogier for pointing out this bizarre story to me, I completely missed it when it hit the news earlier this week.

Dutch tolerance doesn't necessarily find its origins in liberalism. Above all, it's pragmatism that has driven the Dutch to adopt a level of flexibility with regards to social issues that is hard to find anywhere else, but that doesn't make them tolerant.

NOTE: There's a longer post in the works on this topic with a link to the red-blue divide in America. Stay tuned.

Yes, after more than twenty-five years of anti-Semitic chants during soccer matches, the tide of zero-tolerance in Holland is now sweeping the soccer pitch. A referee this weekend ended a first division match after he could no longer bear the content of what the crowd was hurling at him and the players.

To put this in context: over the years there has been very little effort to do anything about this phenomenon. It was only recently when such chants during an Ajax match compared the spouse of one of the players to a whore that calls for action were made.

Hardly.

A Dutchman blogging from Florida argues that the Dutch are probably not more tolerant than others and if they are, they have become less tolerant in recent years. I do happen to believe that Dutch are generally tolerant, but I agree with him that their petit bourgeois attitudes can sometimes be a counterweight to their infamous tolerance. Still, a much better word would be pragmatism. The Dutch are extremely pragmatic and that has led them to apply unconventional solutions which especially across the ocean would be interpreted as: “see how tolerant they are!” If there’s an appearance of them becoming less tolerant than what probably is happening is that the Dutch are adjusting the levels of pragmatism and applying a bit more conventional wisdom than before. Permissiveness as a problem solver is out of fashion these days. In recent years that has meant a quiet move away from cultural relativism, more law-and-order on the streets and a tougher stance on social excesses that started to threaten the fabric of Dutch life. In general it has meant a shift to the right.

Anyone arguing the leftist and statist attitudes of Europe should realize that in reality their qualms are really about France and Germany, countries hopelessly struggling to become more pragmatic in the face of economic and social regression. Some of the smaller European countries are quite adept at reform and some of the traditional leftist bulwarks in these counties show some incipient signs of realism. This weblog summarizes an editorial from the once leftist Dutch newspaper the Volkskrant (People’s Newspaper) who in an editorial last week praised some of the drastic reforms of the welfare state that were recently unveiled by the centre-right government (translated for you):

Yet, we have to praise the cabinet’s direction and the swiftness with which it acts. No one can argue against a society with a more dynamic labor market where people have to rely far less on collective arrangements.

This would have been unthinkable even five years ago. Again, in the face of change or adversity the Dutch can be counted on to be pragmatic.

Kim Du Toit is in Amsterdam and I was keen to hear what the Texan gun enthusiast with South African roots had to say about my native grounds. Given Kim’s usual blunt rhetoric I found his observations remarkably mild but then almost everyone left, right, center, old, and young thinks the Dutch capital is an unusually cool place, even I get a kick out of the touristy canal trip. This bit however struck me as very interesting as it is hardly ever mentioned with regards to the Dutch:

Frankly, I don't know why the Dutch bother to speak their own language at all. Everyone speaks excellent English, most of the signs are in English, and it's pretty much the lingua franca of commerce.

True. Compare that to the fear infused zeal with which the French and especially the French-Canadians protect their language from English influences. The Dutch are certainly proud of their cultural heritage, but they are simply too pragmatic to bother to protect their language. Languages evolve over time and if the English language is ever going to get a foothold on the continent it will indeed be in Holland.

UPDATE: Du Toit has updated his post and it is much better and pretty accurate, especially the conclusion:

What I think I like most is that the Dutch are clearly a no-nonsense people in terms of commerce, but they're not obsessed with attitude about it. Of course, Holland is part of the filthy EU, but then again, it's not too suprising that they joined up: the Dutch go along to get along.

On the mark. Especially the "no-nonsense" part, it's one of my trademarks and I have used it with great success on three different continents.

When going through some of the Dutch newswires this morning I was intrigued by the report that a Dutch court had released the “green fairy”. Thinking some dangerous and eccentric environmentalist had been released back onto the streets I was surprised to find out that:

Amsterdam Court lifted a ban on the use of absinthe that was imposed on the green drink, known sometimes in Dutch as the green fairy, in 1909. The court said Dutch law had been overtaken by European regulations. Absinthe may now be sold on the condition that the working substance thujone remains within European-accepted levels. Absinthe is a green liqueur that has a bitter anise or liquorice flavour and a high alcohol content. It has been accused and accredited with having mind-alerting qualities and was a favourite in Bohemian circles in the 19th century. It is prepared from the herb absinthe and other herbs, but was banned in many countries because of its toxicity.

So much for Dutch tolerance, from 1909 to 2004 it was illegal to drink or sell absinthe. A Dutch liquor retailer had a bottle confiscated by the Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority and took his case to court where he was vindicated, so long as he stays within European guidelines, of course.

It’s been a while since I ran some posts on Dutch tolerance, but fear not, my fellow countrymen can always be counted on to come up with something unique. The sex industry of course was long tolerated, but now that lenience has made way for formal decriminalization you can bet that that other great Dutch skill comes into play: regulation. Pretty soon, it was announced, brothels will carry a “seal of quality”:

"The sector has said it wants to develop a seal of quality to improve its image,"

So next time you tour Europe with your Michelin guide rating hotels and restaurants, the Dutch government will be happy to complement your travels with an approved guide to Holland best brothels. I do wonder however whether such a seal of approval will help improve the industry’s image, I guess it will affect its original luster. A sales tax and other surcharges will further confirm the legal status of the business.

This snippet by the way was also picked up by Vice Squad, a blog entirely devoted to sex, alcohol and drugs and their respective interactions with the law, go check’em out.

This week The Netherlands had its first Columbine-like experience. A disgruntled 17-year old pupil walked into the school’s cafeteria and shot a teacher at point blank range in the head, apparently for being suspended from school. The teacher died hours later and the country is in a state of shock because, and forgive me my fellow Dutch readers but I have to write this, a large portion of the Dutch population still has that dreamlike notion that “things like this don’t happen in The Netherlands”. Well, they do and the occurrence of violence and gun ownership in a country with one of the world’s most restrictive gun laws is rapidly increasing. I was not planning to write about this, until I heard last night that a number of students rallied near the school with photos and banners to support the killer, who on the day of the murder had turned himself in to police. It reminded me of this desecration, and it didn’t take long to figure out that the horrific murder of a teacher, father and respected city councilor had some ethnic undertones:

The killing and Thursday rally are certain to heighten ethnic tensions in the Netherlands. While the Dutch media does not publish the full names of suspects, or for that matter convicted criminals, publications have not been slow to point out the boy in this case is of Turkish extraction. Fear within a large segment of the public about "ethnic crime" and the perceived lack of integration by immigrants are at fever pitch in the Netherlands.

The gruesome murder is disturbing, yet the fact that many youths have rallied to the support of murderer tells us something about the serious level of disconnection between the Dutch and disgruntled immigrant groups who have failed to integrate economically, socially and morally. On the contrary, I have read many interviews with Muslim youths (second generation, born in Holland and fluent in Dutch) who claimed that while on the surface they look as if they had culturally adapted, they remained angry Muslims inside, bitter with their direct environment and depressed about their future economic prospects. A quick tour of Dutch news sites and message boards revealed as much, with comments from angry Muslim youths who felt that the killing was justified given the marginalized position of Muslim immigrants in The Netherlands. In a week where one of the main political parties acknowledged that integration policies had failed miserably, the murder of a teacher and the distasteful disrespect shown thereafter, illustrates that simple integration models don’t work and that a complete pan-European effort is required to stem the tide of economic misery and senseless violence. If Europeans don’t act themselves other groups will be more than happy to tap into the discontent among Muslim youth.

I do not have a link in English for you but in my native country another old custom has come under pressure: protecting the identity of criminals. Believe it or not, I think The Netherlands is the only country in the world where it is forbidden by law to disclose the surname of anyone suspected of or charged with a crime. If OJ Simpson had been charged in a Dutch court the media would have been forced by law to describe Simpson as Orenthal J., or in a more recent case, Scott P. or an even better one: Michael J. If a newspaper violates this ban they can expect some hefty fines.

This is symptomatic of a justice system where the rights of the defendants appear to weigh heavier than the rights of victims. I have always considered this practice to be seriously outdated, especially given the fact that Dutch judges have a habit of being lenient and more than happy to send criminals back on the streets after serving usually brief sentences. Not only that, proper identification by name might help in avoiding potential confusion with other criminals and I feel that victims and society at large have a right to know who the perpetrators of a particular crime are. A number of Dutch police chiefs have now called for some of these restrictions to be lifted following a call to publish pictures of repeat offenders by victimized shop owners in order to trim down criminal activity in their neighborhoods. Whether the dissemination of photos works is debatable, but it gives you a sense of the desperation that some shopkeepers must feel. What I hope though is that it will spark a broader debate over the enormous and outdated protection defendants enjoy under Dutch law. Time for some change.

Tonight is the evening the Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas or St. Nicholas. Yes, the origins of Santa Claus are probably Dutch who took the tradition to North America when they started settling Manhattan and moved up along the Hudson River in the 17th century. In Holland, St. Nicholas arrives every year by steamboat from Spain where he is employed as a Roman Catholic bishop, accompanied by his assistant(s) the so-called Black Pete(s). So no Father Christmas and reindeer from the North Pole, but the principles are the same.

If ever there is fodder for historians and the politically interested here it is for it is a mystery why a country built on a Reformist revolution would continue to worship a Roman Catholic bishop residing in the country it defeated during that revolution. In most other Protestant European countries (and North America) the Catholic-Protestant dilemma was fixed by merging the St. Nicholas festivities with Christmas and giving the man a new look and name, but I guess it was hard for the tolerant Dutch to ban this persistent tradition. In any case they have become less tolerant these days when it comes to Black Pete. Black Pete is not only black, he is an assistant and that of course does not sit well with those that call themselves politically correct, and in recent years they have been attempting to take away a time-honored tradition from children in order to satisfy their political dogmas. Black Pete is interesting since he is often described as a Moor, which makes him a Muslim and this fits into the historical map of Europe where large chunks of Spain at one point were conquered and settled by Muslim armies, in fact they got as far as the middle of France. Yet, there’s one complication, St. Nicholas although hailing from Spain, is based on an actual bishop who lived in Turkey in the early Middle Ages, in the city of Myra to be precise, which puts him most likely in a time slot well before the advent of the Ottoman Empire.

As I said, the role that St. Nicholas performs is not that different from Santa Claus, he arrives on his steamboat from Spain on his White Horse with Black Petes to bring gifts to the kids. For those that are naughty, the implicit threat is that the Black Petes will take you back to Spain where utter hell and torture would await. Until age six I was both obsessed with, and terrified of St. Nicholas and to this day I know all the songs celebrating the “Good Holyman” as he was called, by heart. It brings back memories of cold winter evenings, special St. Nicholas candies, gifts and long exciting family evenings unwrapping the gifts brought all the way from Spain. These were usually delivered by the Saint himself, or otherwise by some Black Petes who happened to be in the neighborhood. These days Black Pete runs the risk of being beaten up by disgruntled Muslim youth in Dutch inner cities.

These, my North American friends, are the origins of Santa Claus and the Dutch celebrate it on the eve of St. Nicholas’ birthday, the latter being December 6. Irene and I have merged the event as well, the kids being well aware of St. Nicholas, but equally aware that in our case it will not be until Christmas when he will show up with a bag full of gifts.

It seems that the limits of Dutch tolerance have been reached and a steady reversal has set in. For instance, sex on TV is gradually disappearing, and this article points out that a number of variables are influencing this trend. Competition from the internet, negative impact on raising advertising dollars but there also may have been some saturation, there’s only so much nudity and redlight district adventures that even the Dutch can bear. The problem is that until the early 90s Dutch TV was essentially public (and we already had a lot of sex in the public system before that) but once commercial TV made inroads the multitude of new networks had to compete for a limited amount of viewers in a small geographical area. And what is it that attracts people? Yep, anything considered to be edgy. The problem was of course that gratuitous sex in itself was not enough to keep the viewers engaged, there were a number of abysmal shows that just counted on nudity to be successful and few shows managed to combine edginess with some real viewer excitement. Believe it or not, a show targeting teenagers under the title “This is How You Screw” was a runaway hit. Combining trash with unique concepts resulted in noted hits such Big Brother and the Fear Factor, both Dutch creations that made it big in North America. Fierce competition for viewers pushed the creativity of production companies to its outer limits resulting in a lot of interesting reality-TV but it equally littered Dutch TV with absolute crap. So as a consequence the reversal is here, sex on TV is in decline.

And if you want further evidence that the open and liberal Dutch society is abandoning its much publicized tolerance, it was reported last week that even migrants were of the opinion that there are too many migrants living in the country:

Surprising statistics revealed that 48 percent of immigrants believe there are too many migrants living in the Netherlands, a stance backed by 65 percent of native Dutch.

Anyone who would have predicted that sex would disappear from Dutch TV and that migrants would assimilate to such an extent that they started to dislike immigrants would have been declared a fool not too long ago. If only Fortuyn would have been alive to witness it.

Many believe the Dutch are overly tolerant, but in actual fact the Dutch themselves will interpret that qualification as nothing more than finding pragmatic solutions. When it comes to drugs the Dutch have learned that an all out war on the users is not something that will work, and they have therefore shifted their attention and decided to use the resources of the criminal justice apparatus to take on the producers and distributors of drugs. Not always with a lot of success I have to say, but many think it is better than locking up teenagers and other drug offenders for minor infractions which is often the approach in North America, although that is changing. Given the experiences to date it seems neither the Dutch nor the American approach is yielding any results as both countries continue to struggle with major drug related problems. US drug czar John Walters however is pretty displeased with the way the Dutch are approaching the distribution of ecstasy:

The Dutch insist they have pulled out all the stops against Ecstacy. But Walters' comments reflect U.S. frustration at the continuing flow of synthetic drugs from the Netherlands and Dutch reticence to employ the toughest tactics in the war on drugs.

So there does not appear to be a disagreement on the fundamental approach, but there may be some differences in how to apply specific solutions and in particular how to use force. Maybe the omission of the ‘toughest tactics’ is seen as a form of tolerance.

Yes, it is finally happening, the Dutch are turning their backs on permissive society (link found via Half-Canadian) and zero-tolerance policies are gradually making their way into Dutch life. I have discussed the issue of my native country being unhinged and directionless many times here, as well as the attempts to reverse this process, most notably by Pim Fortuyn. It was about time that the excesses of liberty were being addressed but attacking this fundamental Dutch right is going too far:

Urinating in the canals, once ignored by passing policemen, will be punished by a hefty fine.

Dutch taxpayers come in many different shapes and forms, but I bet you have not seen this one, unless you're an Economist subscriber. It goes well together with my earlier post, Red Light Ruminations.

Den Beste discussed legalizing prostitution the other day, and Alisa and Andrea jump in on the topic. As a Dutchman I know a few things about this. Many people will think that prostitution, like drugs, is legal in The Netherlands but to my knowledge drugs have only very recently become legalized, that is, only a limited amount of marihuana for personal use is exempt from prosecution, all other drugs can still land you in jail. And while prostitution is never ever prosecuted it is, to my knowledge still on the books and could, in theory, be prosecuted. The Dutch just allow it. Legalizing prostitution is a topic that raises quite a few emotions, just look at the comments on Andrea’s post. It could be a fairly lengthy discussion, so for now I will let it rest other than by saying that in my mind legalization is the obvious way to go. Decriminalization, safety and health issues are compelling determinants in getting this business out of the strange predicament it is in. Let me address one of the other, related, issues raised by Den Beste.

He mentions that he does not have the guts to visit a brothel. There is are some interesting observations in relation to this that I need to make as I have visited these establishments more than once, being that it never culminated in a transaction with a working girl. I am already a little disgusted with myself for using this Clintonite approach: “I was there, but I didn’t do anything”, but anyway, let me continue. As a young man nights on the town with friends sometimes ended up in brothels where there were essentially two options: lounge around the bar and have a few more drinks or share a drink with one of the girls and fork out a lot of money to go “upstairs”. I never went “upstairs”, for a variety of reasons: I am paranoid about hygiene, I could hardly afford it at the time and yes, honestly, faced a bit of a moral hurdle but the most important reason probably is: you do not have to. Visiting a brothel or sex-club as they call it back home in itself is an experience: a dark nightclub, scantily dressed women, soft music, a somewhat mysterious atmosphere and occasionally an erotic dancer on stage contribute to a very special, sensational and even glamorous ambiance and going “upstairs” would most likely be a complete anti-climax, given the fact that the girl is after your money and does not want to spend any time longer with you than strictly necessary. Her soft and velvety approach usually changes when the job is done. The breathtaking illusion ends right there. Let me summarize it as follows: they are selling something and the package in which it is presented is often so much better than the actual product itself. And a visit upstairs may also bring you back to the reality and underline that a lot of it is not really that glamorous, on the contrary, it can be a pretty demeaning and harsh reality for the women that work there and by going “upstairs” that will become a lot clearer.

The same goes for the world renowned red light district in Amsterdam, a 16th century neighborhood, all paved and pedestrian alleys, pitch dark at night and the only lights you see are red, illuminating the dark alleyways and the women behind windows and doors. A walk around this area, for me and many other men, provides such phenomenal thrill that you do not even have to bother to actually negotiate through one of the windows, go in, pay and have sex. Just the walk, what you see, the feel to it and the atmosphere create something that is absolutely impossible to replicate anywhere, and you might as well take it in, savor it and move on to a bar or a cab and go home. In fact, women find it interesting as well. Irene had never visited the red light area and I once took here there a few years back during a holiday back home and she was quite surprised at what she saw (some alleys cater to special interest groups, you see) but in general she could see why men are so excited about just being there. Den Beste I think realizes this underlying mechanic:

I probably won't ever have the guts to actually patronize one of them, but I think it's pretty cool that they exist.

Yes. Just visit them, see and feel them and do not patronize them, that experience in itself may very well be the ultimate goal for the client, although I doubt that Nevada (sorry guys) at any time could compete with the red lights in dark medieval Amsterdam.

It will be hard to imagine for my American readership but try to picture John Ashcroft visiting the White House, and, rather than taking his well-secured limo, take his bike. It continues to happen in The Netherlands when Queen Beatrix inaugurated the new government last week and the Dutch Justice Minister came over on his bike. Some things never change.