Re: [microsound] completely OT yet so on-topic

[frans@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Thanks for this very interesting insight, unfortunally it's filled with
many many stereotypes about The Netherlands, and unfortunally says more
about you (or more in general education in Nothern America) then anything
about The Netherlands.
Yes, we have economical problems because of our tulips (or was it with
clogs), provincial injustices are being fought with our finger in the
dikes, but luckily we are peaceful because of the cannabis handed out. I
have no idea what they teach people nowadays.


>
>yes to be exact, Tolsma is a freislandian name, and frieslanders were mostly
>peasants.  My ancestors had nothing, they had to create land to farm out of
>the ocean by building dykes.  But surrounding german land barons threatened
>to break the dykes and flood the land, which they eventually did.  Other
>dutch nations were protected by pacts they made with the French aristocracy.
>So much for hanging together.   Anyway I do believe that Holland has built a
>very good modern state given the uphill battle against capitalism and
>industrialization (wasnt there a problem a while back with the economy being
>based too heavily on tulips?).  However, any dictator could come in and get
>people all fired up about past provincial injustices to their ancestors and
>turn Holland into another Yugoslavia.  Austria might be heading down that
>road, lets hope not.  The social policy of the Netherlands was very
>progressive in the early 80s, social workers were supposed to keep youth on
>the right track, so they wouldn't be disillusioned and easily courted by
>extermist politics.  In fact social workers were supposed to hand out
>cannabis in community centers and the like.  But now Amsterdam's cannabis
>coffee shops are vapid commercial tourist trap, certainly not helping anyone
>from becoming disillusioned.  There is a certain 'libertarian' entrepreneur
>here in Vancouver trying to turn Vancouver into a cannabis-related tourist
>destination.  Funny enough, much of my current political outrage is a result
>of having debated with that bonehead and his cronies.
>
>
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