Time and time again Kate kept talking about and discussing the various laws and social policy that has been in place since the 1950's. The Netherlands are way ahead of many other democratic countries. People and their welfare seem to feature heavily within policy making.
Our first stop was Voldel Park. The parks around Amsterdam were created for the poor and lower paid people. When summer came all the richer folk would leave town and go to the country. The city father recognised that the poorer citizens needed places to relax, walk and enjoy the sun, so they created parks. They attempted to equalise things for all people, believing that with fresh air and sun would benefit the health and well being of the general population. Around this time the hippie population moved into the park. A particular area was created for them, thus allowing equality for all. Even the mail was even delivered to a purpose built Postoffice for the hippie residents.
Our next stop was further into the centre of the city. Around the beginning of the 60's developers were buying buildings, purposely keeping them empty for years as property values escalated. While the Dutch are rather protective of their heritage and have felt a great deal of responsibility to the population because the government collaborated with Hilter. They passed laws stating that unused and empty buildings are allowed to be inhabited, rent free as long as no damage is done. So the hippies and other homeless moved in. While the hippies etc can't be tossed out as long as no damage is done while the building remains empty. Now buildings very seldom pass into the hands of speculators.
Soon we biked into the red light district, and Kate talked about the reforms around prostitution. Instead of sweeping it all under the carpet and ignoring the fact that prostitution has been part of the city for hundreds of years since Amsterdam became a trading port, the government have legislated in favour of prostitution. This act also recognises woman and does not legislate against them, hence turning them into lower class citizens. All people in The Netherlands are valued. Every prostitute is registered, their dwelling registered, they sign the lease themselves on their own in an attempt to eliminate the pimp. The red light district is covered by CTV, so all activity is observed. Curb crawling is an offence. The ladies receive health checks every 2 to 3 weeks, will receive benefits with in 24 hours if they decide not to continue to work in the industry, and are entitled like everyone else to a state pension. In every window are 3 panic buttons that the police will respond to within 60 seconds. Why do the government support this industry. Because this industry is registered, has a union and the ladies pay 19% tax, over 6.5 billion Euro worth a year. Now why wouldn't you.
Lastly we talked about soft drugs which are available and used. The one word in the legislation that allows soft drug use is the word responsibly. Smoking around children for example is not considered responsible, so it's not done. The population really take on board their responsibility. Making the use of soft drugs legal the police are trying to stop use of the hard drugs. The population can grow up to 5 plants and use. Each person is entitled to have 5 grams in their pocession. Any more is an offence. Harvesting the 5 plants together gives a net weight of more than 5 grams and therefore these can't be legally on sold. Coffee shops can sell hash with coffee or other hot sweet drinks. Sellers are registered and pay tax. Another few more billion Euros.
This really is a brief synopsis. The essence of this post was to report and acknowledge the social legislation that is in place in The Netherlands. I was amazed at the forethought , the way people are valued and how rather than ignoring or bringing about legislation that is very difficult to police, the government are instead working with the people. They are legislating against and trying to lessen the big social problems while working with the people and bringing in zillions in tax.
1 comment:
Very interesting.
Post a Comment