The Netherlands is getting poorer ↓

by Monique van Dijk

It is almost beyond comprehension how my life has changed. 

When I travel I am totally in my element. On these journeys, I enjoy nature and love to meet people of various nationalities with whom I like to have a conversation. During such a conversation, nine out of ten times, people ask me where I come from. I notice that I proudly tell them that I come from the Netherlands. I do believe that nowhere else life is as good as in the Netherlands. Take for instance our social security system. Everyone is eligible for a basic income. We still have a good health care system. We have the best pension schemes in the world. We are very resourceful; real entrepreneurs. You meet Dutch people everywhere. We have never done so well on the Olympic Games! Compared to other countries, we are pretty free of discrimination, religion etc. In short, we are one of the richest countries where everyone has a good life. We have it all! According to statistics we are number 4 in the world when it comes to being the happiest human beings on Earth. Yes, when we look at it from a material point of view, though. 

On X-mas day I came home from a long journey. After a few days I was back in reality. I looked in the mirror and was shocked. I saw that my rosacea had come back. During my travels it had disappeared completely. How could that happen? Could it be the air pollution? When I went shopping, I was shocked again. What is the matter with all the people: white worried faces, no laughter and everyone was in a hurry.

I had never noticed this before and certainly not in Amsterdam. It seemed to me that everyone is crushed under a heavy load. What had changed during my absence? Or I did I finally see the reality. When I thought about it, it did not seem so weird to me any longer. We live in a very high populated country where the air pollution per m2 is the highest in Europe. We think we have nature but when I look carefully, I notice that nature is disappearing step by step into highways and buildings. How much longer can we manage? I suddenly had a very different view of the Netherlands and the Dutch. I suddenly felt sorry for us. I love my country so much. How can we restore our nature?How can we connect again with nature. How can we find ourselfes again!