If I had to choose one country other than Canada to live
in, I would without hesitation choose Nederland, where I've spent the last
few days. This is a country in a world gone mad that makes sense .
The people are multi-lingual, well-educated and well-traveled, and have taken
the best practices of living from the rest of the planet and applied them
to their small but surprisingly uncrowded country. Here are some of the things
they do, that we should all learn to do:
- Public Transport: It's not perfect, especially around Amsterdam
at rush hour, but you can get anywhere in Holland by train, quickly, efficiently,
comfortably, and pollution free (the system is entirely electric).
- Private Transport: Bicycles are ubiquitous and practical (there
are more of them than people in Holland, and they're built well, and for
touring, not racing). They have huge bike racks in all public places, and
country-wide bicycle paths that make cycling everywhere safe and efficient
even with children. There are even special traffic signals just for bicycles!
- Energy Conservation: Besides bicycles, Holland is of course known
for its windmills, the original non-polluting, renewable energy. Today's
windmills are huge, dramatic, and powerful at capturing the wind's energy.
The Dutch put up with their eerie noise to save money and the environment.
- Building Things to Last: Apartments built over a century ago
look new, need few repairs, and are nearly completely soundproof. They still
build stuff like this today. Roads last decades, even centuries, without
repair. Pay now, don't pay later (and don't add to the mountains of building
waste in landfills) is their motto.
- The Cleanliness Culture: The Tragedy of the Commons is
less an issue in Holland than elsewhere because the common areas (parks,
streets, washrooms) are so clean and neat that no one would dare mess
them up. It`s a mindset that reinforces itself. Even the graffiti is art,
not defacement.
- Intelligent Use of Space: There is no sprawl in Holland, but
also no sense of over-crowding, because space is used so cleverly and economically
it seems bigger than it really is.
- Keeping an Open Mind: The Dutch are well-read and have strong
political opinions, but political debate is a search for compromise and
understanding, not the acrimonious, intolerant and adversarial rage of overstatement,
attack and extremism that seems to prevail in North America.
- Understanding Trade Economics: The Dutch understand that trade
deals are logical win-win negotiations, based on who can best do what, not
wars to see who can deliver lowest-common-denominator products and services
cheapest at any cost. And since the Dutch speak everyone's language, not
only do they facilitate trade debates, they control them, to their
advantage.
- Enjoying Life Freely Without Guilt: It's not uncommon to see
a Dutchman walk out of church on a Sunday and go immediately next door to
the SexShop. The Dutch aren't hung up on doctrinaire moralities, and while
they're very strict about destructive behaviours (assault, murder, trafficking
hard drugs), they otherwise live by the libertarian ideal that if it doesn't
hurt anyone else, feel free to do it and have fun.
- Be Green: Recycle everything. Treat animals with respect. Cultivate
flowers and green spaces everywhere. Love nature. Teach people the importance
of living in harmony with the rest of nature and of man.
I was just watching, on KLM Inflight News, pictures of the 'progress' of
China's Three Gorges Dam project, which is flooding millions of acres of
stunningly beautiful land, condemning millions of animals to a watery death
(including endangered species), and forcing millions of people from their
life-long homes. The fucking Chinese government, a brutal and repressive
totalitarian regime that hypocrite Bush is so cozy with, could learn a lot
from the Dutch.
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MADE IN CANADA
trust your
instincts 
