A Scold for Holland, Too (Among Other Things)

As part of a few international communities on the "interwebs," I routinely have the opportunity to hear people talking smack about my first country, the US. The US in the international community is like the kid with crutches, braces, and red hair who is loved by the teachers and has nothing to say to other children: an easy target. As Anthony Bourdain recently mentioned on No Reservations, "I get tired of my country being the bad example."

Having left said country for one more suited to my own nature (yayy Holland), I'm often one of the bashers and as anyone who's read my blogs knows, I'm a big fan of the Netherlands. (I'm looking for the +1 button on the Dam.)

So it was with astonishment that I listened to a self-professed intelligent Spanish woman explain how all the problems in Spain, Italy and Greece are the result of retirees from the north. [In case you're American and haven't been informed, Greece, Spain and Italy are having financial problems which have been brought to light by the EU's refusal to allow its member countries to rack up and continue to sustain huge national debts.]

Since my conversation with the Spanish woman left me completely baffled, it was up to my Dutch friend to explain to me that the southern countries (read: warm), as a favorite retirement location for English, Dutch, German, etc. old people, have taken to blaming their multi-billion euro debts on the fact that people from the north retire there. Apparently, these retirees are rumored in those countries to show up penniless and without means of support on their doorsteps and then of course the poor southern countries have to spend all their money on feeding and housing the poor old people.

When it was mentioned to the Spanish woman that all of the northern countries (Holland, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, etc. all have a history of similar social programs) continue to pay retirement to and to insure their retirees no matter where they wander off to live, she simply said with complete confidence, "No they don't." She defended this statement as being her opinion. But enough about her and her lack of logic; she's not the point.

The point is that it cuts both ways. Yes this is me taking Holland to task. As ridiculous as you know such assertions by the populace of the south to be, the assertions by a handful of idiots (with their accompanying nods from the TV-watchers in the bars) that every ill in Holland is caused by the "massive" influx of population from the east is equally ignorant and lacking any basis in fact. (In fact the hiccups of all the European economies can largely be traced back to those wonderful worthless loans that the American banks bundled and sold as ordinary securities, ensuring that when they went down and started an economic crisis it will cost no less than a decade to fully recover from, they would take the rest of the world down with them. And their ability to do that can be traced back to trickle-down economics and the policies of deregulation. Why would we need to keep an eye on people who hold the country's welfare in their greedy little hands? How quickly we forget.)

But back to my story! The US came to a point in its history where there were irreconcilable disagreements over the policies and practices of the north and the south. They settled it at gunpoint. Europe won't do that, as membership in the European Union is a privilege, but it does cause concern about the new Chinese neighbors that northern Europe's going to have if it plays out without resolution and China eventually forecloses on its loans.

Don't laugh, Americans: The Chinese own $1 trillion of the US too.