This brilliant piece is a translation of a Dagblad article that appeared 20 July 2012, written by Frits Bloemendaal [http://byhans.wordpress.com/2012/07/20/jouw-geld-is-mijn-geld/]:
How is it possible that one broker can bring down a bank? That one money trader can bring entire countries to the edge of disaster? And that one director with a penchant for gambling can reduce a corporation with many tens of thousands of homes to beggary?
It happens because it can.
At the tops of businesses, and at the moment in public and semi-public institutions, a culture change has arisen in which self-interest, narcissism and unscrupulousness have become the most normal things in the world. That began around 30 years ago in countries such as the US and England, and spread thereafter to our own regions.
One of the worst examples is the American energy company Enron, where managers set up an enormous fraudulent network and filled their own pockets, with the eventual result of the demise of the billion-dollar company. Many thousands of employees and investors were left destitute. In the Netherlands it began with Aegon, where executives like Kees Storm enriched themselves with options worth billions, while their clients were squeezed dry with extortionate policies.
Since then the examples have piled up. The real estate fraud of the Bouwfunds and the Philips pension funds, laid out in the book De Vastgoedfraude [The Real Estate Fraud] by journalists Vasco van der Boon and Gerben van der Marel, mercilessly exposed the mentality of anyone managing the savings of others. Your money is my money, it comes down to that.
It is so much that I can only skim the surface. But no one takes note.
Theft, or gambling with other people's money, has long since ceased to be taboo in financial institutions. Unscrupulousness and shamelessness are virtues rather than sins. In the play "De Prooi" ["The Prey"], about the collapse of ABN AMRO (also such an example), one of the lead characters says, "At Goldman Sachs they choose people who were teased as children." These people want revenge against the world and show no pity.
Journalist Joris Luyendijk, who writes a column about London's financial world for the British newspaper The Guardian, recently quoted a psychologist who coaches banking sector executives. The owners of the banks, he says, are looking for "a psycopath" to transform the organization into "a merciless, money-making and soul-stealing organization." That is the secret of their wealth.
That exploitation has become the norm has everything to do with the nearly boundless freedom of the financial sector.
For years, no one dared to place obstacles in the way of the money machine. Precisely in a sector where so much money literally is up for grabs, there is very strong control needed: checks and balances. Only in the last few years has that realization begun to dawn, but that took a banking crisis that cost the Dutch people alone some 200 billion euro in stalled economic growth.
Whether politicians have the ability to turn the management culture the right way is the question, because for the time being the countries are still dancing to the pipes of the financial sector, and not the other way around.
Showing posts with label Dutch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dutch. Show all posts
Friday, July 27, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Don't Land Or I'll Shoot
Worthy of Shakespeare it is, even bastardized.
You may or may not know that the Dutch currently have an astronaut on the International Space Station, orbiting some 350km above the planet's surface. Apparently this event has proven inspirational to more than the budding scientists in the country.
At the old-new year change festivities, which in Netherlands include the explosion of massive amounts of fireworks, two 20-year-old youngsters tied a mouse to a firework--to send him to space? The youngsters are not forthcoming on their reasons. They were discovered before the unfortunate rodent was sent into the ether, but the mouse died a few days after the incident. No worries, the Dutch take animal cruelty seriously and the hooligans will get their punishment.
At any rate, the mouse, nicknamed Astro, has now been stuffed and is being put on display at the Fries Natuurmuseum in Leeuwarden. Eww. (My gorge rises at it.)
But what actually made this a Daily Wot topic was the casual mention of the company Astro is now keeping at the Fries Natuurmuseum. Among other exhibits, he's joining the Domino Sparrow. Now this is the event you really need to try to get a clear picture of in your head.
Domino Day was an annual event in Holland from 1998 to 2009. Each event combined the efforts of domino-chain experts to try to break the standing record for the number of dominoes falling in a single chain-reaction event. In 2005, this event was set up in Leeuwarden. Yes, the same town as the Natuurmuseum. Four million dominoes stood waiting for their big day, just four days away, as the experts continued working on the setup. Each attempt at the record involved around 4.5 million dominoes (4.8 million in 2009) precisely placed to hopefully be triggered in one huge domino fall.
The Domino Sparrow was curious. Finding a way into the building (birds do that from time to time), the Domino Sparrow appears to have appreciated the pattern on the floor made by all the standing dominoes. So much so that he decided to land on some of the dominoes, triggering a fall that eventually took down 23,000 dominoes. No further damage was done because the dominoes are arranged in sections with gaps that are kept in place until immediately before the event begins, and the shouting and efforts to catch the bird kept him from landing again.
The Frisan Expo Center called in animal experts, who called in a hunter, who spent several hours attempting to catch the sparrow with nets and sticks. Eight hours after the sparrow entered the building, he was shot.
It's probably my own dysfuntion, but the only thing I could think of was, "Damn that guy must have been a really good shot."
As the sparrow in question was a member of an endangered species, the shooter was fined. Animal rights' groups were outraged and a bounty was placed on the dominoes. The domino event went on as planned, the bounty stood uncollected (thanks to heightened security by the Expo Center) and the Domino Sparrow's stuffed body was put on display in the Natuurmuseum in Rotterdam until 2007. It's now housed in the Natuurmuseum in Leeuwarden.
Animal rights debates aside, I really had a time trying to wrap my head around the tension in the room when the people setting up these dominoes have invested thousands of man-hours and they realized there's a bird in the room and then the bird actually lands on the dominoes and they begin to fall. I freak out if dinner doesn't turn out the way I wanted it to. I'd have lost my entire mind.
Today's lessons: Mice cannot get to space on fireworks. And don't touch the Dutch dominoes; they'll shoot you.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
My Dictee Is Better Than Yours
 |
| The Prize! |
But then, this is no playground game; this is a life-and-death matter of national pride!
I don't mean me, actually, I mean for the people who participated last night in "Het Groot Dictee der Nederlandse Taal" and the two countries that they represent. The Dictee (The Dictation) is an international contest held annually. The 60 participants are drawn from four pools:
- 20 Prominent Dutch people
- 10 Prominent Flanders people
- 20 Readers of a Dutch newspaper
- 10 Readers of a Flanders newspaper
The prominent people are primarily journalists, actors, and politicians.
Small rewind: Netherlands is a country in western Europe that we also call Holland. There are 16.7 million residents, and the primary language is Dutch (Nederlandse Taal = Dutch Language). Neighboring Belgium has three official languages and none of them are English. Dutch is the first language of 59% of the 11 million Belgians, French is the first language of 40%. The third official language is German. Which should give you a really good idea of where Belgium lies, geographically. Its languages are those of its neighbors. In Belgium, though, Dutch is usually called Flemish, and the people who live in the north part of Belgium (called Flanders), where 97% of the population speaks Dutch, are the Flemish.
Which is to say, this is a fight for national pride between the Dutch and the Flemish. The rules of engagement call for the participants to write down what is being read to them. Accurately.
Yep. That's the whole contest. All 60 participants are in one room. Never mind the details of the scoring or detail-oriented rules, that's the heart of it.
And on the foundation of this exercise stand bragging rights. The Flemish have won 12 times now. The Dutch have won 11 times. (It was 11 to 10 until last night when a Flemish celeb tied with a Dutch newspaper reader. This was the first tie and the first time a celeb participant actually won, in this case a journalist.) You'd think that's about even except that there are twice as many Dutch participating. There are good reasons for a population isolate to hold more tightly to their language than the parent group. Never mind all that.
What strikes me is whether or not it would be possible to run such a contest in English, and who would win? The potential list of competing countries, in order of number of number of persons with English as their first language (millions of people, from the Wiki):
- USA (226)
- UK (58)
- Canada (18)
- Australia (15)
- Ireland (4)
- Nigeria (4)
- New Zealand (4)
- South Africa (4)
- Philippines (3)
- Jamaica (3)
I'm making the cut-off 2 million people, cuz that's the number of Flemish people. And cuz if we let the 300,000 Germans who speak English as their first language play, they'd probably win. So they can't play.
Never mind how to work out the rules such as what dictionary to use (the Dictee uses the Netherlands variation for some words and the Flanders variation for others), I just really want to see this group of people sit down together and have a conversation and conclude that they all speak the same language.
Would the US college student newspaper entrant please, for the fifth time, put away your iPad? There is no spell check in Dictation, dammit.
Yes, Mr. Speaker of the US House of Representatives, you do have to sit next to the Prime Minister of Australia. Her socialism will not get on you like "cooties." Please stop saying that.
No, British actress, we specifically said we would be using the American variant of "deflection." There's no x in it. Americans reserve the X for showing breasts on TV.
*gets popcorn*
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