The Netherlands is set to get its first openly gay prime minister, Rob Jetten, following strong results in the country's recent election, which saw his party gain 17 seats, and Geert Wilders' far-right party lose 11.
More in general it’s a good thing that the era of rightwing cohalitions governing the country, which lasted almost 2 decades, seems to be finally over, as the other parties of the governing cohalition have all lost votes.
The Netherlands has actually been quite a neoliberal country for a while now, with steadilly degrading public services (still Scandinavia-style personal taxes but ever more American style public services) and one of the worse realestate bubbles in Europe.
Hopefully this is a change in direction back towards traditional social democrat ideals and away from deregulation, trickle-down delusions and even support for the modern version of the Nazis (the Zionists).
I have heard some concerning stuff coming out of the Netherlands for a while, yes. Especially the gradual erosion of the social safety net they erected back in the 60s and the privatization of core parts of the country’s public infrastructure. I’ll share in your hope that this may see a reversal, or at the very least a stay under whatever new government results from these elections.
Funny you mention Scandinavian levels of taxation by the way - when I lived in the Netherlands for a few years I paid significantly more income tax than I did in Sweden. Not sure how progressive the tax system still is in the Netherlands, but it felt like all but folks on income assistance were taxed similarly.
I totally agree that that’s a good thing.
More in general it’s a good thing that the era of rightwing cohalitions governing the country, which lasted almost 2 decades, seems to be finally over, as the other parties of the governing cohalition have all lost votes.
The Netherlands has actually been quite a neoliberal country for a while now, with steadilly degrading public services (still Scandinavia-style personal taxes but ever more American style public services) and one of the worse realestate bubbles in Europe.
Hopefully this is a change in direction back towards traditional social democrat ideals and away from deregulation, trickle-down delusions and even support for the modern version of the Nazis (the Zionists).
I have heard some concerning stuff coming out of the Netherlands for a while, yes. Especially the gradual erosion of the social safety net they erected back in the 60s and the privatization of core parts of the country’s public infrastructure. I’ll share in your hope that this may see a reversal, or at the very least a stay under whatever new government results from these elections.
Funny you mention Scandinavian levels of taxation by the way - when I lived in the Netherlands for a few years I paid significantly more income tax than I did in Sweden. Not sure how progressive the tax system still is in the Netherlands, but it felt like all but folks on income assistance were taxed similarly.