{"id":429,"date":"2004-12-11T09:32:45","date_gmt":"2004-12-11T14:32:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vmalt\/?p=429"},"modified":"2005-12-08T18:48:57","modified_gmt":"2005-12-08T23:48:57","slug":"dutch-courage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/dutch-courage","title":{"rendered":"Dutch Courage?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Looks like I got here <a href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/main.jhtml?xml=\/news\/2004\/12\/11\/wneth111.xml\" target=\"_blank\">after the party<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Frans Buysse, the head of Buysse Immigration Consultancy, said he received more than 13,000 hits on his emigration website in November, four times the usual level. His office in Culemburg is flooded with fresh applications.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;[Theo] Van Gogh&#8217;s death was a confirmation for them of what they already sensed was happening,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They&#8217;re accountants, teachers, nurses, businessmen and bricklayers, from all walks of life. They see things going on every day in this country that are quite unbelievable. They see no clear message from the government, and they are afraid it&#8217;s becoming irreversible, that&#8217;s why they are leaving.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Yesterday, during separate conversations with an economic development representative and a pharma executives, I tried to politely broach the issue of Muslim immigration in the Netherlands. Turns out that I didn&#8217;t need to be polite. Both people, who have vested interests in portraying this country as stable and worthy of foreign investment and partnerships, said that the Netherlands has serious problems that stem from the lack of assimilation by Muslim immigrants.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, one contended that the welfare state has left businesses here lazy, and removed much incentive for entrepreneurs. &#8220;Scientists here, they&#8217;re content to stay in the academy and count how many papers they publish. They have no interest in starting businesses, like they do in America.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Looks like I got here after the party: Frans Buysse, the head of Buysse Immigration Consultancy, said he received more than 13,000 hits on his emigration website in November, four times the usual level. His office in Culemburg is flooded with fresh applications. &#8220;[Theo] Van Gogh&#8217;s death was a confirmation for them of what they &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/dutch-courage\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Dutch Courage?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-amsterdam","category-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-6V","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":472,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/mosque-by-ikea","url_meta":{"origin":429,"position":0},"title":"Mosque by Ikea?","author":"Gil","date":"February 23, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Last August, a group in Sweden flew me over to Stockholm and Malmo for a week, to tour me around the country's biotech industry, so that I could write about it in my magazine. I wrote all about it and posted some good pix: here, here, here, here, here, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12860,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-359-joan-marans-dim-and-antonio-masi","url_meta":{"origin":429,"position":1},"title":"Episode 359 &#8211; Joan Marans Dim and Antonio Masi","author":"Gil","date":"January 27, 2020","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 359: Joan Marans Dim & Antonio Masi \u201cImmigration is the central meaning and purpose of the Statue of Liberty.\u201d In a time where immigration is under attack, Joan Marans Dim and Antonio Masi demonstrate the history and importance of immigration in America with Lady Liberty: An Illustrated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Architecture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Architecture","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/architecture"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ellis-Island-Illustrated-1024x618-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C618&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ellis-Island-Illustrated-1024x618-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C618&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ellis-Island-Illustrated-1024x618-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C618&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ellis-Island-Illustrated-1024x618-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C618&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":422,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/amsterstan","url_meta":{"origin":429,"position":2},"title":"Amsterstan","author":"Gil","date":"December 27, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Chris Caldwell at the Weekly Standard wrote about the failures of multiculturalism and free immigration in Holland. Looks like my brief glimpse of the country holds up:Many discussions of the Netherlands suggest that the country's multicultural model is \"under threat.\" Maybe that was true a year ago. Now it would\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16052,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-538-john-kropf","url_meta":{"origin":429,"position":3},"title":"Episode 538 &#8211; John Kropf","author":"Gil","date":"May 9, 2023","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 538: John Kropf \"Coloring with crayons is a near-universal experience. Just about everyone can remember opening that first box of crayons and getting that crayon-high from that waxy smell.\" With his new book, COLOR CAPITAL OF THE WORLD (University of Akron Press), John W. Kropf explores the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/kropfcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C752&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/kropfcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C752&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/kropfcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C752&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/kropfcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C752&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/kropfcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C752&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17844,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-664-glenn-kurtz","url_meta":{"origin":429,"position":4},"title":"Episode 664 &#8211; Glenn Kurtz","author":"Gil","date":"November 18, 2025","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 664: Glenn Kurtz \"It's a profound question: What are we looking at? If you keep asking that question in a naive and cunning way, it will draw out the history of the world.\" Who were the men who built the Empire State Building? Glenn Kurtz returns to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Architecture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Architecture","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/architecture"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/kurtz2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C513&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/kurtz2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C513&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/kurtz2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C513&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/kurtz2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C513&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/kurtz2025comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C513&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14050,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-410-phillip-lopate","url_meta":{"origin":429,"position":5},"title":"Episode 410 &#8211; Phillip Lopate","author":"Gil","date":"December 1, 2020","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 410: Phillip Lopate \"This book is like a tracing of American history through the essay. The essay is way to process ideas. All these problems we face in America I came to realize we had cycled through again and again: immigration, racism, sexism, disabilities. All of these\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/lopate2020comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C768&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/lopate2020comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C768&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/lopate2020comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C768&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/lopate2020comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C768&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/lopate2020comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C768&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}