Comments on: Go Visit The Netherlands

By: The MBTA Revamps the CharlieCard! | Letters Blogatory

The MBTA Revamps the CharlieCard! | Letters Blogatory — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 13:46:12 +0000

[…] few days ago I wrote about my experience with the transit system in the […]

By: Ted Folkman

Ted Folkman — Mon, 08 Jul 2024 11:20:45 +0000

In reply to Judith Freedberg. Judy, thanks for this comment! I think cities should learn from each other's examples and also should be who they are. In other words, some of the things that were best about living in the Hague are likely not some of the things that are best about living in Boston (or Miami), and that is true in the other direction. Compare Miami Beach with Scheveningen or Chatham in December. Your comment did make me remember to count my blessings on transit. While the T may not match up with the Dutch transit system very favorably, we are still fortunate to live in an American city with an extensive transit system that gets lots of people, including me, where they need to go every day. Many larger American metropolitan areas don't have that.

By: Judith Freedberg

Judith Freedberg — Sun, 07 Jul 2024 16:26:23 +0000

Thank you for highlighting the delights and advantages of life in the Netherlands. As a born and bred Bostonian (actually Marblehead), who lived for 39 years in Den Haag (The Hague), I appreciate all that NL has to offer, and sorely miss it now living in Miami.
Public transportation here is underfunded and underused. The cost of living has increased so dramatically that it makes national headlines. The nightly news reports the nightly shootings.
Fortunately, you did not have a medical emergency during your visit, but if you had, you would have had outstanding medical care, supported by almost universal affordable health insurance.
The Netherlands is a small and relatively homogeneous country with a core of shared values. The society is run on the concept of “solidarity”, not to be confused with “socialism”, a “four-letter word” in Miami.
If you encourage readers to visit, send them to the smaller cities, such as Haarlem or Utrecht, full of history, culture and good food, and less oppressed by mass tourism. But everyone should visit The Hague, the seat of the government, the Peace Palace (where I worked for 10 years), and the International Criminal Court to mention a few institutions of particular current interest to international lawyers.