Apropos of my post on the predicted end of the coffeeshop by 2010 comes this interesting summation of all the nanny state measures that have been implemented or proposed in the past year or so. IT comes from a Llamasoft message board of all places and it’s far from complete, but it gives a good overview of the current moral climate in the Netherlands.
You may not believe it when you only know Amsterdam by reputation, but there’s a strong puritanical streak in the Dutch character as well as a long tradition of tolerance, and the pendulum has swung towards puritanism again. The people in power this last half decade have all been Mrs Grundys at heart, wanting to force their ideas of what’s right and proper on the rest of us. As with most of their ilk, they’re not so much concerned here with morality as with propriety. They’re less concerned that e.g. closing down legal brothels will drive prostitution back into the underworld with al the dangers that go with it (sex slavery, increased risk of STDs, undsoweiter) as they are with the idea that the Red Light district is an eyesore and would be much better if it was filled with trendy fashion boutiques and artist workplaces… It’s this attitude that has led to the vertrutting, the disney-fication of Amsterdam.