Barely recovered from the Corona madness and its postpartum contractions, another world crisis abruptly takes over. Russia “against” the rest of the world (Ukraine, NATO, the EU and USA). In this conflict I rather not dig in deep or take sides, unlike the Dutch mainstream media. Considering the past two years all they did was to bombard the masses with news of Corona deaths, infected, measures, lock downs, face masks and the vaccines. Everywhere people panicked, then succumbed to their new painted reality, except for a few, like myself.
I must give credit to the media for an impressive job depicting another crisis from one angle. The results are tremendous. Everyone knows the Ukrainian flag now by heart. The exceptional warm welcome towards the non- Europeans, blue eyed, pink- cheeks, former Russian natives at Dutch and other borders are extraordinary. I wish(ed) this kind of welcome can always be applied in the Western societies to all war victims of the world. Everything is being arranged as we speak: transportation, allowance, housing, work permit and donations. More than 15 thousand people in yellow and blue protested at Amsterdam’s Dam square. Even Dutch citizens volunteered to fight for Ukraine. Ready to meddle in the conflicts of other (siblings) countries. To top it, the Dutch donated 106 million Euro to Ukraine. The Netherlands is loud and clear about where they stand.
The new crisis seems to cover up the fuck-ups of the local crises. For instance, the childcare benefits scandals and 1115 children missing in the Netherlands. It breaks my heart that there was/is little to no commotion on a national level. No big protests to demand compensation for the thousand victims. Or to reunite parent(s) with their children. Approximately 26.000 families were affected. Many lost their livelihood, houses, children or committed suicide, because of a mistake made by the government tax office. Why are the people involved in this terror not held accountable yet? What about the case of the missing 2500 refugees (under 18 years old) from Dutch refugees’ centers? The sound of the media is painfully silent on these ill matters.
Another crisis in the Netherlands is the social housing market. The bureaucracy and crazy housing policies has literally fucked up the system and households. A starter that rented a one- or two- bedroom flat 10 years ago in a big city, most likely will live in that same house with a family, if they can’t buy a house. It is a draining system. Nowadays moving from a small social house in Amsterdam to a bigger and better social house in the same city within ten years is unattainable, if you don’t have a fitting tragedy (mostly urgent medical cases). The waiting lists and criteria are unbearable for many! The demand is higher than the house supply. This is one of the reasons, I am surprised, that in a nutshell everything, including housing is planned and arranged for the Ukrainians, when the Dutch don’t even have a practical good housing system set-up for their own citizens. I think that is odd!
My blog is not about whether I stand with Ukraine or Russia. Or if I am for or against the support of Ukraine/ Ukrainians. It is about the system. How the Dutch majority are following the media’s narrative again with full force and convictions. There are always two sides to a story. The moment repetitious one-sided stories are shared, then realize there is much more happening than meets the eyes. Two years later, I can automatically switch off or mute the volume when hearing a single story, especially when it comes from the media.
What are your thoughts on the Ukraine and Russia conflict? Did you pick a side or are you keeping it muted? Feel free to share any thoughts about this topic.
Images from:
Jasmine Sessler – Unsplash ( featured image)
Daniel Tafjord – Unsplash
Ehud Neuhaus - Unsplash
Mick Haupt – Unsplash
Miquel A. Amutio – Unsplash
Hi Chi! Great piece?I agree with you.
And I also don’t take sides cause it not what it seems. But forsure I would like this war to end as soon as possible. I still am hoping they will go for peace find a way to end this war
That am praying for. Looking forward for your next writing. ?
?Ada Lucy
Hi Ada Lucy,
Thank you for your comment ?.
Donations and money for weapons, does not look like striving for peace.
The Netherlands accepted to grant 50 million euro to Ukraine for ammunition.
Let’s see how everything unfolds. I also hope this tribal war ends soon.
❤️
Aptly written Chi! I am myself, very fascinated how Corona which seemed to be the daily news since 2 years now became overtaken by the Russian-Ukraine war and there is little or no news anymore about corona. I also wondered why there isn’t anymore social distancing all of a sudden because the refugees from Ukraine were sheltered in different camps in hundreds and protests happened in thousands of numbers. I wondered why there is no longer news of Corona outbreak. To me, it shows Corona was no longer the issue for a long while now and the events of this war exposed it. And it makes me to be on my toes because the narrative might be brought back, no one knows. I also found it interesting how selective the journalism was during the start of this war. The Dutch media carefully filtered out news of racism, discrimination and White superiority over blacks while people fled Ukraine. They almost never mentioned it. If only all refugees can also be embraced the way Ukrainians were accepted with all necessary provisions. However, I don’t take any side because these people found time in the midst of war to perpetuate racism…so Imma stay in the middle
You hit the nail Chinyere! I was really struggling with my write-up, whether I should add the part of Africans, Asians and other non indigenous being left out in their pro-campaign for Ukraine. I also heard stories of exclusion on basis of religion. Eventually, I chose not to, because I wanted to shine more light on how the Dutch media approach(ed) this, the same way as with Corona. A single story with many hidden elements. I also thought that it was important to point out the other unsolved crises that have been pending over the years in the Netherlands without any action from the government.
Thank you for adding/ sharing this essential part here. It is very much valued ❤️
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