Poverty on the Rise in the Netherlands

[Mizmoon]

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands - Marielle de Vries, a single mother of six, doesn't have much choice about what to feed her family for dinner.

These days, it's likely to be cold sandwiches — the two bags of groceries she picked up last week from a program for the poor contained a loaf of white bread, cold cuts, nuts, tomatoes and a pineapple.

"It's bad in Africa, but people are going hungry here too. It's just that no one sees it," the 36-year-old said after lugging her provisions out of the God's Pasture church building.

Soup kitchens and bread lines seem out of place in this affluent country long known for its generous welfare system, administered until recently by generations of socialist-leaning governments.

But the growing dependency on private charity by thousands of people reflects how Holland — long admired for its fast-paced growth, high employment and prosperity — is increasingly falling on hard times.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050821/ap_on_re_eu/netherlands_hidden_poverty_1

[arikara]

1. Every country in the world seems to be hit by the

free trade virus. It was all supposed to create jobs and wealth for everyone, instead the corporations are bleeding us all dry and they and their political puppets are making out like bandits in the process.

[Maple]

3. Holland is in the EU

and the EU is having it's own internal problems.

[1932]

4. I'm impressed by how the EU is managing to hold it together given

the US's attempts to sabotage it.

[Maple]

5. Yes, that many countries

trying to standardize things and get along after centuries of warfare, then Germany suddenly having to absorb E Germany, various world crises, thousands of new immigrants to boost a dwindling population, and the US pushing the dollar at the expense of the Euro...the EU is doing far better than anyone ever predicted.

[1932]

7. I guess Clinton gave them some breathing room.

They've been surviving Bush with some clear victories.

Sweden, German, Netherlands and a few other countries have seen off conservative challenges (and hopefully Schroeder will do that again in the election coming up soon). Spain has swtiched to a liberal government (hopefully, Italy will be next).

They've held together their very progressive attitude towards monopolies, too.

I'm sure that Bush promised his corporate supporters a very different landscape in Europe.

[Maple]

8. Yeah, and they needed it

They're holding their own now, and against some major changes and problems. They'll be up and down for years yet, but they appear to have seen the benefits overall.

Well except for Berlusconi, but hopefully he'll soon be history too. :D

[getmeouttahere]

2. How much you wanna bet....

that the Dutch will actually try to do something about this? I say they will.

[Zenlitened]

6. "... the growing dependency on private charity ..."

Hmmm... isn't that Bush's plan for the US?

Because you know, We the People having a system of government that looks out for our fellow Americans... why, that's just so wrong!

:sarcasm:

[skooooo]

9. out of the corner of my eye...

...I saw the article headline as "Poverty on the Rise in Neanderthals"

DOH!@