population growth also leads to a lack of space

Population density

Almost all problems in the Netherlands have to do with a lack of space’, wrote Bert Wagendorp last Friday in his column ‘The farmer has managed his PR excellently’ (First, 24 June). How true!

But Bert Wagendorp also does not ask the logical follow-up question: what does a further increase in population density mean for all these problems?

Just like the newspapers, too de Volkskrant, the politicians refuse to ask that question. What does it mean for 20, 22, 25, or even, maybe in twenty years, to house 30 million inhabitants in the Netherlands?

We talk easily about the whole Earth, but when it comes to our own country, it becomes dead silent. Because to ask the question is to formulate an answer. And that’s going to be uncomfortable, I’m afraid.

Fred van WijkHeukelom

hypocritical

A ban on abortion by a few fundamentalist judges who impose their will on the rest of America, but no ban on weapons with tens of thousands of deaths as a result. Back to the knitting needle then.

Ilona DekkerNieuwegein

To cancel

If the US Supreme Court (First, 25/6) reverses its own rulings without trial, it undermines legal certainty and its own credibility. And if the court can now also reverse all its previous rulings, then it would be better to cancel itself.

Gerard van der LindenLow Zwaluwe

Sanctions

Isn’t it time we started sanctions against the US?

Jan van WillegenHaarlem

Republicans

I read with great interest Maral Noshad Sharifi’s article on the Republicans in the US. Journalism as it should be, the objective rendering of the past to the present, without mood-making or judgement. It is up to the reader to form an opinion about the state of affairs in the US regarding abortion legislation and women’s rights, but also about the forces behind them. My compliments.

Walther van MechelenAmersfoort

Floriade

People don’t get confused by the wave of negative publicity (News, 23/6). The Floriade is worth a visit. Pavilions from all over the world show how the future is being worked on, for example by developing building materials with natural ingredients or how plants can grow in salt water and deserts. Very inspiring.

Herman JoostenCulemborg

shoot

My pension fund informs its pensioners that the bill ‘The Future Pensions Act’ has been sent to both Houses on March 30, 2022, and hopes that they will quickly agree to it. It also writes that the pension scheme will become more comprehensible, but cannot say what the new pension regulations mean in concrete terms for my benefit. Is it strange that I hope that the House of Representatives and the Senate will reject that proposal?

André HollegieBussum

pias

What a great photo of Freek van den Bergh with the ‘crowning’ minister of agriculture Henk Staghouwer (First, 25/6) He received a ‘big fail’ for his nitrogen policy in the House, but the photo and caption don’t really match. It’s like seeing a student who has graduated cum laude or an entrepreneur who has managed to go bankrupt. Is this someone who controls us at the highest level? There is also a trash can in the photo. As far as I’m concerned, this pias can fit right in.

Jaap AhlersWoerden

polder

The piece about lack of space and reclamation of the Markermeer (O&D, June 23) really grabbed my attention. In view of the multitude of problems in the Netherlands, it is high time to revoke the failure of Kok II in 2002 and to proceed without delay to complete the Closing and Reclamation of the Zuiderzee Act.

AW BerkersLelystad