Staff shortage? From now on, pick up that pizza yourself

Healthcare, education, defense, public transport, catering, construction, technology; there is hardly any sector where a shortage of hands is not felt. We stand by and watch as our society comes to a standstill.

Looking for causes, it is tempting to point to the aging population. But we’re not there. Because what about all the nonsense jobs that have been created in recent years? So-called ‘supportive’ functions in education and care do not lead to more hands on the bed or more masters or teachers in the classroom. They do, however, eat up part of the formation.

Flash delivery is an industry that is growing explosively. Apart from serving convenience, it adds little to the quality of our society. It is taking a big bite out of the already under pressured workforce.

Scarcity forces choices to be made. Pick up that pizza yourself, there’s not much you can do about it. And with your own hands, your shopping basket is also filled in no time. In short, what you can do yourself, do it yourself. Because in truly essential professions, every hand counts.
Geert TomassenDoetinchem

Rhetoric

Sander Schimmelpenninck argues that ‘pro-peasant sentiment’ would be fueled by international fascism and social media (First, 10/7). For as long as I can remember, I have had sympathy for farmers and respect for their way of life. This has to do with personal encounters with farmers, and with following the news about the sector, where advice and guidelines from above have been tumbling over each other for decades, often contradicting each other.

I don’t need social media and fascist inspiration to understand the task facing farmers in the Netherlands and I assume that applies to more people. I object to the lazy non-analysis of the peasant-versus-citizen question and distance myself from the disqualifying rhetoric when it comes to the peasants in this country.
Ted van GaalenNijmegen

Uber

Lobbying is undemocratic. Lobbying creates a conflict of interest and leads to corruption. Lobbying does not yield the best social choices. Lobbying harms the soul of the lobbyist as much as that of his target. Lobbying costs a lot of time, money and energy. Lobbying rules money, not morality.

Lobbying should be banned across the board and that ban should be strictly enforced. Parliamentarians, civil servants and administrators can turn to independent universities and colleges for objective knowledge and expertise. Lobbying is an evil growth in our fragile democracy.
Ludo GregoireLead

mantra

For the umpteenth time I read Sigrid Kaag’s mantra, in support of a policy of not accommodating citizens with higher fuel bills and screeching inflation. According to her, we must realize that we ‘collectively become a bit poorer’.

That word collective implies a kind of shared sorrow that speaks politically favorably but does absolutely no justice to the reality in which the poorest of us find themselves. The rich will become a little less rich, but will have little to lose, the less fortunate will soon no longer be able to make ends meet and end up in debt with all the misery that entails. A very different and certainly not a shared reality.
Boukje LoopstraAlmere

left-wing collaboration

PvdA and GroenLinks are taking the step towards left-wing cooperation. The first proof would be cooperation in the Senate. With Ceta, the PvdA has ensured that I see that glimmer of hope (would the PvdA finally return to its roots?) fade out again.
Jolanda van der LeeGroningen

train toilet

‘It is a code of honor for drivers and conductors not to use the passenger toilet’. This can be seen in the deplorable condition of the NS train toilets, which are cleaned at most once a day. In Norway and Sweden, the conductors not only check travelers for valid tickets, but they check the toilets every hour and refill the toilet rolls, provide fresh coffee in the premium class, sell tickets and reservations and also staff the cafeteria on board. That is just providing service.
Jacob van KokswijkVught