No human being should be burdened with the expectation of becoming head of state, this week proved once again. The Van Oranje-Nassau family has still not been released from its pitiable hostage-taking by the Dutch people, and the inhumane exhibition, employment and detention of these people continues. Although the Oranges themselves may think they would like the monarchy to remain, that will seems to me to be unfree and influenced by a hereditary Stockholm syndrome.
It was precisely in that city that the royal couple received great sympathy this week, even from the most hard-hearted republican. The sad news about the involuntary return to the parental home of daughter Amalia, due to serious threats, touched many people. Also me; it is terrible that a student who has done nothing wrong and has not chosen her position cannot enjoy her student days, and that at her young age she has to go out with a battalion of security guards. What befell Amalia is a human tragedy and an absolute shame for a country where we underestimate and downplay the misery for public figures.
In this way, the royal children are forced to study abroad, something that Amalia did not want. Like her father, she just wanted to study in the Netherlands. But it is no longer possible to be left alone, because the hordes have been driven mad by social media and no longer feel any urge to control their primitive urges, online or offline. Never before in the post-war period were so many politicians, lawyers and journalists under threat as now.
This insecurity is mainly due to two things that completely ruin Dutch society: drug crime and social media. Now both plagues are not exclusively Dutch, but the Netherlands is very much affected by them. From the Mocromafia, which is said to be responsible for the threats against Amalia, to our weak stance against the extreme right, which has an unprecedented megaphone with unregulated Twitter – in the Netherlands underestimation reigns.
The misinformation, incitement and fantasies of violence on social media have nothing to do with free speech. Why are anonymous accounts still allowed? Why do we allow a creep like Elon Musk to set the rules in the biggest town square? Why is doxen still not a crime? If Urgenda can go to court to force the government to formulate stricter climate ambitions, the Dutch people should be able to force the same state to better protect the people against the disastrous consequences of social media for the mental health and safety of citizens.
The Economist argued this week for the legalization of cocaine, the drug that also causes the most crime in the Netherlands. Although it is a diabolical dilemma, I think the British business magazine is right: there is so much misery and expense associated with organized crime that the drawbacks of legalization could hardly be greater. With legalization and state-controlled sales, the mafia has lost its business and cocaine becomes safer and more taxed.
The horrific threats against Amalia should be an alarm bell for the Netherlands. The madness does not go away, the intensity does not diminish and the current drug policy is a dead end. As long as we don’t tackle the causes of the insecurity and think that protecting everyone is a solution, things will go from bad to worse. As a result, no one wants to work for the common good anymore.