Misconceptions About The Netherlands | Americans React | Loners #99

#netherlands #amsterdam #europe #america
Hello, again Loners! In this video, we looked at some misconceptions about the Netherlands that Americans might have. It was a fun and interesting video to watch! If you enjoy our content please make sure to like and subscribe! Also, jump over to our vlog channel for more personal content! Thank you all :)
Original Video --- bit.ly/3YrBf2M
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[@jbird4478]

To clear up the confusion about drugs: Production, sale, and possession of any drugs is illegal in the Netherlands. Possession of a small quantity _for personal use_ is not prosecuted. That applies to both soft and hard drugs. In addition, the sale to consumers of cannabis is tolerated in coffeeshops, and for some mushrooms in so-called smartshops. Coffeeshops are in a weird legal limbo, because their supply side is illegal. Growing cannabis for personal use is tolerated, but for commercial use it is not. Note that _using_ any drugs isn't illegal at all. So if you happen to overdose, do not hesitate to go to a hospital. You health is all you have to worry about in that case.

[@Dutch1961]

And don't forget that in the Netherlands drug addiction isn't a crime. It's a health issue. Drug addicts aren't imprisoned, they're hospitalized.

[@jbird4478]

@@Dutch1961 Only if it's voluntary. There's no forced hospitalization of drug addicts like there is with psychiatric patients. Sometimes with crimes, in particular small crimes like petty theft, a judge or public prosecutor will offer a lower sentence if the perpetrator agrees to a treatment of drug addiction. Addiction itself is not a crime anywhere insofar I know. The problem is of course that in most countries drug possession is a crime, and addicts will repeatedly get caught for that. That is a crime here as well, but it's not prosecuted, so you won't get any punishment for that. But most addicts eventually run into the law due to some related issue, like needing to steal to be able to afford it, getting into a fight, or public disturbance issues.

[@grewdpastor]

@@jbird4478 To avoid misunderstandings: psychiatric admissions are usually NOT forced. There are a limited number of reasons (laid down in legislation) in which this may be the case.

[@jbird4478]

@@grewdpastor Actually, roughly 50% of psychiatric admissions are forced. The latest numbers I could find from 2018 were 26,000 people with a forced admission out of 52,000 in total. Note it counts people not admissions, because quite often people have multiple admissions if things don't get better. We have since gotten a new law, which might have changed things. People can now also be given forced treatment (medication mostly) without being admitted, so this hopefully lowers the amount of forced admissions. On the other hand, the requirements for forced treatment have gotten substantially lower with this new law.

[@grewdpastor]

@@jbird4478 I once worked in that sector and I have to say that your comment made me look again at the data. The problem is that after the various legislative changes, one can no longer read the figures properly. Several categories have been lumped together and the IGJ (Youth and Health Inspectorate) itself no longer seems to be able to provide a good insightful analysis. When looking at the data for 2021 I really wonder how they should manage to obtain any real insight in these matters. In other words, I can no longer determine whether you are right, but it could well be true. To me the current opacity is frightening.

[@torbenjohansen6955]

Danish Pastries are from Denmark Not from the Netherlands But both contryes have an awsome bike culture

[@agffans5725]

Don't be so tough on the Hollandrians and Dutchlings, they actually also make poffertjes (pancake puffs), that kind of look like tiny punctured Danish æbleskiver (pancake balls) 😁

[@theonerecker5245]

Free parking 😂😂😂😂😂 forgot to turn my app off ones and had to pay 60 bucks

[@Hosigie]

Why do Americans call themselves expats if they live abroad but everyone else is an immigrant? Brits do this too. It's weird. They're immigrants, not expats.

[@forkless]

Western Europeans or those of Western European descent tend to do this indeed. I guess some people don't like being associated with the "negative" image immigrants have. It's just another form of western exceptionalism.

[@TheGiff7]

Expatriate is a term generally used to describe someone who will return to their homeland at some stage. Even the ‘expat’ Brits in Spain have no intention of remaining there indefinitely.

[@sn4tx]

@@TheGiff7I’m also in another country definitely not definitively, but I’m called an immigrant and an emigrant. That what’s it is. If you not an immigrant and you in a different country then you a tourist.

[@dianeleitch7049]

We lived in the States for 31years and were called aliens!

[@Hosigie]

@@TheGiff7 I'm Croatian and we're still called immigrants when we go just study abroad for a couple of years, or our job sends us to another country for a couple of months. All these people are obviously coming back but it doesn't matter. It's weird. Also we have a Brit here who's married here and is around 54 now and has lived here for 20 years, is in love with the country, I don't think the guy is going back to the UK, but he still gets called an expat by foreigners.

[@anouk6644]

One of my American friends who came over here in the early 2000’s expected everyone to be high and smoking weed everywhere. She was really surprised it wasn’t like that. She said she saw more of her friends in the US smoke weed then here in the Netherlands (we were in our early 20’s). Because it’s tolerated it’s not as ‘exciting’ I guess. We did share a joint on the street so she could experience what it was like to smoke out in the open. It is quite annoying when you go abroad and the first thing people say is ‘Aha, weed!! Do you have some on you?’. Luckily it’s becoming less frequent because more countries have legalized it these days.

[@hellscraper007]

not allowed to smoke in the open... :D

[@anouk6644]

@@hellscraper007 Back then it was ;) Even today it’s allowed in plenty of cities and towns, like parts of Den Haag.

[@hellscraper007]

@@anouk6644 allowed or looked through the fingers bedoel je? hahaha it is still illegal but they let you.

[@anouk6644]

@@hellscraper007 Gedoogd, noemen we dat toch? 😅 It’s not forbidden to use, but by law it is still illegal to have it in your possession (or transport/sell). The OvJ just decided not to prosecute.

[@claudiavalentijn1457]

Noord (North) and Zuid (South) Holland have always been the areas where the political power has been and still is concentrated (Den Haag) and where the biggest ports were (Amsterdam) and are (Rotterdam). The VOC, which was founded in 1602 and the first multinational in the world, had 6 offices; 5 of which were in North and South Holland. One of the most well known leaders of the VOC was a guy from Hoorn, which is in Noord Holland. So internationally, these areas always have gotten the most attention. Also, 'Holland' is shorter than 'the Netherlands'. 🙂

[@RealConstructor]

It used to be one province of Holland, the dominant one in our country. That’s why the whole country was called Holland. They split up the province in 1840 to eliminate the dominance. But by that time a lot of countries already called our country Holland (in their language of course). So for the National Tourist Bureau to ‘sell’ Holland, instead of The Netherlands, wasn’t such a bad idea.

[@MAGNA_FRISIA]

Well coming from the Netherlands and not living in a Holland Province. It's much simpler. When I'm in the Netherlands, talking to other Dutch people, Holland are the provinces. And Hollanders are the people that life there. And is mostly mentioned in a battle kind of way. They and us, are different. And there is a long history my province was in war with them. You can find a lot information about this rivalry on the web. Fryslan/Frisia vs Holland. But when we are outside the Netherlands. We all saying Holland. This is because Holland it's much easier to pronounce the the Netherlands. Where you from? Holland.. This is round the hole country accepted and when I saw the Holland is not the Netherlands meme, I didn't know what they were talking about. It's not a thing for dutch people and no important issue for anyone who is Dutch. And only hear it when Americans talking or explaining things about the Netherlands. No. For all other than the Dutch people, Holland and the Netherlands is the same. And Holland is the name of the hole country. Don't make things a issue, when it's not. This is only annoying!!

[@kevartje1295]

- The clogs were used by fishermen to protect their feet so they wouldn't step in hooks. It could be true that some old folks still wear them but I've never seen anyone wear them in their day to day life. I once tried them on for fun in a tourism spot but they hurt my feet. - Parking is not free, some is but the big parking garages are paid. If you get to the more rural areas instead of the big cities you'll find lots of free parking but those are mostly spaces next to the road and not big parking lots. - I think we often say holland too because every other country calls us that and it would be confusing if we use the netherlands instead of holland because people from other counties are so used to saying holland. - if you are over 18 years you can have up to 5 grams of weed on you, more then that is illegal. Coffeeshops can legally sell the stuff but the growing of big ammounts is actually illegal so the coffeeshops technically have illegal suppliers. Last time I checked the government was actually planning on getting government controlled plantations so the coffeeshops would have a legal supply but I don't know if they stuck to the plan. And IT IS NOT ILLEGAL TO GO TO A COFFEESHOP. - I know a few people who smoke weed but they're not addicts or anything, they just smoke one from time to time, like the way you have a beer with friends, they smoke with friends. I never felt the need to smoke weed and neighter do most of my friends. - I pay 117 euros for my healthcare, it may seem a lot (?) but we dont get charged 6000 euros for calling an ambulance or 100.000 euros for staying 2 nights in the hospital.

[@albertlay8927]

Cost of healthcare is determined by the people and businesses that want to make money out of it. The pharmaceutical industry are making disgustingly high profits on their medicines, hospitals are run like businesses instead of caretakers, doctors want to make enormous salaries, etc. Since the US believes that regulating these costs is sheer communism, these players can charge whatever they want. In the Netherlands, and Europe and other countries as well, we have regulations.

[@obimk1104]

Sorry, here in the Netherlands, our healthcare is better and much cheaper then in backward US. - 130$ / month, free MRI, free diabetic shots, free ambulance, free ER - Unlimited payed sick leave (after 2 years => new system) - You can’t get fired when you are sick - WE DON'T KILL PEOPLE IN "SOCIALIST HEALTHCARE" => another US "politics" lie.

[@leyolm6170]

Parking your car is VERY expensive. There are zones ( outside city centers) that are free. But in city centers there are zones that charge you up to $10 per hour of parking....

[@DenUitvreter]

"Holland" was never official since the French occupation over 2 centuries ago. It was the tourism web site that used that because that was what people searched, and where they usually ended up. Coffeeshops do serve coffee and tea. They are not allowed to serve alcohol. It's quite like a normal cafe were people sit and talk or play chess. Prostitution had been to subject to the same kind of policy marihuana still has. Government was systemically not enforcing and that non enforcement gave rights, in the sense that government is not allowed to prosecute randomly. The origins go back to at least the 1500's, since prohibition has never stopped prostitution anyway, only made it less safe for the most vulnerable party in the transaction, the woman.

[@laziojohnny79]

Some 'coffeeshops' do have a license to sell alcohol, like the Bulldog at Leidseplein in Amsterdam.

[@movo721]

And why did people search on ‘Holland’? Because the two Holland provinces, North Holland and South Holland, are where most of the tourist attractions are. Hence the websites name.

[@theonijkerk3012]

Especially people that work with horses or cows wear wooden shoes. You can imagine if such a large animal steps on your sneakers it will hurt like hell, if you don't end up with a broken foot. With wooden shoes you prevent that from happening. There was a time I was near horses and I would wear wooden shoes too. And yes, they are quite comfortable.

[@flower_power]

Or just safety shoes

[@kasper2970]

@@flower_powersafety shoes only protect your toons.

[@flower_power]

@@kasper2970 I never wear wooden shoes when i work with my horses. They almost never stay on my feet. And if it sometimes happen, they always step on my toes. I don't like wooden shoes, they are not very comfortable for me. But that is an opinion.

[@aphotixtr5531]

As someone from the Netherlands I can correct some things. Some people wear clogs but most people do not. You will see some people wear clogs if they either have a large garden or if they are farmers because clogs basically function as safetyshoes. Parking is not free, at least not everywhere. As you might guess popular areas or city centers will require you to pay. Regarding prostitution, there are some cities that have a red light district but on a smaller scale. Like you said most don't advertise using their windows facing the street. It is indeed possible for the government to facilitate prostitution and provide healthcare, pension, etc. but sex trafficking is still a huge problem. Most of the industry relies on people from South America and Eastern Europe.

[@beldin2987]

For me, as a 59 old german, i grew up with the name "Holland", and even most dutch persons called it like that. Not sure when they actually changed their mind that it is now "evil" to call it Holland and only Netherlands is the real deal. In the end i also just got aware off that in the last years from KZbin videos.

[@laziojohnny79]

It's the same as calling Britain England, Spain Castilla or even like calling Germany Prussia and to some even Das Dritte Reich. Personally I couldn't care less if someone calls our country Holland or Netherlands although I myself use the Netherlands seeing I'm not from Holland.

[@gstar1084]

People outside the Randstad ( Holland provinces and Utrecht), especially in the south, where never a big fan of using Holland for the entire country. They where however very much ignored until a couple of years ago.

[@motorlife7037]

to this day at sport events the Netherlands are called Holland.

[@laziojohnny79]

@@motorlife7037 Not by the organisation only by unprofessional idiots. Today the Dutch women played against Spain, guess how the Dutch were introduced by the stadium speaker and the FIFA.... indeed; the Netherlands. Stop spreading utter bullshit.

[@lws7394]

​​@@motorlife7037 'Holland ' is less used than before . In foreign media they use ' Netherlands' nowadays. ( Maybe also uses Netherlands for tourism and 'Made in the Netherlands vs Made in Holland'. ..). A resson people use(d) ' Holland' is because is easier. The Dutch say ' Nederkand , but 'The Netherlands' or 'die Niederlände' is such a mouth full . It's the same as with England/UK,Great Britain . Or with the even more incorrect America/USA. In Germany and Spain nowadays they often use ' US. amerikaner ' or 'EstadoUnidense' for a US citizen , instead of 'American' . ( I usually reside tob'Yank'. Can't be shorter 😉). ..

[@theonijkerk3012]

Parking is very expensive, especially in Amsterdam, and you have to pay everywhere in Amstedam, even in residential area's.

[@Attirbful]

It is “copyright” not “copywrite” - so, wouldn’t the correct way be “copyrighted” not “copywritten”?

[@janjanssen9629]

Copyright is a right to copy…

[@Attirbful]

@@janjanssen9629 indeed. Which is why, unless you pay the amount to copy, you don’t have a right to and will get into trouble. Hence KZbinrs are always afraid to react to videos that have, f.e. music playing that does have a copyright on it. Now, that is different from copy writing, which is what advertizers do, such as the “Mad Men will write copy” meaning the men in advertizing agencies on Madison Avenue write ads….

[@jbird4478]

@@janjanssen9629 Yes, but it is also a verb. To copyright something means to claim that right, and in past tense that is indeed copyrighted. It is also an adjective, and in that form it is also "copyrighted", e.g. a copyrighted book.

[@winwinmilieudefensie7757]

she said copy wrote ;)

[@Attirbful]

@@winwinmilieudefensie7757 exactly. This is why I was asking. I am not a native English speaker, so I was wondering whether I was not understanding this correctly… She was wondering whether it is copy wrote or copy written and tried various versions, but it should be copyrighted, if I’m not mistaken.

[@winny3455]

We don’t use Holland for the whole country. Only the western part of the country, 2 provinces, are called North and South Holland. If you come by plane and you land on Schiphol you land in North Holland, near Amsterdam.

[@omervandenbelt]

I can do all my daily stuff without a car, because everything is near by. Within a 0,6 miles radius around my house I have 5 grocery stores. Every neighborhood outside the city center has a mall. For someone who lives more in the rural areas outside of the city a car might be more necessary.

[@FacelessJanus]

I am from the Netherlands not Holland. However it is relatively easy to explain Holland. In the era of the VOC we were a major trading nation, with the important ports in both North and South Holland. They were named so after a term we used for Wood, literally Holland translate as Wood Land. And as export went mainly through these 2 provinces, I guess the nickname for the country came into being. A shame though, as the VOC also brought several good things. (Such as the first stock exchange in the world, etc)

[@MrLittle3vil]

Parking is definitly NOT free 😂 In fact it can be pretty expensive depending on where you park and the time of day. Like the closer you get to a shopping area (we don't really have malls) the more expensive it gets. For instance, parking in Amsterdam can vary from €1/hr to €7,50/hr when you park on the streets. Police is allowed to search you for narcotics. The drugs are still technically illegal but they don't prosecute for 5 grams or less of "soft"drugs. Im told to prevent the courts from being overburdened. But if you get arrested or you get searched or they find it in your car or on your person they'll still confiscate it. You're also technically not allowed to smoke weed in public but police will often "look away" unless you're like a minor or disturbing the peace. Police in general are very relaxed here, you can have fun with them and they are very respectful most of the time. They are not powerhungry or authoritarian. You don't have to worry to get shot if you don't keep your hands on the steering wheel. We have very strict gun laws and gun violence is very uncommon.

[@markvanderknoop131]

Only cities below sea-level need canals. The health care prices are negotiated by the government, docters, hospitals and 5 or 6 health care insurance companies. The basic package is € 150,00 p/m you can ad what ever you want for a fixed price. If your income is below x level, the government contributes a fixed amount. These prices are renegotiated every year. That is the reason why a private Healthcare system can stay cheaper because they negotiate for 17 million costumers.

[@bikinginboston]

Good video! "Copywritten" makes sense if the word is copywrite. But the word is copyright. From what I understand, "copyrighted" is the past tense. It gets confusing because "copywriting" is a job in marketing.

[@Wrecker3D]

The idea behind the Dutch coffeeshops is that by creating a controlled point of sales and surroundings you (hopefully) can prevent a black market with deadly and dangerous supplies (like tainted batches with harmful chemicals due to the way it's been handled, "watered down" etc.) and it makes people more unlikely to go to a "street vendor"/dealer which of course brings risks with it like drive-by's etc. (although guns are outlawed, doesn't mean we're a gun free countries sadly)

[@josverschuur779]

In the Netherlands, you can park your car, in the smaller villages it is mostly free of charge, or cost a little bit, but in the bigger city's you have to pay for parking your car, the more you get to the centre of the city the more you have to pay. In the centre of Amsterdam it is between € 5,00 and € 7,50 per hour. We have underground parking but mostly it is not free. or it is free for a amount of time ( 30 minutes till 1 hour ) there is also an possibillity to park your car from free in some parts of villages / cities when there is a bleu stripe on the ground. then you can park your car there for max minutes. according to the parkingsign . In the place i live it is between 1 and 2,5 hours.

[@abgekippt]

Even here in Germany, which is right next to the Netherlands, people often say "I'm going to Holland" instead of "I'm going to the Netherlands".

[@gorangutic9885]

Weed is illegal but coffee shops are allowed to sell it. And you can carry up to 5 grams with you. Magic mushrooms are completely legal

[@black4pienus]

Shrooms are not legal at all.

[@mazi2646]

That was funny when you said danish pastries 🤣I have never seen one in the Netherlands.

[@movo721]

Americans tend to call all sweet pastries ‘Danish’, like a generalization.

[@lbergen001]

Hi Loners, I love you comments on this video.👍👍The misperception is due to the lack of knowledge, I guess, but who knows the characteristics of all countries? Well I don't 😄.The special things about the Netherlands are water management (dykes, canals, storm barriers, polders and old windmills), biking culture, high living standard and traditions like "Sinterklaas". But other countries have also a lot of interesting things to discover. Good luck with your channel!

[@JustsBob]

The medical situation here in the Netherlands is more that it is affordable. You pay a monthly fee of about 200 dollars and when you go to the hospital you pay the first 300 dollars yourself once a year any higher bills are paid by insurance.

[@rmyikzelf5604]

Old cities all have canals. Newer ones, not so much. Many canals were filled in the 19th and later. Many older Dutch cities have streets named something like 'Gedempte nieuwe gracht' or just 'Gedempte gracht' meaning literally 'filled new canal' and 'filled canal'

[@Dutchbelg3]

Fact: If you fly into Amsterdam you actually land in (Noord-) Holland.

[@erikmulder2574]

Free parking? I wish. When I go by car to the center of Amsterdam and stay the day my parking fees will be between 60 and 80 Euro. A Euro being just a bit more than a usd. In small villages it is free, but as soon as it is a bit bigger you pay for parking

[@ErikVananrooij]

I pay €180 a month for healthcare AND the first 400 euro [ a year ] is out of my own pocket ,,,, the rest is free

[@sannynjoo9776]

Schiphol Airport is in the province of North Holland so technically you're entering the airspace of North Holland. Parking for cars is not free. At least if you're parking at bigger cities and bigger shopping malls. Smaller cities or smaller suburban areas have their own shopping mall and often parking is indeed free or the first few hours are free.

[@ArthurPierrot]

I think that coffee shops can legally sell drugs because it is controllable by the authorities. In the same way that it can be illegal to sell food to people by yourself (like a restaurant but in your house) without a specific permit (this is the case in Belgium). Anyone could do something to the drugs before selling them so it would make sense that only the places that can be inspected can sell drugs.

[@NeoOnyx]

Apart from maybe a couple farmers, we don’t wear clogs in the Netherlands.

[@FGG850]

People who actually live in the west in either North or South Holland will tend to say "Holland". Over here in the east we say "Netherlands"

[@dobberdop]

Soft drug law are difficult to explain: it is actually illegal, but it is tolerated (till 5gr). What means, the police can use their competence to search in a car or persons when they see soft drugs. And no, parking places are not free in cities. Actually in Amsterdam or Rotterdam it costs more than 30 euro to park your car.

[@weertangel7231]

When it comes to drugs, u are allowed to have a plant at home to grow your own for personal use, but from what i hear they are working to forbid that as well, so its only from Coffeeshops u can get some weed. Health insurance is for me the best in the Netherlands, as someone who has epilepsie and needs alot of meds on daily basis the fact i get around 90% of the cost taken care of by my medical insurance is a life saver, couse if i would live in the US i would have been long dead couse i could't afford the meds to against the attacks and the mental damage among other things that comes along with it. Sure, the cost of living has been rising becouse of the war in eukraine, but so have our salaries so we can afford food so it could be alot worse.

[@sanderdeboer6034]

A standard package for healthcare here costs around 110 euros a month. People can receive back over half of that if they are in a certain income bracket. I know in the USA you can easily pay over 500 dollars a month and the deductibles are extreme. Here healthcare is also NOT tied to your employment, but you are required by law to get insurance from one of the dozens of insurance companies. However most of these companies are non profit and the government dictates many of the prices in the healthcare industry. Certain medications are even bought in by the EU, to get much lower prices. And insurance companies will try and get the best price for certain healhcare procedures. It is not a perfect system by far, however obviously when compared to the flawed system in the USA it is much better. Everyone needs to be insured by law (and is helped if they can’t afford it) while in the USA 30 million people are uninsured and another 35 million are underinsured. 80,000 people in the USA die a year for lack of access to healthcare including 17,000 children. And one million Americans a year go bankrupt because of medical bills. Something you don’t see anywhere else in the world.

[@LudoVermeulen]

There are Red Light Districts in a lot of European cities. Hamburg, Brussels, Antwerp Ghent are only a few examples.

[@BROSKI030]

coffeeshops have places where they stash the weed and when they run out they get more from their stash. thats how they stay under the radar.. it has to go very undercover not like the normal truck delivering drinks to the supermarket lol.. but once it is in the coffeeshop they can sell it. if they get caught on the way to the coffeeshop they will lose the weed...they cannot say i own a coffeeshop thats why i have it on me

[@E85stattElektro]

I think for coffeeshops it is legal to own up to 500g for distribution, though when coffeeshops buy weed to sell it later this is technically illegal and they have to use the black market. This is also the reason why you can find occasionally laced/bad weed in coffeeshops, since this doesn’t come from a certified production.

[@E85stattElektro]

I can’t speak for the Netherlands but in Germany its like you said health insurance companies are not allowed by law to make profit from insuring you. At least the official health insurance, under certain circumstances you can opt out of it and choose a private one which may be different in this regard.

[@movo721]

There are some red light districts/ streets in other cities too.

[@michieldame701]

BTW Parking your car is not FREE... some inner cities and beach area's now charge 50 euro per (part of a) day. Streetparking in most cities requires a Permit.

[@sanderdeboer6034]

Coffee shops can be found in every city in the Netherlands, just not as many as in Amsterdam. Locals do go to coffee shops to get their weed, it is just not a large proportion of the population. Explaining de ‘GEDOOG’ beleid to foreigners is often very hard, because the concept is very Dutch. It has a long history in which the Netherlands ‘Gedoogd’ or Tolerated other religions and cultures. You could see coffee shops as a similar phenomenon to ‘schuil kerken’ or ‘hidden churches’. Many cities have so called hidden churches that are usually located in back ally ways or in normal houses. A famous example in in the red light district in Amsterdam where a full church is build in a canal house. Catholics were NOT allowed to practice their religion in pubic in many cities in the Netherlands mostly during the golden age. However they were allowed to practice their religion in private settings. These churches were known to everyone, especially considering that they had full organs playing and people singing religious songs during services. So the entire neighborhood and city knew where the churches were, but the government just turned a blind eye to them. Just like with coffee shops who are technically illegal but are condoned. It creates some very weird legal situations, especially with the fact that growing marihuana is illegal, and actively searched by law enforcement. The 5 grams also is a problem for the stores in terms of supplying their shop. They need to either have carriers only take 5 grams at a time, OR take the risk taking more. It is not a perfect system by far, but still better than completely banning it. In fact many USA states who legalized it now are further ahead than the Netherlands. The problem here is (like in the USA) that religious parties have a large say in what laws are made. And that the Netherlands is a small country that has to deal with there larger neighbors like Germany and especially France. They HATE the legalization we have here, and therefore make it impossible to go beyond the ‘Gedoog’ beleid.

[@TTTzzzz]

About healthcare and other free stuff: nothing is free. You pay by taxes or you pay directly. Even breathing air is not free. Polluted air costs your health and thus healthcare and fresh air costs anti-pollution measures. The same with safety, public transport, trees, parks, education, canals, beaches, bike lanes, rivers, tap water, second servings, eat as much as you want, parking spots, wild animals, etc. Being a human costs a lot of money.

[@loners4life]

That it does.

[@M3CHR0M4NC3R]

The Netherlands has a lot of cars. But more bikes per capita. Parking is NOT free. It's actually very expensive in the cities due to environmental considerations. Parking is mostly free in residential areas. Soft drugs (mainly cannabis) are illegal, but are rarely enforced above a certain amount. Tourists smoking in front of a cop might be in for a surprise though. The government started a 'Holland' promotion campaign because The Netherlands was not well known to tourists. It promoted: Holland, Windmills, clogs, tulips and Gouda cheese. This has been abandoned and it's now The Netherlands again. Canals were the highways of old. ALL old cities have them! Though many have been filled to make roads or streets.

[@j0de0Brabander]

About that 'free healthcare' bit... what would you like better: * paying a fixed amount (140,00 E) a month regardless weather you need a doctor or medicine OR * paying a very complex insurance scam and still go bankrupt when you need a doctor or medicine. Making it universal actually makes it cheaper. And don't get me started on Big Pharma. RE from the Netherlands but outside Holland being in North Brabant.

[@bernadetterubin4892]

Free healthcare, Denmark. Vikings, Denmark. Danish, Denmark. Denmark lies further north above Germany and is one of the 3 Scandinavian countries.Don't know why Americans often confuse the Netherlands with Denmark.

[@Hansjoh21]

Healtcare is not entirely free in Denmark The Vikings were also in the Netherlands True True, Dutch and Danish sounds similar for Americans I guess..

[@bernadetterubin4892]

@@Hansjoh21 I'm danish and live in Denmark, I've never paid to go to the doctor or hospital, had multiple MRI scans, had my whole genome sequenced, etc. never paid for it. So, yes it is entirely free. There is a border wall between the Nordic countries and the rest of Europe which was built in 400-500 AD. Dannevirke, before the Viking Age started. When we started going on Viking expeditions, we went to many countries, but that word describes what some people here in the Nordics did, not who we are or was.

[@rmyikzelf5604]

Parking is not free, certainly not in underground garages. In residential areas it is free outside of the city centers.

[@Saarloos1960]

The health care is universal and insurance is mandatory for every citizen and is not dependent on having a job. If your income is too low you get a monhly bonus from the goverment to pay your insurance fee.

[@dslight113]

i am not sure why / when i have 2 pay for some medicine and some are strait past that own risk and go into the free part of all this , so sometimes you might expect 2 not pay but you will have 2 and visa versa , that is not really convenient imo , still very cheap medicine though. so in short , you pay 150 a month or so as healthcare , you get back 80% of said fee which would be around 100- 110 euro . so u paid 40 euro's or so each month if nothing happens on basic health care . (you can add on 2 this in extra insurance like dental ). with a ceiling of about 600 euro a year which you have 2 fill with your own money , and after that ceiling you are free of any chances you'll get financial problems because it will be covered by the country itself by taxes . so if you are unlucky you pay at least the 600 a year , and about 40 euro's or slightly more each month in other word's 1080 euro's , if you are lucky however , you pay about 480euro's a year on basic.

[@resi3794]

As a dutch person i can tell you that healthcare is not mutch at all about 150 dollars for a person in a mounth. But if youre a student or some1 with a low income you get a taxrefund every mounth for about 130 dollars. So they pay only 20 dollars a mounth. De paying is because the Neterlands wants to keep everybody insured of healthcare. De people with more income pay for the people with less. The sexworkers is in the Netherlands just a job like every other job. You pay taxes etc. Its not allowed to wander the streets. Then the drugs thats 5 grams for use yourself only. Even if you give it away you break the law and get to jail for it. Simpel. The name Holland is just because thats easy for people out of our country and in sports we are called the orange army orange is our National color. For to understand what i mean check some videos out about that. Just type in The orange army and you get the picture. So pretty simple al of that

[@StMargorach]

5:11 we don't wear clogs when we go into town... I used to wear them when doing garden work and a lot of farmers still wear them when working

[@chrisubels]

About health costs. Every citizen has to pay for health insurance. (up to 18 you are included on the insurance of your parents) That costs somewhere between 150 - 250 Euros a month. On top of that there is an "own risk" bill you have to pay of around 385 Euro's a year, IF you use medical assistance, excluded is housedoctor visits which you don't have to pay for (included in your insurance) The big difference with the US occurs when you actualy need medical aid. For instance when you break your legs or need an MRI or something, it does not cost extra. You just pay your insurance fees and that's it. Cancer treatment? included in your insurance. So you never pay more than your insurance and your "own risk". In the US this is quite different.

[@erics320]

Parking free, i wish! Most cities ask insane prices for parking in the center of the city or near shopping centres. In large parts of Amsterdam you pay 7,50 euro each hour. I live in Haarlem, 20km west of Amsterdam and i can park for free in the street where i live. In the city center its 5,80 per hour. But free parking for residents will change, in 2 years i have to buy a permit costing around 250 euro to park near my house. For families with more cars the prices go up or you might even get no permit at all for a third car. Many of the smaller towns still have free parking everywhere.

[@Rein_]

6:25 parking isn't free, especially not in cities, not uncommon to pay 3 euro or more an hour. 9:35 police can only seach you if they have reasonable cause, they don't really care about little amounts of drugs. 10:20 it is allowed for coffeeshops to sell weed but officially they can't buy it, so they have to get it from illegal sources. 13:00 I pay around €2000 a year inclusive the €385 own risk for health insurance. I have a bit more expensive one but that means I have free choice of docters and everything is paid by insurance.

[@raatroc]

The reason The Netherlands are often called Holland is a historic one. In the 17th century (or the 16 hundreds as you say) all foreign policy was made by a representative of the province of Holland as this was the most important province (especially while Amsterdam and The Hague were in it). So it was normal to refer to this representatibe as someone from Holland. And what is more the name of the country was simply unpronouncable for foreigners: "De Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden" so Holland was more convenient. In the Netherlands however the difference is clearly made. Many inhabitants of other provinces refer to "Those Hollanders" as the inhabitants of the big cities, who know everyting better and look down on the other provinces.

[@captnonius]

Ready for #100 Roll that intro!

[@ilaril]

Even in Finland the healthcare isn't free. It cost 19 euros to get an mri and xrays and such. Not free, but didn't bankrupt me either.

[@loners4life]

Damn. That's pretty good in our opinion!

[@ilaril]

@@loners4life It is. I wish the Americans would realise that healthcare doesn't need to be free, but affordable. But it seems to be too much of the "I've got a good job and healthcare, why would I pay for others". Nation should excel to be as cohesive as possible.

[@aroblucky]

Answer to the question what and where is Holland. The Netherlands is composed of small countries that together form a slightly larger small country. This compilation and management was mainly undertaken by Holland, south and north Holland. Hence the capital Amsterdam is located in Holland (north) and the government city Den-Haag (south) With the connection of more and more small countries, it could no longer be called Holland and changed to the Netherlands. The provinces, another word for small countries still have their original name, if you look at the map you can see north and south holland the countries where it started. If you are in a different province than north and south Holland then you are in the Netherlands.

[@movo721]

Small countries is NOT an equivalent to provinces. Just say provinces, Americans know what they are.

[@theo4281]

A bit late but foreigners call the Netherlands Holland because the provinces of North and South Holland have placed the Netherlands on the world map because of their trade. These two provinces have made the Netherlands rich.

[@kvhalewijn6940]

many people do call the Netherlands Holland, even many dutch people do. possible reasons for that can be because 2 provinces are south and north Holland and they have te biggest airports and harbors so almost everything and everyone that enters or leaves the country does that through one of them. also the spanish name for the Netherlands is Hollanda. officially its illegal to sell soft drugs just like any other drugs but it gets tolerated if it happens in a coffeeshop. wich is strange cause they may not grow it and they can't buy it anywhere cause its only tolerated for them to sell it. so they have to buy it illegally to being able to sell it legally in there stores. almost every family has a car, many have 2 and some even 3. but almost every person also has a bike and with the development of the roads, espacially within city's or villages, cyclists have always been taken into account. so its pretty safe and pleasent to ride a bike in the Netherlands.

[@theonijkerk3012]

It is about $ 100,= per month for the base package.

[@loners4life]

Got it. Ya that is a little more pricey than we expected but still decent if everyone has access that in our opinion!

[@flower_power]

​@@loners4lifeif you dont earn much you get an amount of the government, so it can be completely free

[@tech4u2022]

The main reason why healthcare is cheap in the netherlands is that all healthcare workers sworn to the hippocratic oath thus forcing them to give medical before anything else without reservations.

[@zephyrus339]

Free Parking? People who say that probably never parked their car in Amsterdam.

[@flower_power]

Lol, it makes you bankrupt

[@gertvanderstraaten6352]

Drugs are NOT legal, you are allowed to buy a certain amount of hash/weed for personal use. Technically when coffeshops buy their drugs they are breaking the law. Mushrooms are legal to pick in the wild (no way to police that) but I don't think they're legal to sell anymore. All other drugs are illegal. ETA: And of course there are coffeeshops in other cities and towns too. In Nijmegen, where I live, close to the German border, I guess half the customers are German. They're supposed to ask for id but some don't do that at all. Same for prostitution, always Germans and other foreigners looking for them.

[@bertkassing8541]

I am a loyal follower of the Buncharted channel. They make nice videos and are currently on a tour of all provinces in the Netherlands. Their cost of living videos are also fun to watch.

[@rmyikzelf5604]

Not legal. The coffeeshops have a supply problem obviously and it's a regularly recurring point of discussion.

[@albawutz]

Many languages don’t have a specific word for the Netherlands and just say Holland. So it should not be a big think when somebody says Holland for the Netherlands. Especially as there is not even a Province of Holland, but two. So there is no real confusion.

[@marcelrombouts8607]

The reason the Netherlands are often referred to as "Holland" is probably the obvious: it rolls off the tongue more nicely. We even chant it in football (scoccer) stadiums while cheering on the national side: HOLLAND clap clap clap HOLLAND clap clap clap! Also, visiting Amsterdam to experience the Netherlands is, not a lot, but still quite like experiencing the USA by visiting Las Vegas. It provides a warped, tourist trappy view. Hotel, souvenirshop, hotel, souvenirshop, money exchange is not what the Netherlands look like.

[@gerrylanter8109]

People who visit Paris know very well that Paris isn't France. Same is true for Amsterdam and the Netherlands, or Berlin and Germany, or New York and the USA. People are not stupid.

[@marcelrombouts8607]

@anter8109 You haven't met any of the stupid ones yet? You lucky devil.

[@how2pick4name]

Basically Holland is where the action is. The rest of The Netherlands are farmers. This is a typical thing to say when you live in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, etc e.g in one of the Hollands. lol

[@ronaldderooij1774]

All the things you see in tourism advertisements are in Holland (Amsterdam, Schiphol airport, Keukenhof flower exhibition, Delftware from Delft, Gouda for cheese, Rotterdam's port, etc. That is, by the way a complete nonsense. The rest of the Netherlands has much, much to offer tourists and as the country is tiny and has a great public transportation, it is easy to reach.

[@micade2518]

About one third of The Netherlands (the country's formal name is "Nederland" meaning the "low country", or the "lowlands", lies below sea level, with the lowest point being 22 feet (6.7 meters) below sea level. Meanwhile, the highest point is about a thousand feet above sea level. That gives you an idea of what the landscape of the Netherlands looks like. It's almost completely flat! Which explains for the many canals and ... the biking ! PS: Talking about The Netherlands, sea level, etc., I don't remember if I have recommended this to you, about the amazing work the Dutch did to fight off flooding of their country, the erosion of their coast and to reclaim land from the sea. You might find this super documentary interesting (on YT): "Ernest Kleinberg Films: The Netherlands: Struggle for Land" - Robert Kleinberg

[@TheLastSoundNL]

Parking is not cheap where I live and owning cars is expensive with the taxes and gas. I live very close to the city center. If you don't live in the area, you can't park in our street, unless you're visiting a resident who can register you in an app for a few hours. a car with a scanner drives through to check. If you are not registered they fine you. also drugs are tolerated not legal. an acquaintance of mine used to supply coffeeshops as a courier by scooter. They drop off in the back discreetly. He would not tell me how he got his package, obviously it was also discreet. He is not a teacher at a high school. The coffeeshops are just left alone. They will do drug busts if you cultivate to sell. Right now states in America and Canada are probably not as strict as the Netherlands is. I've personally smoked once at graduation, never again and I don't miss it. an old friend of mine had a period where he had some from time to time. He is now a cancer researcher. I think I've known 5-6 people in my entire life to smoke from time to time.

[@laurav179]

If you are not from the provinces of South-Holland or North-Holland within the Netherlands, Holland is considered the same as the Netherlands, so that is why there is so much confusion generated by people mostly from those 2 provinces, but in general Holland is basically the same as the Netherlands. . Other cities do have coffee shops, and not everyone is on the same page regarding selling weet because of the problems that these shops create in the surrounding area's.

[@GiblixStudio]

1. clogs are so sturdy that they used to be the safety shoes. however these days extremely few people actually wear them. clogs are mostly sold as tourism souvenirs these days. 2. when drugs becomes readily available... eventually it becomes normal and you're kind of losing interest. most people that use drugs are tourists. 3. we used to be a car centric country. but since the late 70's we started to rennovate everything. since you need to rebuild/repair every 10-15 years to modernize... it was easy to incorporate. highways etc go on the outside of the cities. and busy roads are less and less a thing inside the cities. I walk 5-10mins to do groceries and with a 10-15min bike ride i'm in down town for more expansive shopping. 4. north and south holland are 2 separate provinces. it is the name foreigners use because those are most known from ye olde days from trading/export that happened in the 1800's. 5. there are sex workers all across the netherlands, but its not in your face. I remember going out with friends in amsterdam. we walked through the red light district over and over, because some of them had no idea it was actually the district and they were confused. 6. healthcare system is pretty messed up last few years, because our politicians are adopting the USA system more and more. I pay 140euro a month and have 800euro own risk. Meaning the first 800 euro I have to pay out of my own pocket. Also you really need to screen which insurance company you sign up with since they recently started to limit which hospitals and such you can actually make use of. Healthcare used to be much better.

[@peterbrazier7107]

I herd that the highest point in the Netherlands is 7 metres,I don't know if this is true.

[@Saarloos1960]

Parking is insanely expensive and many people have a car especially outside Amsterdam.

[@Zeitgeist6]

6:27 no it's not. I don't have a car (I walk, bike or use public transport most everywhere depending on the distance) but a lot of parking spaces are paid and not cheap because a lot of cities try to prevent people to come to a town in a car unless they live there. 9:37 It's not illegal for police to search you here and you technically always have to have ID with you if a cop decides there is reason to question you. As for drugs. It it not legal but tolerated to carry a small amount of weed, but not to supply it. Other drugs (also shrooms) will get you into trouble if cops find out. Also most people here don't smoke weed. It's not uncommon, but not as common as foreign media wants people to believe.

[@TheJolanda01]

You can have 5gr when you are over 18 years old,I pay 96 euro a month for health care and it is 385 euro own rrisk that you can spread out inb the year,than you dont have to pay for annithing annymore,not for medicine or anbulance or hospita+l

[@hanes2]

I think my yearly health insurance bill is 40-45eur. And I remember my mom/senior paid 8-10eur

[@faultiergamer1]

Hey! In Holland you can have 5g of Weed with you. A Coffeeshop is allowed to habe 500g It is illegal to grow Weed or transport more than 5g. so officially it is illegal for the coffeeshops to restock. They have so called runners that try to bring the next load to the shops without getting caught by the police. If they get caught the weed will be confiscated and destroyed. That´s why this business is always risky and the weed prices are higher than normal to compensate losses. From the moment the runner reaches the coffeshop and the weed is inside the coffeeshop it becomes legal to sell.

[@ronrots4423]

The Netherlands and Holland explained: during the 80 years (independance-) war against Spain (1568-1648) we got organised to fight Spain. At that time we had 7 provinces from witch Holland was the biggest; had the most money and was therefor the most powerful. A lot of money was made by trading to finance this war. In later times the province of Holland was split in to: North- and South-Holland for practical, gouvermental reasons. Our bureau of tourism chose the name "Holland" to revere to our history and and the strong link to Amsterdam. Gr. Ron

[@williammccoy7127]

Actualy the use of softdrugs by young people dropped considerably after they semi legalised it. Guess forbidden fruits tast bedder.and wooden clocks you have to see them as a kind of safety shoes specially farmers used them big animals standing on you toes hurts allot. With wooden no problem Also in the winter if it is cold your feet’s stays warm. Snow however is a no goo.

[@Wamubodo]

It's so funny that most reactions are from dutch people ( me included). I think every country suffers from these misconceptions but are also used to boost tourism. I live in Rotterdam (city centre) and work in Amsterdam (city centre) but the sort of tourism is totally different. But to be fair, an European tour for 7 days never has the ability to show all those regional differences. It's the same with every country. Walking in Amsterdam though, makes me think about what tourism should be about. Not about weet and prostitution. Amsterdam is a beautiful city and it's defintely worth a visit but do not stand in line for an hour to get a stroopwafel or fries with mayonaise. Just because everybody else does it. It feels they're in this bubble where you only see what they want to see. Been there, done it. It's almost like a freak show if you look at the redlight district. And maybe it's not so much about the tourist itself but about the numbers. If you go to Venice or Barcelona, same story.

[@charlescorbee9498]

There’s a great book about the Dutch influence on America called: The Island in the Centre of the World! It’s parts of America’s National Treasure.

[@Hrn250]

Tolerance policy in my country is the policy of an administrative body not to prosecute violations of a particular law. Enforcement measures are waived. Tolerance policy can also be the result of a conscious choice if a law or its enforcement is seen as pointless, while an amendment or repeal of the law in question is politically too sensitive. For example, if there are different rules elsewhere in Europe , then it will be solved with us by tolerating it and then everyone will be satisfied. ☺️ typical Dutch I would say

[@DocMurphyish]

Most coffeeshops actually DO sell coffee as well. Often quite good coffee too. Better than Starbucks, at least.

[@xenzis2431]

not a very high bar

[@DocMurphyish]

True.

[@jefferym3366]

copyright not copywrite... Something is copyrighted, not copywritten..

[@Bruintjebeer6]

Alkmaar and Haarlem have a red light e strict as well and Utrecht as well

[@SwirlingSoul]

For most Dutch people, the word Holland is so much easier to pronounce than The Netherlands. We are not that comfortable with the English TH. Now, when you try to say THe NeTHerlands.... the TH-N-TH is quite difficult. Tongue in front, all the way to the back, and back to the front. That is unusual for our language. For most foreigners also, they know Holland, but not the Netherlands, so usually it just saves effort and explanations. Even though it's kinda wrong. And things really get complicated when people say; "But I thought you were Dutch!?!" .... And if they then assume Germany as my country, you know that the English Deutch (for german) is very close to the English word Dutch for Netherlandish. 🤣 I love languages.

[@eckligt]

It's called copyrighted, not copywritten. Not sure if you're joking or serious about saying copywritten.

[@loners4life]

We were joking! haha

[@Linda-hs1lk]

Thinking about The Netherlands and say it's all about mills, tulips and drugs is like saying all Americans are cowboys and Indians.

[@nispen]

There is this vid “what’s the dumbest thing an American has ever said to you”. This vid qualifies

[@warrenturner397]

Solvang is based on Danish culture. Dames come from Denmark NOT the Netherlands

[@movo721]

3:40 Haarlem! Aka ‘little Amsterdam ‘ lol

[@sergiudan9010]

next one it will be the 100 th episode you need little party hats and a cake :))

[@Linda-hs1lk]

Drugs aren't legal here, they're actually ALL illegal but under strict rules hash and some other things are 'accepted'. Doesn't mean they're legal. You can't just get a load of the stuff and you're not allowed to sell it. So no, drugs are NOT legal here and you will go to jail for it. And to be honest, I never see 'high' people here.

[@lookdawg187]

Free parking? Hhaha if it's one misconception I see Americans having... thinking there's so much free shit, free healthcare, free parking, free education, free housing... shit ain't free at all, I'm Dutch and I pay for all that shit haha Also the Netherlands (plural of land) is made up of old countries, the low lands. Holland was one such country, and is now simply 2 provinces (South and North Holland) within the Netherlands. I live in Friesland. There's Holland, Friesland, Zeeland, Gelderland, Flevoland, which are all provinces now.

[@jooproos6559]

Sorry,i meant the Low Lands!