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As inspired by the similar thread by our much valued comrade Aptrangr on GW:
I would prefer a more folkish form of Switzerland. Uniting all of the Netherlands (also those in the German and French borderlands and Flanders) into a loose confederation of cantons. A bit like the USA or Switzerland.
The state.
The state:
Each canton would have it's own laws, courts and parliament and each town and community with a Town Meeting (like in New England, USA or in some Swiss cantons). As such it will become a really decentralized and very democratic confederation.
For the peoples of the Netherlands one would see a real decentralization and respect for the rights of the individual cantons and most certainly the various communities (villages and towns). The cantons will use their own dialects in meetings and in their own laws. A Dutch translation will only need to be present during cases in which someone doesn't speak the local dialect or language.
Running the day to day affairs will be left to the individual cantons - and communities according to their own wishes. The central government in The Hague will only deal with Education and Health Care ( there will be federal vouchers and a Federal Dutch NHS), foreign policies, the environment (for the first 20 years) and the armed forces.
Since the name "province" to describe the individual member states would remind people of the centralization and the monarchy the new word would be "state" or "canton".
Those that will be kicked out:
All western and non-western immigrants should be reviewed.. most non-western immigrants will see their citizenships revoked and will be deported to their native lands. The westerners, Germanic or not.. will be tested for diseases, records everything. If they are safe- they can stay and slowly fuse into our society-like our brothers. The Islamic religion will be banned. Communist and socialist parties with a Marxist and multiculturalist agenda will be banned and their leaders will see their citizenships revoked and they can pick a non-western country for exile. The Royal Family ? Send into exile and their properties in the Netherlands will be handed over to the Dutch people and perhaps privatized. The Royal Palace in Amsterdam will be handed over to the City of Amsterdam as their City Hall.
Welfare:
It will be the job of the individual cantons to generate a welfare state by means of first creating jobs so that the people won't need welfare. It could be arranged that Flanders and Holland will transfer some excess wealth to the other cantons. Of course decentralization would generate enough jobs in the various cantons. It will be up to the various cantons to decide on labor issues. In Federal Law flexicurity will be implemented. So the state can hire and sack employees without paying them compensation (so no more Golden handshakes or bonuses) but they would have to pay for their re-education and give them allowances until they have found a new job.
Education and Health Care:
Education will be left to the individual cantons and one would be allowed to create private schools and universities as long as they comply with the law of their cantons. Federal vouchers will be given though so parents can send their children to other cantons for education.
The health care system will be nationalized and put under a federal scheme- a kind of NHS. Based on the Cuban system rather then the British.
The Hague as Federal Capital.
The Hague will still be the Federal Capital in the same sense as Bern is it in Switzerland or Washington D.C in the U.S.A. Whether The Hague will be seperated from Holland and it's capital moved to another city should be debated in the parliaments of a re-united Holland and in the Federal Parliament- and should be decided by a referendum in The Hague and Holland- before this will happen The Hague will be officially declared a city (it has been done before by King Louis Napoleon in 1806 and confirmed by his brother Emperor Napoleon in 1810 but it's city rights have been revoked by William I in act of revenge).
It could well be possible that The Hague will be an independent Capital-Region or Capital Canton, without Federal taxation and Federal representation (no taxation without representation means no taxation and no representation). The Hague will effectively rule itself but will de facto be part of the Dutch Republic. Only a Federal Chancellery, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of Domestic Affairs and Defense will remain in the Hague. All the other (reduced) institutions will be spread across the country because modern communication makes it possible to decentralize affairs.
The Hague will of course remain the seat of international agencies and companies (even more attractive because of a lower tax rate) and will possible become one of the wealthiest city's per capita in Europe. (A bit like Geneva). Since The Hague is the Federal Capital and internationally so important it should be the showcase of our country: ugly, dilapidated boroughs will be either restored to their former glory or blown up and some of the ugly industrial zones (those that know the city: Laakhaven, Binckhorst) will house the remaining ministries and federal institutions and will become green, eco-friendly and modern, pedestrianized showcases of Dutch urban planning. The old canals within the city should be preserved, cleaned and restored to their former glory and public transport should disappear underground (at least in the older and more densely populated parts of the city) . Leaving more room for pedestrianized streets and canals. The Beatrixkwartier- and the older areas of the inner city that were bombed in '45- that is now being turned into a commercial area should be restored as the Jugendstil-part of The Hague that it was before the 1945 air raid and the commercial activities should be moved to the area that is now around Laakhaven (turning the old dilapidated area it into a project similar to the London Docklands).
It may be strange that I write a lot about a certain city but I believe that a Federal Capital is a part of the country that should be seen as the showcase and since decentralization will bring a lot of changes I describe it.
Less like this....
More like this...
The Environment.
The Federal Government will have to set the good example.
I believe that it will be necessary to take a pro-active stance when it comes to the environment. I think that this will have to a national effort: we will have to come to 80 percent renewable energy (and 20 % nuclear) by the year 2030. And the Federal Government should take the lead by moving their ministries to buildings that have been designed to have a zero carbon footprint and ministers will be expected to use public transport and where possible the bike or drive in cleaner cars. The government should also set an example on a local level by speaking to the local population and government of The Hague (where parliament is housed) about creating more parks and opening up canals and tearing down some of the older neighborhoods that have a poor quality of life attached to it- in their place should come modern housing and commercial districts with canals, parks and affordable good quality housing- according to the principles of New Urbanism. Where one sheep goes- more will follow..
The role of taxes and subsidies- and the energy policy:
It will be necessary to subsidize solar and wind energy and put solar panels on as many roofs as possible and create large wind farms on the North Sea- like the Danish have done. I also believe in the construction of two nuclear power plants: both in Borsele, Zealand (the security system should be adopted from the Swedish and Finnish)
I think that all excises and VAT on cleaner cars should be scrapped while taxes on polluting cars should be increased: the revenue should be spend on fuel research and the improvement of public transport.
Overpopulation
I believe that our country is hopelessly overpopulated and thus the population should be halved: by encouraging migration to the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Brazil- the ideal population of this country should be roughly between 8 and 9.5 million. The local governments and perhaps the national government should use the money now used for development aid to educate those that wish to leave and provide them with loans that they can use to establish businesses at their preferred destination so they won't become dependent on their new government.
Infrastructure and land-use.
It will be vital for our country to sacrifice some areas under sea-level like the Alexanderpolder near Rotterdam, the Haarlemmermeerpolder, the Purmer and the Schermer and perhaps some areas in Lower Groningen, Flevoland and Lower Friesland and West Brabant that should be converted into storage areas of excess water and full time lakes- while the country should work towards opening up old canals and the creation of new modern polders in the coastal areas of Holland that will house new villages and modern agriculture. In addition I believe construction of two new national airports (since what used to be Schiphol will be submerged when the Haarlemmerpolder will be sacrificed) will be needed- that will be connected to Amsterdam by monorail: one on an (to create) island before the coast near IJmuiden (like the Maasvlakte) and one in the IJsselmeer. I still believe that a reduced Markerwaardplan should be carried out- it will house agriculture, windmills and a new national airport.
Transportation
Rail transport
The entire Dutch railway system should be re-nationalized for a brief moment so things can be put in order again. After that the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways) will see it's shares divided between the individual cantons (60%), the federal government (for a period of 50 years- 10%) and the free market (30%)- but no shares may be sold to foreigners or foreign companies. The entire network will be upgraded to the latest safety features and electrified with a overhead wire system based on the German voltage. Then the Nederlandse Spoorwegen will only keep the main lines open and privatize the rest- selling it off on the free market (only Dutch companies may participate). Further expansion will have to take place: in particular by private investment in monorails between The Hague and the north of the country- and possibly Hamburg, high-speed connections between France, Germany and the Netherlands, and further expansion of commuter rail and two monorails leading from Amsterdam to new international airports. Apart from that it will be necessary to break-up monopolistic companies like Connexion and leave competition to the free market.
Then you get a pretty secure system with a mixture of a state-owned company and private interest.
In the larger cities or in cities with a lack of space we could have railways roofed over and the available space put to use as parks, foundation for housing and streets- in the same way as it has been done to the railways in Brussels or to Rotterdam Blaak. The beautiful halls of the central stations can be used as an atrium and a public garden while steps and lifts would lead down to the real station underneath the old station. Thus using the available space twice.
Like here in the old hall of Atocha Station in Madrid, Spain
Road transport
Instead of paying an annual tax, maintenance on roads will be carried out by levying tolls and selling (mandatory) vignettes, and a couple of new motorways will be either build or planned: (I'll provide road numbers for the Dutch amongst us) the A4 (that should have been build some 30 years ago), A6-A9 (it will have to be constructed using a tunnel underneath the Naardermeer, so the natural reserve can be protected), the expansion of the A73 (from Limburg via Nijmegen and east of Arnhem, through Twente and Drenthe to Groningen), and a new motorway that would lead across the Delta Works, from Belgium, Zeeuws Vlaanderen to Hoek of Holland and The Hague. When the population would really drop some additional motorways can be decommissioned and turned into a cantonal trunk road or a 2+1 road - and in The Hague a Congestion Charge (based on the system now in use in Stockholm) will be introduced (if the various cantons decide to do the same thing it will be up to them- Amsterdam and Rotterdam would be fine candidates) for any car or motorized vehicle (apart from emergency services, occupants of that area and the Corps Diplomatique) entering the old towns- entering the old town will have to be made avoidable by building tunnels and underground beltways around the old towns.
Because of light pollution the amount of street lighting along motorways and trunk roads will be lowered and replaced with "cats eyes"and in urban areas we should try to have motorways "roofed over" and covered with housing, streets and green spaces. And every main city should receive incentive parking schemes so transport by car into the densely populated city can be minimized.
"cat's eyes"
When more comes to heart I will add it in this thread and in the end I will also write an addendum where I explain which views may have changed over time.
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