Narrative:
Expats bring money, innovation and an international vibe. They are highly educated, pay taxes and make the city more dynamic. Criticism of them is jealousy or xenophobia.
Reality:
Yesterday we talked about the bottom layer: the asylum influx and the comforting lie โwe have no problem with itโ.
Today we look at the top layer โ and it is at least as impactful.
In Amsterdam and other major cities we are witnessing a quiet but very visible replacement: the expats.
They come with high-paying jobs, often funded by multinationals. Their employers rent expensive homes for them in the best neighborhoods. They earn princely salaries, often benefit from the 30% tax ruling, and live in international bubbles with little connection to the city or its original inhabitants.
What do we actually see in practice?
Traditional Amsterdam brown cafรฉs disappear and are replaced by oat-milk latte laptop coffee bars.
In supermarkets and on the street you hear English more often than Dutch.
โEnglish pleaseโ has become the standard response when you start speaking Dutch.
Sidewalks arenโt swept, bulky waste ends up next to containers, local rules are ignored.
Housing prices in popular neighborhoods are pushed even higher, while young Dutch people and families canโt compete.
These are not โordinary immigrantsโ. These are highly educated, temporary residents who have little attachment to the city, its history or its people. They add economic activity, but simultaneously drain the soul from the neighborhoods.
While we debate asylum and integration at the bottom, an equally fundamental replacement is happening at the top: the original Amsterdammers and Dutch middle class are slowly being displaced by an international elite that treats the city as a temporary, trendy playground.
This is not jealousy.
This is the right of a people to keep their own cities recognizable, livable and Dutch.
OIM Way Out
We donโt have to choose between โonly asylumโ or โonly expatsโ.
We can choose sovereignty: control over who comes in what numbers โ both at the bottom and at the top โ and especially who actually wants to connect with the Netherlands and its culture.
Question to you
Do you also feel that slow alienation in your city or neighborhood?
When did your favorite local cafรฉ turn into a laptop coffee spot where no one speaks Dutch anymore?
Letโs stop only looking at the bottom layer.
Letโs also dare to talk about whatโs happening at the top.
Because if weโre not careful, there will soon be very little left of โthe Dutchโ โ or of our cities.
This post is 100% authentic and verifiable via:
https://openinternetmanifest.org/en/hash-verifier
**RVN: โThe Expats Are Good for the Cityโ** ๐
**Narrative:**
Expats bring money, innovation and an international vibe. They are highly educated, pay taxes and make the city more dynamic. Criticism of them is jealousy or xenophobia.
**Reality:**
Yesterday we talked about the **bottom layer**: the asylum influx and the comforting lie โwe have no problem with itโ.
Today we look at the **top layer** โ and it is at least as impactful.
In Amsterdam and other major cities we are witnessing a quiet but very visible replacement: **the expats**.
They come with high-paying jobs, often funded by multinationals. Their employers rent expensive homes for them in the best neighborhoods. They earn princely salaries, often benefit from the 30% tax ruling, and live in international bubbles with little connection to the city or its original inhabitants.
What do we actually see in practice?
- Traditional Amsterdam brown cafรฉs disappear and are replaced by oat-milk latte laptop coffee bars.
- In supermarkets and on the street you hear English more often than Dutch.
- โEnglish pleaseโ has become the standard response when you start speaking Dutch.
- Sidewalks arenโt swept, bulky waste ends up next to containers, local rules are ignored.
- Housing prices in popular neighborhoods are pushed even higher, while young Dutch people and families canโt compete.
These are not โordinary immigrantsโ. These are highly educated, temporary residents who have little attachment to the city, its history or its people. They add economic activity, but simultaneously drain the soul from the neighborhoods.
While we debate asylum and integration at the bottom, an equally fundamental replacement is happening at the top: the original Amsterdammers and Dutch middle class are slowly being displaced by an international elite that treats the city as a temporary, trendy playground.
This is not jealousy.
This is the right of a people to keep their own cities recognizable, livable and Dutch.
**OIM Way Out**
We donโt have to choose between โonly asylumโ or โonly expatsโ.
We can choose **sovereignty**: control over who comes in what numbers โ both at the bottom and at the top โ and especially who actually wants to connect with the Netherlands and its culture.
**Question to you**
Do you also feel that slow alienation in your city or neighborhood?
When did your favorite local cafรฉ turn into a laptop coffee spot where no one speaks Dutch anymore?
Letโs stop only looking at the bottom layer.
Letโs also dare to talk about whatโs happening at the top.
Because if weโre not careful, there will soon be very little left of โthe Dutchโ โ or of our cities.
#Expats #Amsterdam #Displacement #Culture #Identity #HousingCrisis #Facts #OpenInternetManifest
https://openinternetmanifest.org
This post is 100% authentic and verifiable via:
https://openinternetmanifest.org/en/hash-verifier
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