(Matthys van Raalten)*

European countries are known for their compromise with Socialism: the welfare or “nanny” states they are. It’s just a costly mistake to think that not working should be rewarded and working must be punished with heavy taxation to make that all possible. Let’s have a look how social welfare works in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

A person can get social welfare in the Netherlands in many ways. The payments are all about the same, about 900 Euro per month for a single person. In addition he or she gets money to help in paying costs of rent and costs of health-care. The additional payments for these are about 150 Euro per month. Health care is almost completely covered for a monthly insurance cost of 100 Euro. Every year, people that do not work also get about 600 Euro to go on a holiday.

What are the costs of living for a single person? I have gone through this experience during the past 7 years. I spend 300 Euro on the rent of a small apartment, 200 Euro monthly on simple meals and a beer once in a while. The insurance for health care: as said above, 100 Euro per month. Then there is the bill for electricity, Internet, water and local taxes. They add up for another 150 Euro per month. I spend almost nothing on clothes, because I buy them wisely, so they stay good for a long time, but let’s say they cost me another 30 Euro per month on average. That means my total monthly costs are: about 780 Euro per month. That means I can save or spend on things that I do not really need: more than 300 Euro per month. Isn’t that pretty absurd??

The social welfare system of my country is thus way too costly. American politicians should tell their Dutch counterparts to make the necessary cuts and spend the money on Defense instead. As other European NATO allies, the Netherlands is not spending enough on its Military… just assuming that the United States will take care of all the security needs of the world for them.

* Matthys van Raalten is a conservative political activist from Amsterdam.