Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

Is it also a matter of Euro inflation? I suppose that some things are more expensive nowadays despite the introduction of free movement of goods/services in EU.

I can't remember the authors but they were proper children's books (not sure if Brecht wrote any of that ). Books by him, we later read in school and I rather liked them. Still do. It's quite amazing how he got away with criticizing the system that celebrated him by making use of the distancing effect.

I'm not sure if the people my dad and his friends were trying to give their change really needed it because everybody was as rich or as poor as their neighbour. If I remember correctly there was no unemployment and it didn't matter whether a job (to our western perception) was menial or not, everybody's work was considered to be of similar importance to society as a whole and rewarded in a similar fashion.

As for Euro inflation - in my eyes and according to my purse it is a real thing. Our politicians keep telling us it's just a gefühlte Teuerung, but if the same items I've got to buy on a weekly/monthly/whatever basis two years ago cost me 20€ and one year ago cost me 30€ and now cost me 60€ you can't tell me, it's all in my head.

Aren't things taking a similar turn in the Netherlands? I would have expected all Euro countries to be affected. And with things in the Ukraine heating up the way they are (at least that's the official explanation), we're almost back to DDR times as far as what's available in our supermarkets when it comes to basic goods.

@Leila Ah, alright. Thanks for your in-depth historical account of the DDR economy. It's unfortunately a bad experience for many people and luckily it only lasted 45 years

Hmm, I too hear that story about inflation from certain people. But it mostly concerns the rise in energy price. This change is mostly due to EU regulation that strongly discourages state owned energy companies due to fair competition for non-state actors. The consequence is that free market enterprise in this sector ironically made energy consumption far more expensive

The Netherlands also has a problem with public housing. We have a centre-right government that is almost 12 years in power and this basically entails that quite some state-owned utilities and housing cooperations have been commercialised to the highest bidder. The rent has risen exponentially in the last 10 years and I know a lot of people who spend 3/4 of their income to this expenditure

Groceries, well that's ok-ish. Lots of fruit and vegetables are actually more affordable. So at least we've got that going for us

Yeah, it's horrible what is happening in Ukraine and I feel ashamed that we aren't able to stop all ties with Russia economically in order to stop financing the war in Eastern Europe. All we can do now, as what we're told by our government yesterday, is lowering gas consumption to support our Eastern brethren.

Oh yeah, exorbitant rent increase has been a problem here for a while, too. The government introduced the so-called Mietpreisbremse though I'm not sure how much good it does. If people are desperate for a place to live, they are willing to put up with a lot. Unaffordable rent is also used to keep certain areas "clean" which, as horrible as it sounds, I actually understand.

As for lowering our gas consumption - our politicians are taking the same line here. Again, I'm not sure if guilting me into sitting in the cold or taking the car for one less drive is going to make a difference if our government is pushing for e-cars and gas heating as the only viable options. Its not like the stuff they run on and / or the material for batteries they need is growing on trees.

I listened to a lecture once about interstellar voyaging and how we depend on future developments, whether they are in the near or far future, to save the present. We're unlikely to force change on a global scale, so we continue to deplete our resources even though we know it may endanger us as a species, trusting that tomorrow, or next week, or next year an invention will be made to negate the problem.

I'm pretty sure it was this lecture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CprziVZHqBk
In case you'd like to listen to it yourself.

Mietpreisebremse? It's quite a tong twister, I have to say Well, we only have state subsidies (huursubsidie) for rent if the housing expenditure is under 737 euros per month. So that's basically it

Yeah, it's going to be a tough cookie to make the green transition a smooth ride. It's certainly not only a matter of people who are willing to make a change, but the state should need to up its game by developing policies that motivate companies to develop clean technology,

incrementally dismantle gas and coal dependency by keeping nuclear reactors for at least a decade (I believe Germany wants to stop using nuclear energy?), and invest in society so that electric vehicles and electric energy supply (e.g. charging stations) are accessible for lower and middle incomes (e.g. Norway).

Well, about that interstellar voyaging lecture: it sounds a bit fatalistic. Geoengineering is still in its infancy in many respects (e.g. effective absorption and storage of methane and CO2).

However, I do believe that activism can change a lot of things. I've learned from first hand experience (as member of an environmental action group and local chapter of the socialist party) that grassroots pressure can successfully change local policies of a municipal government.

The Hague is one of the few cities in the Netherlands that announced a few years ago to become 100% climate neutral in 2030 (instead of 2050). Other cities followed suit because of the positive energy and publicity 'green' civic activism created in the media. In a way, activism can make a difference