Skywatch Friday and some Prose

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My regular English blog is here.

Every SWF-picture published here is shot with my trusty Google Pixel 7 smartphone and unedited, unless stated otherwise.

 

For more Skywatch Friday photo's from around the globe, please check http://skyley.blogspot.com/

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A couple of days ago I was in Amstelveen, at some 40 minutes by bus from my place in the center of Amsterdam. 'The town next door', really. How long does it take you by public transport to get to the nearest other town or city?

It seems Amstelveen has a bit more green than Amsterdam but things are looking better. From a car centric city in the seventies, Amsterdam has gradually become a better place to be for people on bikes and pedestrians. Like in one of the newest areas. 

Where not only my son managed to find a place after het finished studying at Delft University but also where my general practitioner is. Four of them, actually. They share the practice. With two fysiotherapists and maybe in the future also a psychotherapist and a dentist. To become an entire healthcenter.

On my way there I pass the area where my girfriend from some ten years ago still lives. Happy memories. Mostly.

Also because of this statue of Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, the first socialist in Dutch parliament. I may have accidentally named my son after him.

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This week's poem came to be after a lovely conversation with a lovely lady

on a lovely terrace on a lovely day:

Forever Free (a #poem)

Take cover,

don't hide.

Be my lover,

be my bride.

Leave or stay,

but take my key

and please be

forever free

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Only two things are certain in life

"Nothing is certain except death and taxes" A famous quote from Benjamin Franklin. It's a bit simplistic of course but otherwise some 30 percent of people won't understand this. 

It's also not exactly what he said, back in 1789.

There's this myth going around that the Dutch pay the highest tax rate in the world. Sorry to burst your bubble, but that bit of propaganda is just not true.

Above chart shows how the people with the highest incomes are taxed. By far most Dutch people don't make more than some €70,000 a year, so they will never be taxed that 'More than 50%!'.

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There are more taxes than just income tax. And every country has a different way of spending all that tax money. Some countries spend more on subsidies for the weapons industry and financial support for billionaires in Big Tech, Big Agro and Big Oil. While other countries put more emphasis on Healthcare and Education than on giving 'the elite' more money and power.

The difference can maybe be attributed to the USA being a capitalist plutocrasy and the Netherlands being a social democracy. 

What do you think your government spends most of your tax money on?

Here's where the citizen's tax money goes to in The Netherlands. Here's the USA for comparison. 

Both countries spend a lot on 'defense' (the arms industry) but where the Dutch money for a big part goes to healthcare and education, a big sum of American tax dollars goes to paying of government debt. 

That's of course quite simplistic because there's far more to it than that. 

If you want to know more about the Dutch (income) tax system, here's expat David Wen with a nice breakdown:

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In Facebook zijn niet alle plaatjes te zien (of te horen) en links in mijn artikelen niet aan te klikken. Klik daarom op de oorspronkelijke link. http://terrebel.blogspot.nl/ Veel leesplezier! O ja, fans kunnen mijn Fan pagina leuk vinden. https://www.facebook.com/TerrebelAuthortainer
Over links gesproken: ja, dat ben ik maar voor verdieping staat er ook een aantal in mijn stukjes. Heb daar wat moeite voor genomen dus stel het op prijs als u de moeite neemt er op te klikken om de betreffende artikelen, onderzoeken en filmpjes te bekijken.

Heeft u na het lezen van dit blogstuk iets geleerd, wat gelachen of heeft het u aan het denken gezet, overweegt u dan een donatie voor de tijd en moeite die ik er in steek.

Meer lezen? Mijn verhalenbundels