Quote:
Originally Posted by Sdiver
Thanks all for the input. It's exactly what I'm looking for.
As JJ pointed out, we were given those two videos to make an informed opinion on, and as JJ put it, and to which I agree, they were/are very "Pro, Rah, Rah" videos.
What is it that you saw as far as the "good, bad and ugly" parts go?
Would be interested in your perspective.
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The Good
To the traveler and resident of the EU open borders are great. Especially in the area I lived in being close to both Belgium and Germany. It reminded me of living in the Tri-State of NY, NJ, and PA but (without the $13 toll into NYC) with the Netherlands being the most expensive. It provided people a chance to work for higher salaries and competitive market pricing between the 3 countries. It was great not worrying about getting hassled by a border security or it being a necessity to keep your passport with you at all times (although my family and I did regardless). This freedom of travel commerce I think facilitated the attitude within the area to a point where people were friendly and very personable. They were showed a lot of apathy towards people coming from the east from living hard and making a better life for themselves and their families.
The Bad
Each respective nation had it's own cultures, customs, traditions, etc. and because of that the Netherlands had this system of where non violent offenses are "tolerated." Now if the offense is committed enough the law will change to accommodate the people so long as it is non violent. This is to the point where home invasions are so frequent that they changed the law to where the first floor of your dwelling is actually considered public space. If you are confronted with a thief you're only allowed to tell them to leave. If you do harm to them they may actually sue you in court and chances are they will also win. The most interesting thing about that was that the majority of the time the guys were across the border.
Another thing about people using the system to their advantage; The Dutch tax income at 49%. The reason is to fund socialist programs they have. While great in theory they don't seem to consider people abusing the programs. You will have a person with a Dutch residency receiving plenty of welfare and moving out into Belgium where the cost of living of much lower.
The Ugly
Trafficking (weapons, drugs, and people) was/is a huge issue in the Netherlands. They have a social program for prostitution where if a prostitute could prove she was on the run from traffickers the Dutch Government was willing to help her return home (but since that was a failure because often times they would end up captured again) they would provide them homes and jobs in a different part of the country. Illicit Drugs still flooded the streets despite the marijuana tolerance. It's no secret Muslims use drugs to fund terrorist or any other despicable means. Holland is only a 27 hour drive from Istanbul. Open borders only inconveniences traffickers with a long drive. The Muslim population expansion within Europe is a direct result of the open borders. Not to say that there aren't other undesirables but muslims take the cake by far.
Muslim immigrants were responsible for most if not all of the violent crimes committed especially with regards to sexual assaults and rapes. They were mainly of either Moroccan or of Turkish decent. There were two terrorists attacks that happened while I was in Europe. One when a Flemish born Moroccan Nordine Amrani threw grenades and fired FN FAL at a crowd during a Christmas market in Liege. He wounded over 70 people, murdered 3, and then committed suicide. Nordine Amrani was also a known drug trafficker. The second was in Germany where two US MIL were killed at a Frankfurt airport. Also another Muslim. S2 told us that Europe in almost it's entirety was a moderate level threat for a terrorist attack.
My final conclusion from it all was that Europe being so lax with its travel and immigration are being so exploited there they are essentially funding their own destruction and possibly one of the highest paying supporters of terrorism directly or indirectly.