Timon de Groot advocates an appropriate celebration of 125 years of social security (5/6). You do not do this, he says, by accentuating its susceptibility to fraud or its unaffordability, but by celebrating the fact that social security has rarely been in such good financial shape.
However, social security is not in good shape at all. Its orientation and architecture are mainly aimed at mitigating the consequences of unemployment. In a sense, we have bought off those who found themselves on the sidelines of the labor market with benefits that are as decent as possible. There was not much pressure to return to the labor market or to continue working longer.
However, the dominant underlying assumption of this policy – an ever-growing working population with the fear of increasing unemployment – no longer applies. The opposite is now the case. There are now too few workers for all the demand for labor. The change is due to demographic development: our working population is shrinking. Attempts to compensate for this with labor migration are rightly criticized, especially where low-productivity labor is concerned.
The effect of this change is that there are almost as many open vacancies as there are unemployed people. There are now major shortages within industries. Yet we persistently persist in pursuing a policy in which old reflexes remain fully visible. Time and again, labor is taxed extra and income allowances, which discourage work, are expanded again and again. And we persist in ‘redemption solidarity’. This social security is now of museum quality in parts.
What we need is a social system that supports economic growth with a shrinking working population through higher growth in labor productivity. This requires a mandatory, permanent learning culture throughout the entire working life. An ‘all-hands-on-deck’ strategy, in which there is no longer room for long-term unemployment or for so many partially disabled people who are on the sidelines of the labor market. We simply cannot afford this any longer; neither economically nor socially. Temporary unemployment, of short duration and of sufficiently equipped workers on their way to their next job, if necessary in adapted working conditions.
In this sense, neither nostalgia nor complacency about the shape of our current social security system is a sustainable strategy. And the upcoming celebration of 125 years of social security deserves a perspective that does not look back but can keep us on course in the radically changed circumstances.
Hans Borstlap The Hague
journalismThe tsunami current of AI
How pleased I am with the insightful picture that Arthur Gregg Sulzberger paints in AI companies are plundering all the creative work of civilization (12/6). Finally an insight that gives substance to the far-reaching derailment of society due to the tsunami-like development of AI.
He limits himself to printed information (journalism and writers), so a small part of the fourth main ingredient he refers to. It is clear that only very drastic legal rules at a minimum EU level – and in the very short term – can bring this development under control. Quick action from the government towards EU governance is very urgent.
Jan Fransen Utrecht
header ban Put on a helmet!
Marcel Aries asked (13/6) renewed attention for a ban on heading among youth football. How many times does this have to be repeated before we take measures, especially for the vulnerable young head?
When will that entrepreneur stand up and introduce a football helmet in cool colors, starting with the youth?
That helmet does not have to be mandatory. It is there for parents who want their child not to experience the lasting damage of heading without protection in their youth later in life. It takes some getting used to. The non-mandatory preventive bicycle helmet also started this way and no one is surprised by it anymore.
Frank Dippel Horn
Playing at Beelen Prolete?
In the report about the Rotterdam amusement park, Kevin van Eikeren, councilor for Pro, calls entrepreneur Wim Beelen a “prolete”, and not to compliment him (6/6). The term refers to the proletariat, the class for which social democracy stood up. The fact that this word is used here as a swear word is difficult to reconcile with that party tradition and shows how carelessly political language deals with its own history.
Emiel Bijlmakers Rotterdam
Electric travelThe electric car stressful? Just break up
It’s a pity that such an incidental trip by Mariët Meester to Spain with an electric car (12/6) is presented in such a way that it seems like it is stressful driving. That is not necessary at all with a car with a range of four hundred kilometers and all the charging stations along the highway.
With all kinds of brands you can charge every two hours without any problems. The fact that a charging station is sometimes out of order is not representative. And of course loading at shops or hotels takes longer. Then it is better to charge on the highway and then look for back roads.
Philippus van der Meulen Grou
EuthanasiaLook at the elderly
The article Tightened guideline should make euthanasia in cases of psychological suffering more careful: ‘We are going from a 6 to an 8’ (13/6) is limited to the small group of young people where that plays a role. In numerical terms, the group of elderly people with dementia is much more important.
Everyone will agree that for these people the condition set by the law – hopeless suffering – is amply met. However, do they also experience unbearable suffering? If an average Dutch person were to be asked whether they wanted to live on if there was deep dementia, they would find this an intolerable prospect and would therefore want to opt for timely euthanasia. Yet the majority of patients with dementia reach the point where incapacity has set in and admission to a nursing home follows. Information about the possibilities to escape this humiliating phase is necessary.
Ernst Raaymakers Amsterdam
world cup footballModeration
NRC on Monday devoted seven of the thirty newspaper pages, more than a quarter, to the Football World Cup. It’s a lot for a newspaper that wants to be a grindstone for the mind. Naturally, the newspaper must also write about a phenomenon that means a lot of pleasure to many people. Moderation in reporting on this is advised when it comes to an organization such as FIFA.
Hubert Peters Castricum
