On Dutch Tolerance

"If you can't achieve tolerance, at least attempt courtesy" --RAW.

Gedogen — active Dutch tolerance

The Dutch verb gedogen is not really translatable, into English nor any other language. The term is Dutch, the concept is Dutch — and it only works in the Netherlands.

The nearest approximation of "gedogen," in English, is "to tolerate." Tolerance is passive, though. Gedogen is active. Gedogen is an open-eyed tolerance, and a matter of governmental policy.

If there is a social matter that will not allow a concrete solution, the Dutch will "gedoog" it; they will allow an exception to the rule — not by turning a blind eye to the violation, but by accommodating it.

The examples of official tolerance that foreigners will typically recognize are those concerning prostitution* and "soft drugs."

The Dutch acknowledge, officially and with intensive debate, that, sometimes, eradication of a problem is impractical — and for that reason may be an inappropriate objective.

Indeed, the concept of "problem" is a matter subject to interpretation. Predisposed morality colors the debate about, for example, the supposed "problem" of paid sex and socially-benign drugs. Predisposed morality is a factor. There are many others — and the act of "gedogen" acknowledges this.

A Dutch friend gave me the best definition of "gedogen" that I've heard: "not legal, but not illegal."
http://stevenroyedwards.com/gedogen.html

RAW on Amsterdam

RAW: You're moving to Siberia? That's not such a bad idea, I thought about moving to Amsterdam.

[I found the city of Amsterdam to be one of the more liberal thinking cities of Europe.]

RAW : Yeah, it's been that way for a long time, when the queen who sponsored Columbus's voyage, Isabelle - when she expelled all the Jews from Spain, Holland accepted them, which has made it a very liberal country ever since and that's where Spinoza wrote and most of the major philosophers you find spent a couple of years in Holland because they were banned in their own country and had to run for their lives, some of them died in Holland. Descartes lived in Holland for a while so did Spinoza, so did a lot of them and they have always been very forward thinking, and according to a friend of mine in southern California they own most of the banks which own most of the English banks which own most of the American banks which own most of the corporate capitalist world - at the same time; it doesn't matter how much their people fuck and smoke dope and get high and enjoy themselves. [laughs]

More links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_the_Netherlands