Translated material
About Dutch methods of combating unemployment
The global economic crisis of 1929 did not bypass Holland, where in a short time the number of unemployed poor people grew to 600 thousand people.
For some reason, the hardworking Dutch no longer wanted to work and the country's authorities had to take harsh measures to force their lazy fellow citizens to work. Some of them may seem interesting and useful to this day.
First, all recipients of social benefits had to register at the exchange twice a day, standing in a considerable queue.
Secondly, the home of each loser was regularly visited by inspectors who checked how many grams of margarine they spread on their piece of bread. This measure quickly gained wild love and popularity in a country where, as in England, it has long been believed that a person’s home is his fortress.
Thirdly, all subsidized clothing was marked with special red marks so that the poor would not forget themselves, or perhaps so that they would remember who to vote for in the elections.
Finally, few people know that in the 1920-30s a bicycle in Holland was considered almost a luxury and all bicycles had numbers. Also, man’s two-wheeled friends were subject to a special tax of 2.5 guilders. Immediately after the collapse of the economy, huge queues formed in the country for special discounted bicycle license plates for the unemployed. Their owners were exempt from monthly payments of 2.5 guilders, but could not ride their bicycles on Sundays... Also, the unemployed had to choose - either buy a coat with a red patch, or a discount number for a bike.
After all this, there is no reason to be surprised why the Dutch, like other Europeans, did not particularly try to defend their bourgeois fatherland in 1940. It would be something to sacrifice one's life for. True, then the evil Germans stole a lot of bicycles from the Dutch, which they cannot forgive Germany to this day, but that’s another story...