The Netherlands has a reputation as a place of tolerance and a high standard of living. However, cracks have been appearing in that facade for a long time. The Netherlands was once known as a place where multiculturalism was the rule, but the rise of politicians like Pim Fortuyn and Geert Wilders showed that the era of multiculturalism was at an end, as described in an article in Time magazine from 2011: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2080256,00.html
Cracks are also appearing in the Dutch standard of living. Fiscal austerity has hit the Netherlands hard, with small neighborhood businesses and homeowners often feeling the brunt of the budget cuts and loss of value in the housing market. As noted in a recent article in the Wall Street Journal "With the euro-zone mired in its longest recession in decades, even the so-called core Northern countries are increasingly feeling the pain. ("Euro Zone Core Facing Budget Cuts")
More to come from Amsterdam later this week...
