Ronno

It would cost me about 75 euro's (return) for a 4 hr commute (one way) with public transport to cover a distance of 150km (one way). This is a mixture of transportation modes, including bus and train.

Comparison with the car is quite difficult, but using a car cost calculator website, it says that for my car the average price per kilometer would be ~0,20 euro. So that would mean that the round trip would cost me roughly 60 euro's by car. As for time, a one way commute to the office is about 1,5h to 2h by car, depending on traffic. So, twice as fast and 1/4th cheaper.

My company covers car expenses in the company leasing contract. All I have to pay is taxes to use the car privately, which in The Netherlands is quite high (compared to for example Belgium). So I pay 350 euro (net) a month to use the car privately. The mobility budget for the leasing car represents about 1000 euro gross a month. But of course if I were to take public transport, my company would reimburse that, but I would have to give up the car.

To be fair, the situation here in The Netherlands is not much different than you describe, outside the larger cities that is. Most people commuting to these cities from the smaller towns and villages are still heavily car dependent. Even within my own town, public transport is just a sham. If I were to take the bus to get groceries, I would have to wait 2 hours for the next bus that takes me back home. Ain't nobody got time for that.

I drive, public transport in The Netherlands is horrible outside of the major cities. Even in the major cities it's "meh" to be honest. The PR department of The Netherlands does a great job at portraying our country as some sort of engineering marvel / paradise. The truth is that mobility in The Netherlands is expensive and in case of public transport, it lacks proper connection to regions outside of the cities. The only reason why we "love" riding our bicycle around, is that it's the only affordable mobility option.

Many people that cover longer distances, like myself, have a company leasing car. So it doesn't hit my wallet as much.

I'm located in The Netherlands, the housing market here is fucked. An alternative solution would be to find something to rent closer to work, but I would pay 1,5 times as much in rent, for a small apartment in a neighborhood where I don't want to live. Yes, I'm spending more time on my commute, but I also have more disposable income each month that I can save and invest. If all goes to plan, I can retire earlier and live mortgage free within 20 years. In essence, I'm trading a bit of time now, to have more spare time and a better financial position in the near future. I'm taking it.

Or have office jobs and commute a bit longer.

People say I'm crazy for commuting 1,5 hours (one way). But I get to go home to my own property. Especially now with hybrid working still being a thing, I only go to the office once or twice a week.

Unironically, it's better than we currently have. At least this speedometer would be right in front of me.

Destroying peoples property is not the answer. Declining sales figures is.

Let's be honest, it is efficient! /s

Reminds me of the joy when watching interviews with people on the British/Irish border, when they learned they now have to buy their groceries 30 mins further than they were used to. They also said: "we didn't vote for this". What do people expect to happen when they vote for something?

I agree with your first two sentences, but not with your last one. You have to take into consideration that many people are in different situations. If you have trouble making ends meet, if you need your job to feed your family, you might not be inclined to risk your job to protest. What I'm trying to say is, not all people that don't protest are Nazis. Stating they are creates another layer of polarization that isn't bringing us anywhere near a solution. And yes: Us. even though I'm not a US citizen, it unfortunately affects the world.

To me, it's more about the goal he was trying to achieve. He clearly did it to taunt and insult. In that context, I can see how this should be a punishable offense (not death though).

It would be a similar thing if you had learned that the prime minister of Sweden likes to create art at home. Then buying one of his art pieces and burn it in front of his house. Sure, burning art is not a punishable offense, but the goal of intimidating someone with such a symbol could/should be.

In some way, it also symbolizes what he is doing to the country. His plane is just a bit bigger.

A while ago, I was charging at a highway stop, so I decided to quickly get something to drink at McDonald's. I just asked ordered a drink, nothing more. One lady started preparing the drink and put it somewhere behind the counter. I was right there, but she didn't hand it to me. I asked if she could give it, as it was the only thing I had ordered. She mentioned she was not allowed to hand over the order to customers, and she was waiting for someone else who was allowed to. It took roughly 10 minutes before I had my drink, it was very frustrating, especially for a "fast" food chain.