I fully agree with you. Pretending this issue doesn’t exist is definitely not the way to go. That’s a problem the left has had for years now.

The article raises some interesting points but also muddles a few things in my opinion.

While I no longer live in the Netherlands, I remain invested in the politics of my home country and have friends and family there. During my childhood squatting was a major issue and only subsided when the housing market became slightly more relaxed. Additionally we had very strict regulations on a large part of the housing stockpile back in the 1980s and 1990s, often with very long waiting lists.

Today the housing market is once again completely overheated. In addition to the mortgage tax relief, which the article rightly shines a light on, there are several other factors at play. There’s a serious lack of new construction, often due to nitrogen pollution levels but also due to the high price for any new construction. With the housing market grinding to a halt many older people just stay put in larger apartments or houses even after the children have left the house. Additionally, as mentioned in the article, the population of the Netherlands has been growing very quickly (one million since 2014?!). All of these people need to be housed. Especially the issue of housing asylum seekers (“statushouders”) is a big issue in the Netherlands as there is a situation where Dutch taxpayers are in a competition with foreigners whose rents are paid for by the Dutch taxpayers. This is obviously a touchy subject and a treasure trove for the right wing nut jobs.

All in all the situation is dire and there unfortunately seems to be no realistic way forward to better it.

This is an important milestone. However, in several countries including large ones like Germany, it is possible to sign the petition without an eID. There definitely needs to be a security buffer.

However, the relatively simple method of signing in Germany and countries that similarly don’t require you to jump through many hoops makes it easier, in my view, to encourage other, older people to sign. Feel free to openly discuss the topic with your family. In my family chat, a simple share with a short explanation of why the issue is important to me resulted in two more signatures.