The van Putten Diaries

REMINDER OF THE PREVIOUS INTRO:   If you know Nic at all, you probably understand that he's a walking encyclopedia for both relevant and irrelevant information spanning all sorts of subjects.  It's been just about a year since I spoke with him for this blog and there have been quite a few developments relating to his field(s) of expertise (particularly international relations) which I wanted to get his feedback on since people on both sides of the world have been asking.   I also wanted to give him an opportunity to check-in on a personal level, but he is far less analytical on that topic. ....................... Alex:   Okay, so is there anything else you want to say? Nic:  Various little things.  I'm finishing my Dutch class with my test on Wednesday.  I think I'm going to pass, but learning Dutch is slow.  I can speak with more people, but not to the point where I can go hang out with a Dutch person and just chat without switching to...

REMINDER OF THE PREVIOUS INTRO:   If you know Nic at all, you probably understand that he's a walking encyclopedia for both relevant and irrelevant information spanning all sorts of subjects.  It's been just about a year since I spoke with him for this blog and there have been quite a few developments relating to his field(s) of expertise (particularly international relations) which I wanted to get his feedback on since people on both sides of the world have been asking.   I also wanted to give him an opportunity to check-in on a personal level, but he is far less analytical on that topic. ....................... Alex:  Can you tell me about what's happening in Europe?  We've been asked by folks how Geert Wilders' victory in the Dutch election last November has affected our outlook and we know there's a trend towards the right in Europe, but is any of it actually changing your lens regarding our move? Nic:  There are a number of things that I thin...

If you know Nic at all, you probably understand that he's a walking encyclopedia for both relevant and irrelevant information spanning all sorts of subjects.  It's been just about a year since I spoke with him for this blog and there have been quite a few developments relating to his field(s) of expertise (particularly international relations) which I wanted to get his feedback on since people on both sides of the world have been asking.   I also wanted to give him an opportunity to check-in on a personal level, but he is far less analytical on that topic. Alex:   So, is there anything that's struck you as "Oh my gosh, I need to tell people about this thing"? Nic:   No, we've already talked about the bread.  I have adapted to liking the cheese too.  I think it will be hard to go back to American cheese when I go visit, but I think that you can live without European cheese if you haven't already acclimated yourself to it. But really, I think we alr...

I tried to pull some thoughts out of Nic for a check-in, and he did have a few things worth mentioning but they all came out of him in bullet-point format rather than a narrative.  So, here you go: Nic isn't picking up Dutch as quickly as he thought he would just from existing here.  But Miles is, and that's great! Summer is nice.  Things are good. He's very glad that there's a dog park in the neighborhood because he does so like dogs.  And Saartje (neighborhood Corgi) is so soft. Nic does wish that we had more friends and that he had joined the fencing club by now, but he's also aware that not everything needs to happen at once He misses people. He's looking forward to engaging in the upcoming Dutch elections and doing some volunteer work with a political party.  It's an opportunity to meet like-minded people and he really likes this work and how this work is part of his role in a community. The kids are doing really well growing.  Nic is absolutely loving...

REMINDER OF OUR PREVIOUS INTRO: It has been on Nic's radar for months that I was coming after him for this blog.  He finally felt ready and we forced a few hours to ourselves over the weekend to talk - yes, I said hours.  My transcription of our conversation is almost word for word, so it's quite lengthy and I'm going to break it down into his specific points. This section is made up of follow-up questions to our original conversation. PART 4 Alex:   So, a few other questions. You came downstairs after putting the kids to bed on whatever day it was, January 3rd maybe, of 2021 and you just looked at me and you said “How do you feel about leaving the country?”  What made that your moment?   Nic:  My professor, my advisor.  It’s when I was chatting on Facebook with him.  Going back a number of years, I've been engaging in frequent conversations with my advisor from college, U.S. government professor now retired.  We would exchange thoughts o...

REMINDER OF OUR PREVIOUS INTRO: It has been on Nic's radar for months that I was coming after him for this blog.  He finally felt ready and we forced a few hours to ourselves over the weekend to talk - yes, I said hours.  My transcription of our conversation is almost word for word, so it's quite lengthy and I'm going to break it down into his specific points. Alex:   So why did we leave the United States? Nic:  Right… so, you have asked me to give kind of my take on the the political and systemic issues in the United States that made me not optimistic. I haven’t quite prepared this out, but I think it broke down into a few different issues.  First, you’ve got  the breakdown of norms that underpin our system , and that is something I started noticing as far back as 2011 and really crystallized in maybe 2014 to 2016. Second, we have the  systemic level imbalances in our political system that are on a trajectory to only worsen  towards greater minor...

REMINDER OF OUR PREVIOUS INTRO: It has been on Nic's radar for months that I was coming after him for this blog.  He finally felt ready and we forced a few hours to ourselves over the weekend to talk - yes, I said hours.  My transcription of our conversation is almost word for word, so it's quite lengthy and I'm going to break it down into his specific points. Alex:   So why did we leave the United States? Nic:  Right… so, you have asked me to give kind of my take on the the political and systemic issues in the United States that made me not optimistic. I haven’t quite prepared this out, but I think it broke down into a few different issues.  First, you’ve got  the breakdown of norms that underpin our system , and that is something I started noticing as far back as 2011 and really crystallized in maybe 2014 to 2016. Second, we have the  systemic level imbalances in our political system that are on a trajectory to only worsen  towards greater minor...

It has been on Nic's radar for months that I was coming after him for this blog.  He finally felt ready and we forced a few hours to ourselves over the weekend to talk - yes, I said hours.  My transcription of our conversation is almost word for word, so it's quite lengthy and I'm going to break it down into his specific points. PART 1 Alex:   So why did we leave the United States?   Nic:   Right… so, you have asked me to give kind of my take on the the political and systemic issues in the United States that made me not optimistic. I haven’t quite prepared this out, but I think it broke down into a few different issues.  First, you’ve got the breakdown of norms that underpin our system , and that is something I started noticing as far back as 2011 and really crystallized in maybe 2014 to 2016. Second, we have the systemic level imbalances in our political system that are on a trajectory to only worsen towards greater minority rule.  Third – and, to a ...