Opposing Views: Dutch Farm Crisis | Michael Yon & Nick Ottens

In this episode of the Opposing Views series, I spoke with Nick Ottens and Michael Yon about the Dutch Farming Crisis. We discussed the vastly differing views about what’s really going on behind the crisis. Nick Ottens is a Dutch journalist who writes about American and European politics for the Atlantic Sentinel and Wynia's Week. Ottens worked on agriculture and food for an American non-profit, and He’s a member of the Netherlands’ Liberal Party, VVD, and the Liberal Green network. Michael Yon is America’s most experienced combat correspondent. Yon has traveled and worked for more than half of his life overseas, in 83 countries, documenting events that include various wars and conflicts. He’s written three books in English about the War in Iraq, and three books in Japanese about the Chinese Information War. If you enjoyed this conversation, be sure to subscribe!

Chapters

1. 0:00Intro
2. 3:58Introducing Michael Yon
3. 5:10The Meltdown of Panama
4. 6:26Warning About Potential Famine
5. 7:03The Global Context of the Farming Crisis
6. 11:13The Efficiency of Dutch Technology
7. 11:40The World Economic Forum’s Role
8. 14:41Farmers: A Needle In the Side for Authoritarians
9. 17:43Not Just Anyone Can Run a Farm
10. 20:30Ukraine, Belarus, and Eastern Europe
11. 22:28War is Exacerbating the Conditions for Global Famine
12. 26:08The Collapse of Sri Lanka
13. 27:20The Relationship Between Pandemic, Famine, and War
14. 29:56Famine Creates Famine
15. 30:42Defining a Price Control
16. 33:37Different Types of Famines
17. 35:47Reducing Dutch Emissions to Protect the Environment
18. 37:16When Bureaucratic Systems Are Hijacked
19. 39:20The PhD Level of War is an Information War
20. 43:10Getting People to Fight One Another
21. 46:29Demonization of Other Farmers in the 20th Century
22. 51:36What Can the Average Person Do to Avoid Famine?
23. 59:37Closing Comments with Michael Yon
24. 1:00:50Introducing Nick Ottens
25. 1:01:31A Background Into the Farmer’s Protest
26. 1:02:32What the Farmer’s Are Trying to Achieve
27. 1:03:10Dutch Public Feeling About the Farmers
28. 1:03:52Second Largest Global Food Exporter
29. 1:05:03Is It Reasonable to Reduce Emissions?
30. 1:08:07Parallels Between Netherlands and Sri Lanka
31. 1:09:52Concern About Unintended Consequences of Reducing Farms
32. 1:10:45Is This a Push for More Plant Based Foods?
33. 1:11:27What if Emissions Aren’t Reduced?
34. 1:12:30A Decrease in Food Output
35. 1:14:06Lab Grown Meat
36. 1:15:45The Rule of the European Union
37. 1:16:36The Fairness of the Emission Rules
38. 1:18:23The Duration of the Protests
39. 1:19:43What are Alternative Options to Closing Farms?
40. 1:22:015%—25% Organic Farming by 2030
41. 1:23:31How the Government is Helping Financially
42. 1:24:41The Concern of Bankruptcy
43. 1:25:38The Difference Between the City and Countryside
44. 1:27:42What Percentage of Dairy and Meat is Exported?
45. 1:29:14Ammonia Emissions in Other European Countries
46. 1:30:24Political Implications of the Farming Crisis
47. 1:31:27Is the Dutch Government Stealing Land?
48. 1:33:02Closing Comments with Nick Ottens