Opposing Views: Dutch Farm Crisis | Michael Yon & Nick Ottens EP. 156

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.

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—Links—
Follow Nick Ottens On:
The Atlantic Sentinel: https://atlanticsentinel.com/
Wynia's Week: https://www.wyniasweek.nl/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NickOttens
Substack: https://atlanticsentinel.substack.com/

Follow Michael Yon On:
Locals: https://michaelyon.locals.com/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MichaelYon
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Michael_Yon
Telegram: https://t.me/michaelyon
Gab: https://gab.com/Michael_Yon
Substack: https://michaelyon.substack.com/
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Chapters
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[0:00] Intro
[3:58] Introducing Michael Yon
[5:10] The Meltdown of Panama
[6:26] Warning About Potential Famine
[7:03] The Global Context of the Farming Crisis
[11:13] The Efficiency of Dutch Technology
[11:40] The World Economic Forum’s Role
[14:41] Farmers: A Needle In the Side for Authoritarians
[17:43] Not Just Anyone Can Run a Farm
[20:30] Ukraine, Belarus, and Eastern Europe
[22:28] War is Exacerbating the Conditions for Global Famine
[26:08] The Collapse of Sri Lanka
[27:20] The Relationship Between Pandemic, Famine, and War
[29:56] Famine Creates Famine
[30:42] Defining a Price Control
[33:37] Different Types of Famines
[35:47] Reducing Dutch Emissions to Protect the Environment
[37:16] When Bureaucratic Systems Are Hijacked
[39:20] The PhD Level of War is an Information War
[43:10] Getting People to Fight One Another
[46:29] Demonization of Other Farmers in the 20th Century
[51:36] What Can the Average Person Do to Avoid Famine?
[59:37] Closing Comments with Michael Yon

[1:00:50] Introducing Nick Ottens
[1:01:31] A Background Into the Farmer’s Protest
[1:02:32] What the Farmer’s Are Trying to Achieve
[1:03:10] Dutch Public Feeling About the Farmers
[1:03:52] Second Largest Global Food Exporter
[1:05:03] Is It Reasonable to Reduce Emissions?
[1:08:07] Parallels Between Netherlands and Sri Lanka
[1:09:52] Concern About Unintended Consequences of Reducing Farms
[1:10:45] Is This a Push for More Plant Based Foods?
[1:11:27] What if Emissions Aren’t Reduced?
[1:12:30] A Decrease in Food Output
[1:14:06] Lab Grown Meat
[1:15:45] The Rule of the European Union
[1:16:36] The Fairness of the Emission Rules
[1:18:23] The Duration of the Protests
[1:19:43] What are Alternative Options to Closing Farms?
[1:22:01] 5%—25% Organic Farming by 2030
[1:23:31] How the Government is Helping Financially
[1:24:41] The Concern of Bankruptcy
[1:25:38] The Difference Between the City and Countryside
[1:27:42] What Percentage of Dairy and Meat is Exported?
[1:29:14] Ammonia Emissions in Other European Countries
[1:30:24] Political Implications of the Farming Crisis
[1:31:27] Is the Dutch Government Stealing Land?
[1:33:02] Closing Comments with Nick Ottens