It May Cost Something My Apparent Safety

What Time Does My Train Leave?

In 2017 I stood at the gates as a project employee of the NS when they were closed for 50%, 75% or completely. My job was to inform people about closing the gates and how they could get through the gates, but 8 out of 10 times I was asked what time does my train leave. This was a fun experience talking to travelers, ns and tourists and answering their questions. Still I was amazed by the gates.

Make Our Society Safer

The most common reason for placing and closing the gates is that security at the station within the gates and in trains is increasing. Despite this reason, I wonder if this is the way to make our society safer. Part of the station is now safer, but what about the other parts? Isn’t it a societal problem that isn't tackled with this measure, because scum remains scum and commits destruction and crimes? Only it has now moved from the closed stations to other places in society. This is not the way to tackle the problem, but to combat the symptoms, something like the effect of medicines.

Stations In Germany Are Still Open

Would it be better if the money spent on closing the stations with gates and cameras be better on educating society about safety and integrity? The stations in Germany are still open and, in my experience, relatively safe. It is not just becoming a control freak country where trying to control the problem with shutdowns and only make it accessible to those who can afford it? In addition, hanging cameras everywhere to ensure that the control measures are not destroyed.

Society Of Trust

Shouldn’t society move towards a society of trust. Should a new economie operate on trust basis? To give a few examples:

• the exchange economy, 

• the giving economy  

• the economy on which valuation is done by the recipient afterwards. 

Responding With Compassion

These economies function well because there is trust between the parties that trade with each other. Shouldn’t this trust be extended further across society instead of taking control measures? Am I not depriving the perpetrator of the aggression by responding with compassion?

Two Contradictory Movements

I wonder where society is going with two contradictory movements that now run past each other: The government’s control mechanism and the trust society that is increasingly penetrating from niches of society into the real society. I think there should be balance between both.