How "levee wars" are making floods worse

Correction: At 4:27 we show the city name as "Nijmegan". It should be "Nijmegen".

This, like many other problems in the US, is a problem of extreme localism and the ridiculous ideas that local governments with limited budgets can solve problems of state or countrywide significance.

laughs in Dutch

4:03 "We can't just pick up and move major cities."
4:11 *Picks up city and moves it

Global warming: "Not my problem. It's the next generation's!"
Flooding: "Not my problem. It's the other towns'!"

I'm a proud Dutch guy, we've been fighting the water for hundreds of years. Our levees are working like a charm because they don't compete with each other, but work together so it's one giant defence system. I think the American love for competition (the pillar for capitalism) is the problem here. Take water defence as serious as military defence and cooperate.

Europe: We need to give space for rivers to naturally flood without causing harm.
US: My d... levee is bigger than yours!

"In Holland for example."
Thanks Vox for making people even more confused about the name of my country.
If you're gonna call it by the name of a province in the Netherlands, than at least call it Gelderland.

Just just keep building in repeated flooded area! Yayayay!

"system for regulating them is broken" – USA in a nutshell

Here is novel idea. Don’t build in the flood plain.

"dont be poor" :- rich people

Just call in the Dutch!!!

5:15
they literally started construction in a floodplain what did they expect

It's the American way, focus on your own at the expense of others.

A more individualistic US will continue to have these problems until they stop telling others to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and realize it's better to work together.

The best way to solve your problems.
1. Pushing them somewhere else.
2. Pretends it doesn't exist.
3. ....

If the Netherlands do it, copy it. We are the absolute masters of water control, mostly because we're like 5 meters under sea levels at our lowest point. Makes me feel proud to be dutch 🇳🇱!

Nooo, we don't need no regulation. No big government. We must be free to screw each other (just like in wild west).

the Netherlands is like 12 feet underwater but you can't tell. if they can do it so can we by just asking how you guys do it.