Amsterdam is tired of being a tourist spot for disgusting people.

The local politician Sofyan Mbarki believes the major problem is Amsterdam’s image as a place where anything goes. With the quiz, he hopes to change the way visitors think about the city. But the truth is that a problematic image can’t be changed overnight. You will actually have to adjust reality too.

The mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, is aware of this. Five years ago, she boldly proposed closing the window brothels in the red light district – an audacious move considering that many local people still considered window prostitution an integral part of the city’s folklore. Gradually, more people are realising that what goes on in the red light district has nothing to do with folklore.

Isn’t that fascinating? Pause for a second to think about it. Many local people think that women sitting in windows offering paid fucks are a charming bit of local folklore. How about carving the women up and putting them on platters in the windows along with a nice Chianti? Would that be delightfully folkloric too?

Halsema has often faced fierce opposition. Interestingly, it was leftwing parties (including her own GreenLeft party) that resisted her plans.

Interestingly? It’s not a bit interesting. It’s typical of leftwing parties these days; they love to blither about “sex workers” and “sex positivity” and how awesome it is for other people to be prostitutes.