"God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands"
America is the true intellectual descendent of the United Provinces. We were a British colony yes, but I'd argue that Britain was a Dutch colony, so.... by the transitive property....
Scott, my friends who are dutch are definitely nice people but they are also pretty blunt which can come across to other cultures as rude. Did you not experience this in your visit?
The idea that reclaiming land led to a new nonzero mentality is an interesting one I had never thought of - thank you for writing this.
However, I think the primary answer of why commercial society was originated by the Dutch is Calvinism. Like you mention, there had been other societies where trade dominates such as Venice, or where elites are actively engaged in it such as Portugal after discovering sea routes to Asia or Japan until its self imposed isolation or Carthage in ancient times. What sets the Dutch apart from all other societies before them is their attitude towards wealth.
Calvinism demanded simplicity and plainness in dress, in architecture, and in manners. But what were wealthy elites to do with their wealth if not conspicuous consumption. They re-invested it back into their trade. Success in business was an earthly sign of God’s favor.
"Although the Dutch language did not survive as the language of daily life in America, American English still carries traces of its Netherlandish ancestry"
Although Wikipedia tells me that there are multiple theories of the origin of the New Amsterdam's Coney Island, I'm partial to the one that posits that "it came from the Dutch word for rabbit, konijn, derived from a purported large population of wild rabbits on the island".
Per Wikipedia, which notes this in their entry for rabbit:
"The word rabbit derives from the Middle English rabet ("young of the coney"), a borrowing from the Walloon robète, which was a diminutive of the French or Middle Dutch robbe ("rabbit"), a term of unknown origin. The term coney is a term for an adult rabbit used until the 18th century; rabbit once referred only to the young animals."
In the recent election, immigrants voted for Trump by 1%, Native born people voted for Trump by 1.5%. So yes, "they" are very different, 0.5% different.
When I say, "within our borders" I mean there are citizens, immigrant or otherwise, who do not subscribe to Western liberal values, or a hybrid largely free-market system. Sheesh, fringe elements within both major parties....
In fact, since immigrants came to the US by choice, I would assume they would be more inclined to embrace Western values, and might be fleeing other systems.
Yes, "Beijing" was short-hand for Xi, and current China leadership. I do not know if the majority of mainland China residents support Xi or not.
I keep hoping the Taiwan example will be inspirational to the mainland...but things seem to be going the other way.
I am in conversations with people in Hong Hong weekly and sometimes even daily, due to professional obligations, usually about financial topics, but comments are made. I won't bore you, but the picture is dispiriting.
A lot of San Francisco is reclaimed land too. But this post makes land reclamation sound amazing. We could reclaim even more. Put 1000 more islands in the bay.
The archipelago Power (Britain) won out over its Dutch rival because it did not have the distraction of a land border. The Anglosphere being a series of “moated” lands has had a huge influence on our development. (In the contemporary world, for example, it is why the flatlands of Poland and Hungary have very, very different attitudes to migration, for instance.)
The present world is divided between Maritime Order West and Continental Anarchy Powers (Russia, China, Iran). Prof. Sarah “Sally” Paine is very good on this.
But Dutch Billy transferring the experience of the Bank of Amsterdam into the creation of the Bank of England was a huge part of that rise of Britain. England had been a highly mercantile society back to perhaps Saxon times, but its state had lagged the Dutch until the Dutch Conquest of 1688 aka the Glorious Revolution. (Apparently, it does not count as a conquest if enough of the British elite ask said conquering king to come and his wife was the Protestant heir.)
Medieval landholders were more mercantile than folk give them credit. By C15th the average English knight’s library would consist of religious texts (how to save your soul), texts of knightly derring-do and texts of how to make more money from your estate.
But you can see a strong pattern in medieval and early modern Europe of Parliaments with a significant mercantile element pushing for more provision of public goods, which the landed element would come to support as they noted the increased income possibilities from trade. Parliaments much more dominated the landed element (e.g. Hungary, Poland) would be more wary, as they did not like the local Crown being able to overbear their control of local peasants.
But it is very clear that modern patterns came together first in the Netherlands and then, by dynastic contagion, England. The Netherlands became the first country to permanently defeat famine.
I have a friend who raises horses and he occasionally goes to the Netherlands for business. He once shared this anecdote he heard from a European friend: "If you ask a Dutch breeder if he has a blue horse for sale, he'll tell you he doesn't have one. But he will next year."
The innovative and collective spirit of that culture is impressive. Nearly everyone who is commenting on this blog is using a semi-conductor that was manufactured with equipment made by ASML.
“Of all the European countries that I have visited, the Netherlands seems the friendliest.”
I don’t doubt it, but this reminds me of something that happened when I visited Amsterdam in 2018. We went into a bar and I asked to bartender if we could sit at the bar. I suppose I looked and sounded like a confused American tourist. His response was “do you support TRUMP!?” The correct answer was obviously “No!” so we enjoyed a couple beers.
Amsterdam and Venice are two of my favorite places in the world I’ve visited, along with Tokyo. I’d put Amsterdam above Tokyo mainly due to the lack of language barrier. And while I loved Venice, after a couple days it started to feel like a theme park.
I forgot to add that the biggest impact of the Dutch in the past 50 or so years is the development of 'Total Football' (soccer) for the uninitiated. Amsterdam born, Johan Cruyff revolutionized the concept of time and space on the field both as a player and manager. While the Dutch have been unlucky not to have won a World Cup, they have always performed better based on population size than any other country followed closely by Croatia.
"God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands"
America is the true intellectual descendent of the United Provinces. We were a British colony yes, but I'd argue that Britain was a Dutch colony, so.... by the transitive property....
And if Venice and Amsterdam prospered on land reclamation, surely.... New Amsterdam can as well: https://www.reddit.com/r/nyc/comments/2rkcjl/an_engineers_plan_for_a_greater_new_york/
Reminds me of an old article I saw proposing a giant airport in lower Manhattan. Crazy, but I like people who think big:
https://books.google.at/books?id=iUgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA76&source=gbs_toc_r&redir_esc=y&hl=de#v=onepage&q&f=false
Endorse!
Scott, my friends who are dutch are definitely nice people but they are also pretty blunt which can come across to other cultures as rude. Did you not experience this in your visit?
I don't recall that, but it was 35 years ago so I may have forgotten.
The idea that reclaiming land led to a new nonzero mentality is an interesting one I had never thought of - thank you for writing this.
However, I think the primary answer of why commercial society was originated by the Dutch is Calvinism. Like you mention, there had been other societies where trade dominates such as Venice, or where elites are actively engaged in it such as Portugal after discovering sea routes to Asia or Japan until its self imposed isolation or Carthage in ancient times. What sets the Dutch apart from all other societies before them is their attitude towards wealth.
Calvinism demanded simplicity and plainness in dress, in architecture, and in manners. But what were wealthy elites to do with their wealth if not conspicuous consumption. They re-invested it back into their trade. Success in business was an earthly sign of God’s favor.
"Although the Dutch language did not survive as the language of daily life in America, American English still carries traces of its Netherlandish ancestry"
Although Wikipedia tells me that there are multiple theories of the origin of the New Amsterdam's Coney Island, I'm partial to the one that posits that "it came from the Dutch word for rabbit, konijn, derived from a purported large population of wild rabbits on the island".
Per Wikipedia, which notes this in their entry for rabbit:
"The word rabbit derives from the Middle English rabet ("young of the coney"), a borrowing from the Walloon robète, which was a diminutive of the French or Middle Dutch robbe ("rabbit"), a term of unknown origin. The term coney is a term for an adult rabbit used until the 18th century; rabbit once referred only to the young animals."
I agree with this.
But then, I like Western liberal values, and protecting Western liberal nations and cultures.
The mistake Westerners make, a combination of hubris and naivete, is to think everyone globally, and within our borders, wants to be like us.
Moscow, Beijing and the Islamo-fascist empire do not think like us, and have longevity on their side.
May the Dutch example survive. I wonder if it will.
Who is "Beijing"? Xi Jinping? Who is "us"? Trump?
In the recent election, immigrants voted for Trump by 1%, Native born people voted for Trump by 1.5%. So yes, "they" are very different, 0.5% different.
You are correct to ask for amplification.
When I say, "within our borders" I mean there are citizens, immigrant or otherwise, who do not subscribe to Western liberal values, or a hybrid largely free-market system. Sheesh, fringe elements within both major parties....
In fact, since immigrants came to the US by choice, I would assume they would be more inclined to embrace Western values, and might be fleeing other systems.
Yes, "Beijing" was short-hand for Xi, and current China leadership. I do not know if the majority of mainland China residents support Xi or not.
I keep hoping the Taiwan example will be inspirational to the mainland...but things seem to be going the other way.
I am in conversations with people in Hong Hong weekly and sometimes even daily, due to professional obligations, usually about financial topics, but comments are made. I won't bore you, but the picture is dispiriting.
As for Moscow, even worse....
A lot of San Francisco is reclaimed land too. But this post makes land reclamation sound amazing. We could reclaim even more. Put 1000 more islands in the bay.
Oh yes. And high-rise condos on every island.
Actually, just get rid of property zoning, and that should cure a lot.
The archipelago Power (Britain) won out over its Dutch rival because it did not have the distraction of a land border. The Anglosphere being a series of “moated” lands has had a huge influence on our development. (In the contemporary world, for example, it is why the flatlands of Poland and Hungary have very, very different attitudes to migration, for instance.)
The present world is divided between Maritime Order West and Continental Anarchy Powers (Russia, China, Iran). Prof. Sarah “Sally” Paine is very good on this.
https://www.lorenzofromoz.net/p/maritime-order-versus-continental
Xi’s CCP sees the two orders as fundamentally incompatible.
https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2023/02/28/the-chinese-communist-partys-threat-to-america/
But Dutch Billy transferring the experience of the Bank of Amsterdam into the creation of the Bank of England was a huge part of that rise of Britain. England had been a highly mercantile society back to perhaps Saxon times, but its state had lagged the Dutch until the Dutch Conquest of 1688 aka the Glorious Revolution. (Apparently, it does not count as a conquest if enough of the British elite ask said conquering king to come and his wife was the Protestant heir.)
Medieval landholders were more mercantile than folk give them credit. By C15th the average English knight’s library would consist of religious texts (how to save your soul), texts of knightly derring-do and texts of how to make more money from your estate.
But you can see a strong pattern in medieval and early modern Europe of Parliaments with a significant mercantile element pushing for more provision of public goods, which the landed element would come to support as they noted the increased income possibilities from trade. Parliaments much more dominated the landed element (e.g. Hungary, Poland) would be more wary, as they did not like the local Crown being able to overbear their control of local peasants.
But it is very clear that modern patterns came together first in the Netherlands and then, by dynastic contagion, England. The Netherlands became the first country to permanently defeat famine.
Lambert’s book ‘Seapower States’ is a good read on some of this. https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300251487/seapower-states/
And I really dislike the term ‘capitalism’.
https://www.lorenzofromoz.net/p/capitalism-and-capitalist-are-analytically
"The archipelago Power (Britain) won out over its Dutch rival because it did not have the distraction of a land border."
In that sense, Japan is the Britain of East Asia-- the first to industrialize.
Taiwan’s status as an island is some protection; will it be enough?
I have a friend who raises horses and he occasionally goes to the Netherlands for business. He once shared this anecdote he heard from a European friend: "If you ask a Dutch breeder if he has a blue horse for sale, he'll tell you he doesn't have one. But he will next year."
The innovative and collective spirit of that culture is impressive. Nearly everyone who is commenting on this blog is using a semi-conductor that was manufactured with equipment made by ASML.
“Of all the European countries that I have visited, the Netherlands seems the friendliest.”
I don’t doubt it, but this reminds me of something that happened when I visited Amsterdam in 2018. We went into a bar and I asked to bartender if we could sit at the bar. I suppose I looked and sounded like a confused American tourist. His response was “do you support TRUMP!?” The correct answer was obviously “No!” so we enjoyed a couple beers.
Amsterdam and Venice are two of my favorite places in the world I’ve visited, along with Tokyo. I’d put Amsterdam above Tokyo mainly due to the lack of language barrier. And while I loved Venice, after a couple days it started to feel like a theme park.
What happened to the wooden wall?
Besides those mentioned, what are the best books on the Dutch?
I haven't read much on that topic, but I did enjoy An Upside-Down World by Benjamin Moser, which discussed Dutch Golden Age painting.
One of the major advances was double entry bookkeeping, but that was an Italian invention.
I forgot to add that the biggest impact of the Dutch in the past 50 or so years is the development of 'Total Football' (soccer) for the uninitiated. Amsterdam born, Johan Cruyff revolutionized the concept of time and space on the field both as a player and manager. While the Dutch have been unlucky not to have won a World Cup, they have always performed better based on population size than any other country followed closely by Croatia.
They are number two in agricultural exports, which is crazy for such a small country.