Dec. 2nd, 2008 @ 10:49 pm 15 miljoen mensen
Current Mood: Dutch
Current Music: fluitsma & van tijn - 15 miljoen mensen
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(also, the official video, which is, impossibly, even more Dutch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEzwmEwAPgc)

I discovered this song recently. I love it, and I have no idea why. It's in a language I don't understand, about a country I know little about, beyond a couple of stereotypes. And it's nationalistic enough that, on principle alone, I should hate it. (Nationalists are the same the world over. "FUCK YOU, REST OF WORLD! WE'RE NUMBER ONE! NAME OF COUNTRY! NAME OF COUNTRY!! WOOOOOOO!") But this one is endearing in its civility. There's a sincere, soul-stirring passion to Van Tijn's delivery even as he sings about how calm and clearheaded his people are. I've never been so proud to be Dutch. (Maybe because I'm not.)

Maybe I like it because there's a vague Taiwanese '80s rock feel to this song. Kinda reminds me of Wu Bai and China Blue. Hmm.

Or maybe I like it because the idea of Dutch nationalism is so silly. I mean, even at the height of their power, when they had outposts all over the world, the Dutch never did much except sell things to people. I admit I snickered a little bit when I found the video for this song on youtube and it was captioned "NEDERLAND!!"

Dutch accountancy company GIBO Groep has adapted this song for their corporate anthem. Their new lyrics are kind of amusing.

Fact: Every place I have ever lived except for Oberlin is a former Dutch colony. Those Dutch get everywhere.
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From:[info]aesvir
Date: December 3rd, 2008 04:08 am (UTC)
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Or maybe I like it because the idea of Dutch nationalism is so silly. I mean, even at the height of their power, when they had outposts all over the world, the Dutch never did much except sell things to people.

Or, from another perspective, the Dutch focused on the efficient spreading of capital from mutually beneficial exchanges, which is morally superior to, er, raping and pillaging.

Alas, this benign view of the Dutch is not entirely true. After all, they even managed to "conquer" England. There have been scholars that credit the rise of the British Empire to Dutch ideas that spread after the Glorious Revolution.

I've gotta say, the Dutch can get pretty intense in their orange gear during the Euro cup. Anybody who thinks nationalism is dead in Europe hasn't attended a football match. :p
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From:[info]aesvir
Date: December 3rd, 2008 04:11 am (UTC)
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Also, gotta love songs that have the lighter/cell phone waving moment built in.
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From:[info]erf_
Date: December 3rd, 2008 04:20 am (UTC)
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YES.

It is so crass and sentimental and manufactured but OMG.
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From:[info]erf_
Date: December 3rd, 2008 04:20 am (UTC)
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"Mutually beneficial"? You've been drinking far too deeply from the imperialist Kool-Aid. But I do agree that it was morally superior to violent conquest. Didn't leave them much in terms of political legacy, though.

Their largely capitalist emphasis on expansionism into Asia and the New World in the 17th and 18th centuries actually seems to be a point of pride for the Dutch. Which is weird in itself. When is the last time you have heard nationalists exclaim, "Hail to us, the non-conquerors!"

And to be fair, William III's invasion was successful largely because he knew that James II would not resist.
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From:[info]aesvir
Date: December 4th, 2008 01:22 am (UTC)
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Voluntary exchange of goods is not imperialism. Building garrisons and depleting local resources (as the Dutch did in Taiwan) is.

Still, by any standard the Dutch were nicer imperialists than anyone else.
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From:[info]drabheathen
Date: December 3rd, 2008 05:03 am (UTC)
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Man, running the Youtube comments for the original video through a Dutch/English translator sure was interesting. Typical immigration/racism-vs-nationalism/patriotism/patriotism?-Really? conversation/flamewar.

With phrases like, "The real carrot of the situation is..."

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From:[info]erf_
Date: December 3rd, 2008 05:15 am (UTC)
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Well, it's certainly better than the usual "YOU ARE ALL BRAINWASHED BY AMERICAN NAZI BUSH. JEWS DID 911. LONG LIVE CCP" youtube nonsense. Though not by much.

Want to hang out sometime this week? I have fresh fruit and no one to eat it with.
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From:[info]drabheathen
Date: December 3rd, 2008 07:13 am (UTC)
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Lunch Thursday or Friday? I can get off an hour-ish, any time I want. I work in Soho near the Spring Street stop.
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From:[info]erf_
Date: December 3rd, 2008 03:14 pm (UTC)
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Soho...The green Spring Street(4/6), right? Not the blue Spring Street(A/C/E)?

Thursday sounds good. Meet you at Spring and Cleveland, NE corner (where the stop is) around 1:15-ish?
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From:[info]drabheathen
Date: December 3rd, 2008 04:07 pm (UTC)
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The green stop, yes. See you then!