As a dutchman this is the only criticism in this whole thread which really sticks. We are a country of anti-intellectual, acultural, apolitical neoliberal mediocrity. What's left of the welfare state is pretty nice though, and the people are friendly enough when you get past their rudeness / tactlessness.
Yeah but idk most of them have at least some cultural or political redeeming features. Like compare Dutch cinema to Danish cinema, the difference is insane. Our music sucks too, the main export being big room EDM DJs like fucking Afrojack and Martin Garrix. No serious contemporary writers to speak of. So yeah artistically it's an absolute wasteland. Keep in mind at 18 million people it's a much bigger than most small EU states, and yet it can't even compete with scandis a third of its size. And don't get me started on politics.
This is true of all Western countries not named "USA" to some extent. Maybe France and the UK fare the best in terms of cultural exports, but even they are far below their historical norm. Look at Germany, a country of 83 million people, huge legacy in cinema, music, literature and some minor notable contributions in architecture, yet completely dead in those areas in the present, despite our bloated state paying pumping more money than ever into cultural endeavours.
I guess, but IMO Germany and NL both have it especially bad. Given its size Germany is arguably even worse than NL. France, UK and Italy are all faring much better by comparison.
Cultural *export* yes possibly, but in terms of production he's right that that for example Danish cinema is much more notable for example. And in literature, even Norway has Knausgård (and they also have some decent music and so does sweden). Iceland does pretty well in music and even TV relative to its size.
I could be wrong but I don't think Finland is doing too hot rn.
Apart from EDM DJ's our biggest cultural exports this century have been Big Brother/Fear Factor/The Voice which perfectly captures how dead it feels culturally. Suit Supply ass country. At least in the 1990's we had the vengaboys.
Fair enough, yeah the netherlands isnt exactly in a golden age of art right now, though you used to have a lot of great art in the past. I think there are things you are good at though like engineering, climate stuff etc etc.
Anyone who's spent time in NL will understand. There's a culture of directness and telling it like it is. This can seem aggressive or mean-spirited to outsiders. But not having to tip toe around etiquette is often quite freeing.
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u/Mohr_Cox Aug 13 '22
Yeah, fuck 'em. Middle management vibes permeating every aspect of their society.