Not Dutch? Not Much?

Perhaps the idea of an ethnic heritage is fading over time, with succeeding generations. I don’t lose any sleep over that. I know about three Dutch words, I haven’t worn wooden shoes for a long time, and my children only sat on Sinterklaas’s lap once (in a windmill, no less), and we all were creeped out by Zworte Piet. But I still appreciate what I think are the three best parts of the Netherlands’ legacy, which just happen to overlap with the broader idea of Western heritage: Dutch capitalism, Dutch dates, and, of course, cookies.

Let’s start with dessert. Dutch cooking isn’t exactly haute cuisine, compared to French, Chinese, or Indian, all of which are infinitely more appetizing. My mom’s specialty was (from my kid’s eyes) a pretty inedible rice/hamburger/condensed chicken soup casserole. Only soy sauce saved that.

But she could make desserts. In an economic sense, it was her comparative advantage, and her chewy molasses-ginger cookies (the word cookie comes from the Dutch word koekje) atoned for mushy broccoli, overcooked burgers, and bland casseroles. 

And what does this have to do with the broader idea of heritage? Don’t we Westerners eat too much sugar anyway?

Well, yes, we do. In fact, the amount of processed sugar a typical contemporary American eats in one day is nearly as much as a person consumed in one year before the Industrial Revolution. It was this Great Enrichment, which increased incomes more than 30-fold in 300 years, that made cookies, and desserts, possible for nearly all people in our world. That enrichment doesn’t solve all of our problems; we just have different problems—mine being sugar in general, and black licorice in particular. 

Along with cookies, the Dutch were known for their infamous frugality—thus, the idea of “Dutch dates,” where each party pays their share. The Dutch had few physical resources, a good amount of land below sea level, and they had to be frugal and inventive, with their sizable thumbs ready to plug holes in the dikes to protect the farmlands from the encroaching sea. So, they economized.

Frugality is a habit that can be overdone, of course, but perhaps we’ve lost a bit of this? A century ago President Calvin Coolidge joyously but unsmilingly promoted lower spending among the various federal departments (without Elon Musk’s assistance, no less), while the federal government racked up budget surpluses. 

Remember those? 

Probably not.

The revolution of Keynesianism made deficits a virtue, because, in a downturn, they can accelerate economic growth, at least in the short run; and in the long run? Well, who cares? As Keynes said, “In the long run we’re dead.”

Perhaps we need a renewed vision of frugality and prudence as virtues, before we’re flooded with debt we cannot pay.

Finally, little Netherlands (which means low lands), because of its precarious position in the north of Europe and being harassed by the Spanish Empire, was always looking for some sort of “edge” in Europe which would attract talent and business. It happened to come up with a new idea: Capitalism, and that helped bring them great wealth.

Well, we can’t give all the credit (or blame, depending on your view) to the Dutch for this, but there is a strong link. In addition to being open to all kinds of commerce, they were also open to all sorts of faiths. In Candide, Voltaire praises the Dutch for their open-mindedness when, in Holland, our hapless hero encounters James the Anabaptist, who is a sort of Dutch Good Samaritan. James is tossed overboard from a ship and drowns–a rather rude adult baptism. Voltaire skewers Calvinists, Catholics, Muslims—but the one religious group (besides utopian Deists) that he praises via this gentle Anabaptist man are the Anabaptists, the people Europeans continually persecuted. But it was this harassed minority who eventually advocated an absolutely crazy idea: religious toleration, which the Dutch adopted.

If you let people choose their own religion, which may have some pretty eternal consequences, you will likely let them choose more mundane options, such as what job or school to choose, what foods to eat, and what entertainment to indulge in.

With religious toleration came competition: religions competed for adherents, and this helped spur religious fervor (which the Puritans exported to America). 

Yes, the increasing wealth in Europe also helped birth imperialism (the Dutch and British Empires both collapsed, like all empires), increased secularism, and enabled welfare states: each of these, admittedly, are problematic. 

Perhaps we can revisit the best of those Dutch delights today: we can build our businesses, save for the inevitable rainy days, and—on those stormy days, enjoy some luscious home-made cookies.