Simon Kuper: The Dutch are piloting a saner European political ‘right’ wing

Simon Kuper: The Dutch are piloting a saner European political ‘right’ wing

Post-Thatcherite, post-Trumpian, next week’s elections in the Netherlands are tapping into a mood for dry moderation - ‘boring’ politics rather than the drama
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Post-Thatcherite, post-Trumpian, next week's elections in the Netherlands are tapping into a mood for dry moderation – 'boring' politics rather than the drama

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By Simon Kuper of the Financial Times

I grew up in the Netherlands and every time I return, I feel like a time-traveller. The country I have in my head is from the 1970s and 1980s, so when I popped back last week, I fixated on the differences. There are lots of skyscrapers! There are non-white people on the trains! Climate change has changed the Dutch soul. At this time of year, when I was a kid, there'd be the anticipation of skating on frozen canals. Not any more. Yet so much remains the same: cyclists in the rain, cafés that look unchanged since 1923, radio news that's mostly about non-events and the sense of a sedate haven from a scary world. 

___STEADY_PAYWALL___

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