New Year’s Eve, with its tradition of violence, destruction, deaths and injuries, offers a metaphor for the Netherlands today. A lot goes wrong and the government loses control. While some citizens see the festive night as a license for violence and lawlessness, the government refuses to enforce it and sends misleading signals about a fireworks ban. Simmering anger in society, citizens who do not accept authority, weak politics, a government that arbitrarily patronizes and moralizes and preaches principles that it does not adhere to. Every January 1 we look into this ugly mirror again.
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