Koningsdag

Today is King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands’ birthday, which is a national holiday.

The more I watch American and other politics from afar, the more I like the idea of a mostly powerless and ceremonial monarchy. People love national symbols and a bit of pomp, why not put those into a non-political figure? This is arguably better than the American system of electing a de-facto monarch for four years.

And a fact that says a lot about Netherlands and its values: the country has donated more tanks to Ukraine than the Dutch army has, by purchasing tanks and sending them straight to Ukraine (source).