The left has done a turnabout in the Netherlands, discarding in rather stark terms the tenets of multiculturalism. Academia take note.
The Labor Party issued a paper calling for an end to the failed model of “Dutch tolerance.” Lilianne Ploumen, Labor’s chairperson, wrote:
The mistake we can never repeat is stifling criticism of cultures and religions for reasons of tolerance. . . . The grip of the homeland has to disappear.
The Dutch have a special relationship with liberalism and feel-good policies, so this recognition of multiculturalism’s failure comes from some of its most avid adherents.
Instead of reflexively offering tolerance with the expectation that things would work out in the long run, she said, the government strategy should be “bringing our values into confrontation with people who think otherwise.”
And that comes from the heart of the traditional, democratic European left, where placing the onus of compatibility on immigrants never found such comfort before.
Indeed, Ploumen says, “Integration calls on the greatest effort from the new Dutch. Let go of where you come from; choose the Netherlands unconditionally.” Immigrants must “take responsibility for this country” and cherish and protect its Dutch essence.
Not clear enough? Ploumen insists, “The success of the integration process is hindered by the disproportionate number of non-natives involved in criminality and trouble-making, by men who refuse to shake hands with women, by burqas and separate courses for women on citizenship.
On the heels of a recent decision to weed out some of its pot-selling coffee houses, one has to wonder if the Dutch are beginning to see the light.
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