When I arrived in the Netherlands in 1992, what struck me first wasn’t the weather or the language, but the unmistakable prosperity of Dutch society. Coming from a world defined by scarcity, the visible wealth of Western Europe felt like an alternate reality.
If I were to characterize what I saw in the 1990s with one word, it would be trust.
Voters trusted their democracies. Elections were meaningful, but not existential. Citizens generally saw their choices reflected in policy, particularly when their party won enough seats to shape the governing agenda.
