Nationalism for dummies: it’s the technology, stupid!

In one of my favorite episodes of South Park, an American animated sitcom, the soon-to-be-president Mr. Garrison rouses the masses in the US to build a wall to keep out Canadian immigrants. When he and his followers arrive at the northern border, he realizes that Canada has already built a wall to keep out the Americans.

Nationalism is back all over Europe. The Netherlands is no exception, given the victory of right-wing parties in the recent elections. It’s a relatively new phenomenon for the Dutch, so it may be wise to review some consequences of nationalism. After all, the Dutch have been the inventors of globalism, for better or for worse, so we have some catching up to do in this field.