Wow, great insight indeed! I do feel really afraid to ever ride my bike with my Dutch attitude outside the Netherlands now, especially without a helmet as everybody normally does here... Wow, "punishment passes", how inhuman!
Edit: I looked into it a bit more, apparently videos of our prime-minster on his bike went viral! [0], how funny for such a normal thing. The dutch comments are pretty telling indeed:
> apparently videos of our prime-minster on his bike went viral!, how funny for such a normal thing.
This is a very intentional and knowing part of Mark Rutte's brand. You often see him being filmed jumping on his bicycle - I mean, here, in the Dutch news. He is doing that deliberately to invoke national pride.
Compare image searches: "Mark Rutte fiets" (the prime-minister, apparently thousands of results), "Hugo de Jonge fiets" (the most media-friendly deputy prime-minister, no relevant results)
Also, there are frequent news stories within the Netherlands that are just "look, the Royal Family cycles".
It's something the Dutch are very proud of. Strange to claim otherwise.
Yeah I can imagine it's part of Rutte's brand indeed. And, true, I do feel some pride. Well, I guess it's nice that in incites pride and not a "Damn Cyclists" reaction. It is indeed part of our national identity.
Edit: I looked into it a bit more, apparently videos of our prime-minster on his bike went viral! [0], how funny for such a normal thing. The dutch comments are pretty telling indeed:
- "Up next: Karel (56) bumped his toe"
- "Wow, he's almost like a real human, right?"
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u6lD2JzWY8