Cosiness Knows No Time
A team of teachers within a school or university department, a team in a company, or the members of the cabinet governing our country — all of these groups share the characteristic of being a close-knit club, led by a scoutmaster whose job is to ensure that the atmosphere remains pleasant. Most members of the group support the scoutmaster, but there is always (at least) one member who questions this group dynamic. Perhaps because he/she doesn’t enjoy the cosiness [gezelligheid]; they are a loner. Or perhaps because decisions are made that this member cannot agree with. In many cases, however, it’s about the way those decisions are made. This can involve inappropriate (though always ‘well-intentioned’) jokes and, often, attempts to have one’s cake and eat it too. The magic word here is frequently ‘going with the flow.’
The dissenting member is known as the ‘black sheep’. This black sheep is accused of being ‘too principled’. More than a personal trait, the black sheep represents a position. When a particular black sheep disappears, another member, or a new member, will take up that role. If this ceases to happen, the group is lost, as its identity is largely defined by that black sheep. The group embodies the rule; the black sheep, the exception.
Another term for ‘black sheep’ that has been used for quite some time is ‘whistleblower’. The difference between these terms is that the black sheep still attempts to maintain the club’s harmony, while the whistleblower has moved past that point.
Of course, the club has the best intentions for the department or ‘the country.’ In most cases, the behavior doesn’t fall under what Kant, in his intriguing late work Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason, calls the “third evil” [corruptio], which pertains to individuals completely devoid of any moral capacity; their motives are immoral, perhaps even amoral. Most people fall into one of the two other categories. In the case of “the first evil” [fragilitas], a person is simply too weak to do what is right. ‘I like to smoke a cigar, I know it’s bad for me, but I can’t resist.’ Then there is “the second evil” [impuritas], which includes those who side with the leader and mask their awareness of wrongdoing behind ‘good intentions,’ jokes, rationalizations, and inconsistent thinking. This is also known as The Human Condition.
Naturally, it is crucial for humanity to strive for the ‘highest good’, and failing to achieve this is not insurmountable in itself. We all make mistakes, misjudgments, and clumsy remarks. The real problem arises when we hide our reflections on these failures behind excuses like, ‘but I meant well’. The black sheep points out these excuses, highlights the sore spots, and is therefore often brushed aside, ignored, ridiculed, or even despised—all as part of the game called ‘cosiness.’ Because everything must remain pleasant. The black sheep is accused of being a ‘spoilsport.’
‘Cosiness’ is a form of hypocrisy. Every culture knows this phenomenon. The way the United States deals with eroticism and sex is extremely hypocritical. We all remember ‘Nipplegate’. But every culture has its own form. Nipplegate led to damage claims amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars; hypocrisy in the U.S. revolves around money. In the Netherlands, it’s different: whereas in most cultures hypocrisy is considered a negative trait, Dutch culture has managed to put a positive spin on it; hypocrisy is celebrated through cosiness. The current workings of our cabinet exemplify this.
One of the tricks used to control the black sheep is to medicalize it. The term ‘borderline’ was invented for this purpose. Initially, in DSM-4, the diagnosis was vague, covering a range of ‘psychological’ disorders that did not fit into the two existing categories: neuroses (such as fear of flying or claustrophobia) and psychoses (where contact with reality is lost). A borderline area, hence the name. In DSM-5, the term has since been provided with about ten specific qualifications.
We need to restore the black sheep to its rightful place and try to understand its function without attaching moral or pseudo-medical judgements to it. Once again: the black sheep is not a saint, not a representative of goodness; this is not about a personal judgement—it is a position. The black sheep is part of what Kant calls impuritas. Defining it as a moral or medical problem clouds the analysis and is therefore part of the game.
Let’s consider the ‘near-crisis’ of the Schoof cabinet as an example. This cabinet is a clear instance of the ‘club’ I referred to earlier, with Schoof as the scoutmaster and State Secretary Achahbar as the black sheep. She drew her conclusion, resigned, and thus became a ‘whistleblower’; at least in theory, as it remains to be seen whether she will disclose everything.
Unlike Trump, Putin, or Netanyahu, who are clear examples of Kant’s corruptio, Wilders appears to be more of an example of ‘the second evil’. In his case, there is a “mix of immoral and moral motives” (possibly based on ‘good intentions’: “making the Netherlands better”). But in a certain way, Wilders also has the characteristics of a ‘black sheep.’ He continually points out sore spots, refuses to join in the social charade, and frequently embarrasses the leader. But is he truly a black sheep? Is his obstinate and provocative behavior aimed at addressing or at least highlighting a problem, or is it driven by a personal agenda? In other words, does the man even realize that being a ‘black sheep’ is a position and not a personal drive? It seems unlikely, and neither does his group realize it, as they would be paralyzed if they had to abandon the group’s games.
The Netherlands must discard the stifling religion of cosiness and take the critical observations of black sheep seriously, regardless of the sore spots. This would be the beginning of proper analyses, giving us hope for finding good and practical solutions.
— Cornelis de Bondt, 16 november 2024
[The title is the direct translation of the Dutch expression ‘Gezelligheid kent geen tijd’, which means in cosiness we loose grip on time.]