Pragmatism
Revisiting the portrayal of merchants in early Dutch theatre, the selfish and manipulative antagonists were cheap, yet much of their behavior stems from the concept of having a abnormally pragmatic sense of thinking. Whether a merchant was the original antagonist, or the revised protagonist, these characters were obsessive in their economically pragmatic thinking, and a visit without profits was a boring visit. The tunnel vision and single-minded mentality is truly on display with the Dutch, and historical documents which regarded trade between New Netherlands and New England claims that the Dutch had a much higher priority for increasing fortunes as opposed to gaining knowledge. It is also interestingly noted together that despite the single mindedness for profit, there was an extremely high level of organization that came with the Dutch, having established procedures for all their businesses (Todt, 352). At the time of the Golden Age, where it was clear to see the materialistic benefits of engaging in trade, being a merchant was the top profession by a staggering margin of over four times the amount of the second most common profession of a clothier (Gelderblom). Dutch poets would look at trade and commerce as if it were a deity like figure, and a central pillar to all prosperity. Trade would control all and was inherently incontrollable by man. Poets would additionally argue that merchants were nothing more than mindless men who sold their soul to only fall victim to their own greed. There are some documentations that would disagree with the claims painting Dutch to be selfish, with the idea of Dutch preferring to work amongst family and friends, amidst the goal of prosperity for “us” as opposed to “me”. This shows a very different side of Dutch character, and a level of unison to be upheld that has not been discussed as much as the negative characteristics of Dutch culture. It is well noted that the Dutch in the 1600s was an information economy, and the idea of gaining more information gave a merchant a higher probability to succeed in their goals of enhancing profits (Cook, 43). Despite these claims, the majority of reports do correlate clearer with the widely understood Dutch culture of today. Even the tolerance of soft drugs could suggest the lengths the Dutch economy would go to just in order to gain profits. This would be an economically wise decision as it gives Netherlands and primarily Amsterdam a big edge in the tourism industry, with not many countries having any level of similar leniency in their policies. The economic value is certainly not the only if not main reason soft drugs are widely permitted, however it does play a role when considered.