Let’s cut the crap. If there was ever a time to channel our old Dutch VOC-mentaliteit, it’s now. The digital world is controlled by a handful of American tech giants and spineless bureaucrats in Brussels. Every day we read headlines about Microsoft “protecting” Europe or the EU “ensuring” our digital future. What a joke.
Just this week, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, was locked out of his own Microsoft email account. One of the world’s most important legal officials—locked out by an American company. Is this digital sovereignty? No, it’s digital colonialism.
Fuck the US, fuck Microsoft, fuck von der Leyen and her EU circus. They all talk about security and “strategic autonomy,” but when push comes to shove, they fold. Meanwhile, our critical infrastructure is at the mercy of whoever holds the keys in Redmond or Washington.
VOC-mentaliteit: Independence, Not Excuses#
Back in the day, the Dutch didn’t wait for someone else to secure their future. They built, sailed, and fought for their own place in the world. That’s the VOC-mentaliteit—bold, independent, and never satisfied with being a pawn. Where is that fire now? It sure as hell isn’t in the boardrooms of the EU or in Microsoft’s PR department.
Digital sovereignty isn’t a luxury; it’s a matter of national survival. Every time we trust our data to Microsoft, Google, or Amazon, we hand over the keys to our future. Every politician who tells you otherwise is lying—or worse, bought.
Real Solutions Are Built, Not Bought#
Open source. Hybrid and multi-cloud. Sovereign AI. Independence doesn’t come from more EU committees or American lawsuits—it comes from building our own solutions, with our own people, on our own terms. If the Dutch were able to build ships and sail around the globe, we can damn well build our own digital infrastructure.
Let’s stop waiting for Brussels or Washington to “save” us. The only way to true digital sovereignty is to take back control—code by code, server by server, model by model.
AI: The Next Battleground#
The AI race is the perfect example. Right now, almost all the big models are American, trained on data we don’t see, shaped by values we don’t share. The Netherlands is trying to build GPT-NL. Good. But we need more: more money, more guts, more collaboration with fellow European rebels who still have some backbone. Let’s federate, swarm, and out-innovate the Silicon Valley cartel.
No More Excuses#
The Emerce article said it best: digital sovereignty is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. That means doing the hard work—and telling the US, the EU, and Microsoft to get lost the moment they try to hold us hostage. We need the guts to say “no” and the brains to build our own future.
Time to Reclaim our VOC-mentaliteit#
We are Dutch. We have a history of defiance, innovation, and going our own way. The world didn’t give us a seat at the table—we took it. That’s the spirit we need to bring to digital sovereignty.
Stop waiting, stop whining, start building.
#VOCmentaliteit
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