King Willem-Alexander used his annual Christmas message to urge people to take care of what binds society together, delivering a personal message that reflected on fatherhood and the future facing young people.
“The question is: what kind of world do we want for our children?” said the king, who has three daughters.
Children, he said, will not find their place in a world where mistakes are punished harshly, or where young people are afraid of being judged and held to account for their appearance, their background, their sexual orientation or their achievements.
“Nor do we want a world in which differences of opinion and conflicts are constantly pushed to extremes, where we threaten and mistrust one another, online and offline,” he said.
“Or a world without freedom, where dictators crow over the decline of democracy and the rule of law, and where we have become obedient followers of all-powerful, soulless algorithms.”
And we do not want, he said, “a world in which our healthy living environment is damaged by pollution and climate change”.
The answer, the king said, lies in protecting shared foundations such as democracy, the rule of law, freedom and the environment. Self-reliance and resilience are vital, he said, but they cannot exist without community.
“Things don’t work without a community in which people look out for one another, listen to one another and support one another,” he said.
The king spoke at length about parenthood and raising children. Although his daughters are now grown up, he said he still vividly remembered holding a newborn child. “Everything becomes relative, except that tiny being in your arms,” he said. “You want to protect them from all harm and make them happy.”
“Children step out into the wider world, and parental love alone cannot protect them from everything,” he said. “You cannot always shield them from pain or misfortune.
“So let us do our best to ensure that our world remains a liveable place, where no one stands alone and where the strong have an eye for those who are vulnerable, afraid, lonely or uncertain.”
The king finished by referring to the Biblical Christmas story which, he said, “brings us back to the basics. We can all relate to it: a newborn child, a new beginning for us all. The future is open. The light returns. The shortest day is behind us.”
