Ideal future of Belgium?

[Ülev]

Ik ken geen België, ik ken alleen den Zuidelijke Neederlanden

[The Lawspeaker]

^ En zo is het maar net !

Time to restore a semblance of order down there.

[gixajo]

They have no future. The old generation already died off and are replaced with a new generation.

[g]

Belgium is like watching an abusive couple stay together as they hate everyone else more than their own toxic relationship together. In Belgium most people do as little as possible, and people will never take more responsibility than they are required to in their work contract. This attitude leads to the insane bureaucracy in Belgium that you don't want to import into our country. Look at what Belgium's most famous person has to say.

[
Belgium and the Netherlands are the root of a large portion of the migrants. The area Ghent-Antwerp-Leuven-Brussels is totally urbanised and migrants are also moving from the cities to that area. In the east they have a lot of durks with dual citizenship. The only migrant free zones are West-Vlaanderen, Brabant-Wallon and Luxembourg. However, Flemish nationalists will in all probability have a majority in the Flemish parliament in a couple of years. Two Flemish nationalist parties N-VA and Vlaams Belang won more seats last election. I think they will have more than 50% seats in 2024 and might organise an referendum for independence.

So we'll see what happens next.

I was impressed by everything you know about Belgian politics.

Anyone would think that that interest could come from some kind of relationship with that country.

[Tchek]

"Partition" or "Keep united..."

Why do people always think that Belgium is "united"? It's not an unitary state for a long time now. It's a very partitioned federal state.
So partitioned that independance or confederacy would actually change little, by opposition to a throw back to an actual unitary state.

[Dandelion]

I honestly don't know and stopped caring too much long ago. There's even free border crossing in the EU (albeit temporarily limited due to corona). The area around Brussels would make a splitup even the more difficult. We could very well join our respective neighbouring countries (joining the Netherlands is something I deem realistic despite the popular opinion believing otherwise, but that won't necessarily just happen). But we're not even done with our state reforms I'm afraid (six in total by now).

Welcome to Belgium! Kafkaesque in its state structure you risk losing your sanity if you delve too deep in it.

[Dandelion]

Why do people always think that Belgium is "united"? It's not an unitary state for a long time now. It's a very partitioned federal state.
So partitioned that independance or confederacy would actually change little, by opposition to a throw back to an actual unitary state.

Even Dutch people seem to often think that. "You don't speak French fluently? But you're a bilingual country!". Yeah, but not one of a bilingual region and population.

[Dandelion]

Belgians are also very anationalistic in practice, even if the N-VA garners many popular votes. People are also very cynical about politicians. It also comes with pros. I notice this in the Netherlands I made people feel insulted over things I don't give a damn about. That is due to my work environment being more infantile, granted, as my Dutch personal friends aren't like that.

If we were to get over the communitarian struggles in Belgium and the political divide (mission impossible, especially given the economic disparity). I believe Belgians would be far more relaxed than they are today. Our state changed so drastically in such a short timespan, an identity crisis is certainly an issue with us.

It's sad because the land itself has a very rich history to it.

Belgium in itself comes from the Neo-Latin name for the Netherlands which in its turn comes from a group of Celtic tribes during the Roman Invasion, by the way, as we used to be called the Southern Netherlands before (a different state from the Dutch Republic of the Seven Netherlands). Nowadays we might as well be called Flanders & Wallonia. And even Flanders and Wallonia are names foreigners invented for us and does the historical continuity some disrespect, but it's fine.

[Dandelion]

I even made a Dutch feel insulted by saying the cling film of Delhaize is of better quality than the one we're using of AH. lol Or by joking about Calvinism after they were going on for two minutes about taking only one piece of a cake I was sharing (I shared six in total) as worked for one year in that company.

I'm quite sure I won't work there for much longer, but I'll try to get another job also in the Netherlands. I know for a fact don't have the most pleasant colleagues. My previous Belgian colleagues were certainly a more pleasant bunch and some colleagues in that Dutch company are also pleasant like that, but my direct colleagues suck big time. One is even from a Protestant village and is passive-aggressive as fuck and always negative about traditionally Catholic countries (France, Spain, Italy). I'm getting sick of it.

[The Lawspeaker]

I even made a Dutch feel insulted by saying the cling film of Delhaize is of better quality than the one we're using of AH. lol Or by joking about Calvinism after they were going on for two minutes about taking only one piece of a cake I was sharing (I shared six in total) as worked for one year in that company.
I'm quite sure I won't work there for much longer, but I'll try to get another job also in the Netherlands. I know for a fact don't have the most pleasant colleagues. My previous Belgian colleagues were certainly a more pleasant bunch and some colleagues in that Dutch company are also pleasant like that, but my direct colleagues suck big time.

Je moeten ook niet met een stel zwartekousen gaan werken. Dat is vragen om moeilijkheden. Niemand kan met die lui omgaan - het is onze eigen homegrown Nedertaliban.

[Dandelion]

Je moeten ook niet met een stel zwartekousen gaan werken. Dat is vragen om moeilijkheden.

Je hebt me gewaarschuwd. Mijn beste vriendin is ook van Protestantse komaf, maar zij is niet-gelovig en daarom is zij nog een leuk persoon.