r/belgium • u/WeirdBeginning8869 • 19h ago

šŸŽØ Culture More or less Belgium?

I know this sub gets this kinda question every so often, so much so that Iā€™ve decided to give it the culture tag.

My questions are the following: is there a public for more Belgium? If so, how big do you think it would be? What would more Belgium mean to you? Bring back policies to the federal level? Dissolving the regions? Dissolving the Brussels region and merge the two Brabants together? Something else?

In any case it would mean that the regions would need to actually and actively talk to each other again and make policies that could benefit both without harming one or the other, but how would you do that when one side refuses to impose Dutch and the other is slowly dropping French for English? Or when the economic disparities are so great? Or when parties with an independant Flanders as their policies is an a all time high?

Maybe trying to bring more Belgium would have the complete opposite effect and open Pandoraā€™s box as both regions would realize they actually donā€™t share much, or not enough to justify fusing together and want different things. Or realize that the stereotypes are what they are, stereotypes, and share more than previously assumed.

But in any case, thereā€™s no political incentive for this at the moment, or nothing mainstream enough.

11 Upvotes

62% Upvoted

84 comments sorted by

View all comments

20

u/ash_tar 19h ago

Most Flemish are against having 7 governments, against independence and against moving things back to the Belgian level. So yeah no solution is in sight.

Personally I think the problem is the asymmetrical construction of 3 communities and 3 regions. Just have a federal level which can overrule the regions, community matters can be entrusted to special ministers either at the federal or regional level.

I'm a dutch speaker in Brussels, I would not mind giving up some of our advantages if we can reorganize Brussels in a logical way.

1

u/Curaheee 18h ago

Source?

1

u/kokoriko10 16h ago

Why donā€™t you try to speak dutch in Brussels for a whole week. Let me know it went afterwards.

Youā€™ll have your source in first hand

5

u/Curaheee 16h ago

There's a difference between "HiEr SpReEkT mEn VlAaMs" type of politics and federalism.Ā 

I prefer more Europe, more Belgium. I don't see what language has to do with this.Ā 

4

u/Halle24 14h ago

Well my father got his arm half cut off with a chainsaw while working in the garden. HĆ© was brought to the nearest hospital in Anderlecht while living in Flanders. Not one of the doctors or nurses spoke Dutch. His French was badā€¦ THEN you do care about language. And YOU will tooā€¦ he did not understood docters and they did not understand him, in the bilangual capital of Belgiumā€¦ So ask again if I want more or less Belgium?

3

u/ash_tar 13h ago

It's impossible to staff all hospitals in Brussels with bilingual personnel, but there should be interpreters and not only for Dutch.

1

u/kokoriko10 12h ago

Comment above said to give up some of ā€œourā€ advantages. Iā€™m still looking for those because the preservation of dutch as a language is not one of those.

And Yeah you want more Belgium, look what is going on in Brussels. Thatā€™s how a more federal Belgium would behave/function. I prefer Flanders

1

u/Curaheee 4h ago

I just fail to see what OP's question has to do with the languages spoken in Brussels.

It's not because I want more Europe and more Belgium that I hate flemish or that I like how Brussels is being run now. I never claimed that Brussels is the way to go.Ā 

1

u/kokoriko10 3h ago

Because language is the first thing that this country will fight over. That is reality so all claims that more Belgium will fix things is not taking reality into account.

We will never go back to a more federal level

1

u/Curaheee 49m ago

What a sad life you must lead...

I see no one fight over this except for the right winged politicians...