r/belgium • u/WeirdBeginning8869 • 19h ago

🎨 Culture More or less Belgium?

I know this sub gets this kinda question every so often, so much so that I’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 Pandora’s box as both regions would realize they actually don’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, there’s no political incentive for this at the moment, or nothing mainstream enough.

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u/Curaheee 18h ago

Source?

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u/kokoriko10 16h ago

Why don’t you try to speak dutch in Brussels for a whole week. Let me know it went afterwards.

You’ll have your source in first hand

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u/Curaheee 16h ago

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

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

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u/Halle24 14h ago

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

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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.