European cultures : (2) The Belgians

Hey, first congrats on your site, it's a brilliant mine to dig into for info about the whole continent. Here are my 2 cents about the thread: As a Belgian passport holder, I can confirm that everything that has been said on this thread is true to some extend. I am very often puzzled to see how Belgians are perceived abroad, and that includes beyond the linguistic border. I have crisscrossed the continent for the last 12 years and lost most of my Belgianness in the process, which allows me now to look into that with some hindsight. I am a bit confused about the fact that nobody mentioned the variety of local customs and dialects as weird. It is taken for granted in countries as France or Italy, but wildly overlooked in Belgium. I was born in Mons, but lived in Liège and Sint-Truiden while working in Brussels (Evere and Uccle) in the 90s. All I can say is that there is nothing to compare between a Liégeois and a Limbourgeois from Sint-Truiden. It is also true with a Montois and a Namurois and even truer when you look at the hundreds of micro-societal units that compose Belgium. The linguistic border is surely to blame to some extent, being a scar that separates Europe´s Latin and Germanic worlds for nearly a 1.000 years. We have to keep in mind that it is Europe's most ancient border and that in barely budged while empires were built and collapsed all around it. This is the exact point where two worlds with a very different cultural heritage crash into each other. Religion, socio-economic conditions, invasions and foreign rule finished to bury the aspirations to people for a simple and easy life. We can bet the border will still be there for a few generations. Politics have been a major actor into the fragmentation of belgian society, notably through the much-hated Fusion des communes, which combined to the loss of Wallonia's heavy industry and the shift of economical clout from south to north gave wings to a new generation of flemish politicians to reinvindicate their cultural heritage, often seen opposed to the latin laziness, lack of initiative, political corruption and parasitism widespread in Wallonia. Brussels is seen as a sick child in the middle of a divorcing couple, but whoever has custody gets the maintenance check paid for by the international bodies and companies having their seat there. I often compare Belgium to a Tampax inserted into Europe's arse to ease the tensions between the then-superpowers. The tampon has no more reasons to be there and should be discarded. The tragedy is that the people living on that land are paying for the decisions taken by some aristocrats and politicians pouring over a map in 1830. Belgians have no great sense of identity because they lack the common cement that forges a nation into one entity. Belgium's problem is unlikely to be ever solved because it is to western Europe what the Balkans are to the eastern part. Many books have been written about the Belgians but none can reach a solid conclusion, cause Belgium is a patchwork of great little places with a fierce pride for local culture and traditions. I hope that will not change anytime soon.
 
This is maybe why Belgian people dislike and distrust so much politicians. Typical Belgians would tell you that "politicians are worse than criminals". Indeed, cheating on the government (e.g. taxes) and breaking stupid laws is a national sport in Belgium (and Belgium doesn't lack laws about everything immaginable). This attitude is due to a blend of distrust, critical thinking and individualism.

The Belgians are also notorious entrepreneurs, preferring start-ups to big companies, with a sense of commercial opportunities. In that sense, as well as for their disregard for the government, they are very much like the Italians. No wonder they are called the Italians of the North (like the Danes). Government corruption and dangerous driving is another thing they share with them.

They share these traits with the English too. The English distrust politicians whilst having given my countries their system of government.
Also most of the businesses are small here, England's economy is not in the City of London or at the large factories but in the small businesses of the industrial estates and small retailers.

England has a higher degree of small businesses than France or Germany by far.

This may be a bit exaggerated, as both countries have a reputation for a sharp commercial sense and thrift.

We need a saving culture here.
 
Father Damien !!! Has a life size statue in the US Congress !
 

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