Source
r/belgium•
aleajactaest3024

What do Flemish people think about Wallonia ?

As a walloon, I was wondering what Flemish people think about Wallonia and walloons. Is the nationalistisch gevoel really spread or is it a pure political thing ?

I'm asking here cause I noticed there was more Flemish in this sub.

EDIT : Thanks everyone, I read all your answers. It seems that most of people here, regardless the linguistic aspect, are against walloon politics and especially PS. I think our respective media, through political statements, demonized politicians from the other side of the border.

NVa is considered as nationalist and xenophobic party in Wallonia and (I assume) PS is considered as a lazy and immobilist party in Vlaanderen.

Well, I think you're not completely wrong when you say that Wallonia has political management issues. But PS isn't the only responsible. I am, personaly a leftist, not because I want unemployment benefits but because I want e.g. strong public services, tax justice, ... In my opinion, Wallonia is in a hard situation because we haven't found an escape since the fall of our industries (mainly coal mine and metallurgy). It begins to be better, step by step. Even if NVa or whatever other rightist ou centrist Flemish parties were in charge here, the situation would not be that different. It's deep structural issues we need to deal with.

Posted Jan 15, 2019, 10:38 AM UTC ¡ edited

24118
palt220•

hmm not much since i'm what you'd call import :) >I think the language barrier is the biggest "problem". As an outsider i do can tell you this, in the end Flemish and Walloon are very similar in many things, you love to stay under your church tower, complaining and laughing about politics and taxes with a ( damn good!) beer and good food.

Best thing ever was the time of 541 days without government, worldwide people were calling you a failed state etc so i imagined 2 reactions: 1. you panicked or 2. new elections.

But you Belgians always have another route up your sleeve: 3. you Belgians have a very typical humor: dry very sarcastic and sometimes even dark, which has no mercy for any subject. Many abroad comdians try to mimic it but the miss the finess, so it becomes offensive, which doesn't happen with you guys.

I have been in many places due to my parents job. Not a country in the world would say this ( with a joking smile ): 541 days no government? I don't see the problem, it was the best and peaceful time ever!

I fell in love with this country, it is such misunderstood and imperfect country to outsiders, and being so imperfect it actually does work.

So i hope Flemish, Walloon ,Brussels and German areas don't forget this, so they stay together in this weird but loveable country.

39
Meme_owner•

Was expecting to have some witty comments but yours actually brought a smile on my face :D

6
palt220•

Why? Admit i stil have wtf moments like how your political system works for example. You are very closed people, like first you want to know what you are dealing with. Not very straightforward so we have to listen carefully what you're actually saying. You bicker a lot about how bad Belgium is, but when an outsider says that, dude you Belgians get pissed off😂 Once you got a good friendship with a Belgian person, you know you have a friend for long time.

5
Meme_owner•

Kinda like only you can pick on your brother but no one else is allowed ;)

4
laurier295•

Yeah like we can talk trash about wallonia (or flanders probable the other way around) but no one else can! Dutch people can fuck right off if they would try

2
palt220•

Something like that

1
forestheart13Brussels•

That's a really nice comment!

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

37
loicvanderwiel•

I went to school in Moeskroen for 2 years and since Dutch was completely optional (Choice between english or dutch as a class, and at that only 2 hours a week...)

One of the things I hate in the French speaking education system: its inability to properly teach second and third language. I think Belgians, regardless of the place they come from, should be trilingual: two national languages and English as third language. In most cases, the two languages should be Dutch and French, with the exception of a few area where German/French makes more sense (i.e. German community and neighbouring municipalities). It baffles me to learn that, in Moucron, a place literally on the linguistic border, you do not have mandatory Dutch courses...

Luckily for me, I went to school in Brussels where I had 4 hours Dutch a week (in an immersion program with History/Geography in Dutch, 2h each) but I know it's more of an exception than a rule...

33
[deleted]•

[deleted]

7
crikke007Flanders•

same for the dutch in Flemish schools, I don't see the point though if they want to study here, fine but different country different laws.

2
Copeteles•

It's no excuse though. I don't think we should adapt our education system in order to please the Frech. We should think about working together better and 2hrs is not nearly enough. I had 3 and even that wasn't but I can have basic conversations and I sadly haven't seen the same level of Dutch knowledge from Walloon people which saddens me.

1
Lsrkewzqm•

It don't think it has anything to do with school programs or the system ability to teach other languages. Learning a second language is ofte about the position of that language in the global scheme of things. You can't speak only Dutch, if you want a large enough access to culture, arts, media, because of the relatively small Dutch speaking population globally. The French culture on the other hand, because it's spoken by more people, produces more films, books, music, and you can enjoy them without ever having to confront yourself to another language. Flemish television shows exactly that: because of economics (it wouldn't be worth to completely dub a foreign production), most movies/series are subbed. On French speaking television, I've almost never seen a subbed show, everything is dubbed.

That's why large countries with many people tend to be monolingual, and small countries with marginal languages are more multilingual. Look at the USA, Spain or Italy : their youth is even worst than French speaking Belgians to learn a second language.

6
loicvanderwiel•

It don't think it has anything to do with school programs or the system ability to teach other languages. Learning a second language is ofte about the position of that language in the global scheme of things. You can't speak only Dutch, if you want a large enough access to culture, arts, media, because of the relatively small Dutch speaking population globally. The French culture on the other hand, because it's spoken by more people, produces more films, books, music, and you can enjoy them without ever having to confront yourself to another language. Flemish television shows exactly that: because of economics (it wouldn't be worth to completely dub a foreign production), most movies/series are subbed. On French speaking television, I've almost never seen a subbed show, everything is dubbed.

You're right and it has made the study of Dutch that much more difficult for me where my English is mostly self-taught. That's also why it needs to be mandatory: for young people, there's not a lot of incentives to learn Dutch and it can feel useless (I know it, I felt that way) and most of them won't do it by themselves.

That's why large countries with many people tend to be monolingual, and small countries with marginal languages are more multilingual. Look at the USA, Spain or Italy : their youth is even worst than French speaking Belgians to learn a second language.

You make an interesting point and I could counter with countries like India or China that have multiple official languages and are fairly large compared to Belgium or countries like Germany that are monolingual and produce excellent English speakers.

What we need is an education system that can efficiently teach second and third languages and, if necessary, a lingua franca, like India (with English and Hindi) or China (with Mandarin) do. Ideally, it shouldn't be French or Dutch nor should it be a foreign language like English. It would ideally need to have large amounts of cultural materials available for study and practice so made up languages like Esperanto are excluded. Finally, if it could have cultural significance in both communities it would be great and if it could be close to other languages it would be even better. So, I'm not saying we should bring back Latin, all I'm saying is Vivat Belgica et Ex Unitate Vires

5
thibautgo•

It has somehow something to do with education because in Wallonia, most Dutch teachers are francophones with a degree in 'Langues germaniques', and speak Dutch with an awful French accent.

During my secondary studies I only had one teacher who was from Flemish origin. I learned a lot from him because he was able to imitate some Flemish/Dutch accents. I thought he was just kidding at the time, but when I later encountered "real" Flemish people at work, I was glad I had had this teacher because I could recognize some of the accents. Nowadays I frequently speak Dutch with my Flemish colleagues but it's still a real difficulty for me to be able to understand all the different accents/dialects.

Anyway I think it's a sign of mutual respect when we try to speak in the other people's language (even if we make mistakes).

2
luckyhendrix•

So true, our system is retarded ( or are we ? ?). The swiss for instance seem to have less problems, there is still small tensions, but a lot of slightly educated ppl will speak at least some french & german

3
dareal5thdimensionBrussels Old School•

I've just recently asked a Swiss person how they are handling the multi-lingualism in their country and she said Germans and French refuse to speak/learn each other's language and just speak English if needs be. I realise that's only anecdotal, but I found it interesting nonetheless, since I always thought of Switzerland as a model country for multi-lingualism.

6
luckyhendrix•

Yeah, i did go a few times in Switzerland and was often addressed by ppl in French Other a German accent, I thought they were More tolĂŠrant, maybe not

2
Carnahiranelloc•

Personally I'm pretty ecstatic about the fact that Walloon students learn less and less Dutch every generation (because they have a choice).

All it does is decrease their employment chances and increase ours...

3
forestheart13Brussels•

Luckily for me, I went to school in Brussels where I had 4 hours Dutch a week (in an immersion program with History/Geography in Dutch, 2h each) but I know it's more of an exception than a rule...

Hehe, I wonder where you went 'cause my high school had the same option (immersion for History and Geography). Although you could also just take 2h of Dutch, if you took 4h of English, which is what I did because 1) I hated Dutch classes, and 2) I'm a native English speaker so the English classes were just easy grades, and 3) Planned to study Science and knew English would be more of a requirement anyway.

1
loicvanderwiel•

Institut Saint-Boniface Parnasse in Ixelles. In my school, 4h Dutch was mandatory but English could vary depending on your option. It started in 3rd grade and in my option (Greek-Latin), I only had 1h a week (and not with the best teacher). It later changed to 2h in 5th grade when I changed to Greek-Math (but still not with the best teacher).

I ended up learning English by myself.

1
forestheart13Brussels•

Ah, well it's not the same school but it's the same commune, I went to Institut Saint-AndrĂŠ (near ULB)! ;)

2
osaru-yoBrussels•

I've also gone to Moeskroen often to get food or other things and almost everytime I catch myself trying to order in dutch, the person at the register instantly looks at me with disgust,

I have family in Wallonia. I was told that speaking dutch could get you looks in the past. From my experience the further you get from Brussels either direction the worse it gets. I noticed the same thing in Flanders. Some people seem to be remarkably nicer if you talk dutch when they think you speak french.

8
historicusXIIIAntwerpen•

I can't speak for everyone of course, but in Flanders it is to be expected that if a Walloon/Francophone can't speak (good) Dutch, he or she first has to politely ask if the other person is willing to converse in French. If that's done, most Flemings won't mind as much to speak French.

10
MisterCold•

I do, mostly because my French is really really bad.

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

6
relixWest-Vlaanderen•

Until you get to Knokke and then it's all peachy again to speak French.

5
luckyhendrix•

Oh :( I want to say sorry on behalf of francophones. Just know that we are not all like that (eventough only a real minority is trying to be bilingual).

I feel like the problem is part because the media makes the flemish look like a devil that hates everything french speaking, and because of that a lot of not so well educated people that only live in their linguistical community buy in this cliche and think :'it is ok, to be mean with them they will do the same to us'

​

This is so sad :(

5
Boomtown_RatVlaams-Brabant•

To be fair both sides do this. Tervuren is a big big example of that same anecdote except applied to Flemings rather than Francophones.

2
Carnahiranelloc•

Your experience is, unfortunately, completely typical in Brussels and the municipalities around.

Which is why I've considered Greater Brussels "lost" LONG ago. It's francophone now, and whining about it isn't gonna change a thing. No matter what the law says about bilinguality in Brussels, de facto it's French, French French.

Don't like it, stay away.

1
wirekeAntwerpen•

I have no hard feelings against Walloons. I do hate Walloon politics and the total lack of will to improve from its shitty situation.

35
beergium•

Do you honestly believe that they don't want to improve their situation? At least be straightforward instead of this thinly veiled condescendance. Not everyone has the chance to live next to a huge economic powerhouse that is Antwerp harbor.

13
pifpafpoef•

As a Walloon I honestly think most don’t want to improve their situation in the same sense that fat people at mcdonalds don’t really want to get thinner. You can’t vote for the same thing for 50 years and declare you’re not satisfied with the results.

“You can’t fail if you don’t try” and “other ppl improving themselves makes me look bad” are the dominant mindset.

19
beergium•

Alright that's a pretty good analogy. Still not really convinced that voting MR will fix everything though. I mean there's larger geographical and economic trends at play here that can't be shoved aside because of lower taxes.

What do you think is the single most important measure to fix the situation?

6
-RickSean-Wallonia•

fight against corruption, nepotism and useless spending. MR is guilty of those as well ofc. The problem is so widespread that everybody benefits from it one way or another and so nobody has a real will to fix it.

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Le_pokpok•

I think that is just a sad irony here ;)

2
moducoach•

He hates Walloon politics and the total lack of will to improve from its shitty situation. I think he talked about the politics, not the people. Everybody in Wallonia wants to have a better life. But they can't vote for someone with a true vision. I wish they had someone like Lyndon B. Johnson, smart and efficient. I don't know if Flanders is lucky neither, people like De Wever, Geens or De Croo don't communicate any great project to me.

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NuruYetuBelgium•

What exactly aren't they willing to do?

7
beergium•

WaLloNiA iS OnLy PoOr BecAuSe LaZy WaLoOnS VotE PS !!1!!1!1!!

3†
wegwerperder•

Belgium could've been like Switzerland if the Walloons got their shit together. But they won't. So we need to get rid of them like that bum cousin that lives in your basement and freeloads off of you. He always says he's gonna quit smoking dope and get a job but he never does.

Their weird obsession with frenchification and expansion of Brussels doesn't help at all either.

The average guy you meet on the street is nice of course. But that's the same anywhere you go.

3
smeerlapkeWest-Vlaanderen•

The stereo type is that that people in Wallonia are lazy, but I don't think anyone seriously actually believes this.

Your roads are pretty bad though, in my experience, more so than in Flanders.

Personally I have nothing against anyone because they're from Wallonia, I have friends and people I dislike on either side of the language border. Now the French and the Dutch on the other hand... ;)

21
chicken__soup•

I don't really think about it

19
Jack_BE•

I'm asking here cause I noticed there was more Flemish in this sub.

yeah r/belgium might as well be r/flanders most of the time

but this is a general issue with francophone people, they are quite absent from reddit for some reason.

17
ChokotoffLiège•

We now have r/Wallonia

9
alhoewelOost-Vlaanderen•

r/france is fairly active though.

2†
Derkel-Garath•

Goeienavond vanaf r/France !

3
forestheart13Brussels•

they are quite absent from reddit for some reason.

I've noticed the same thing.

1
CedrinhoWest-Vlaanderen•

I love Wallonia. Just as much as I love Flanders, Ostbelgien and our entire country. You're part of what makes Belgium great. Sure, there are differences between Flanders and Wallonia, but I cherish them.

And I'm honestly scared to death that some cunt like BDW (N-VA) wants to split up our country. Other than my relatives dying, this is the thing that scares me the most in life.

13
bland_Brussels Old School•

Why though? There's apparently a lot of people with the impression that splitting up Belgium means some kind of West and East Germany situation where you'll never be able to see your friends across the border again.

In reality, if the split would be agreed upon by both parties, the EU would ensure a healthy relationship between the two former Belgian regions, just like there's already a healthy culture of commuting and tourism between our country, the Netherlands, France and Luxembourg, for example.

I hate the animosity between Dutch- and French-speaking Belgium as much as anyone else, but I just wonder why splitting the country up and granting the two completely estranged regions the total autonomy they need to provide its citizens with what they need is the last thing a lot of anti-partition folks want.

12
niclefBrabant Wallon•

You've got to be the first person living in Brussels (at least according to your flair) that I have ever heard supporting a 2 state solution, where would you put Brussels in this case? The whole problem with a split is not as much the expectation of a border wall but more the specifics of it. How would it work for Brussels? What would happen with the communes with facilities? What would happen if one of the two states get out of the EU?

4
bland_Brussels Old School•

Well I am a Nederlandstalige Brusseleir, so that makes me one of the last of a dying breed by default, and I hate the way this beautiful city has been governed throughout the years... It's hard to be a Dutch speaker and not be envious of better-managed cities such as Antwerp and Ghent, smaller as they may be. :)

Of course, I guess your question remains a valid one, which is also one of the reasons the N-VA has put their explicit Flemish nationalism aside since becoming the ruling party...

In my Utopia, Brussels would just go to Flanders once the Francization has been phased out either through the dominant Flemish education in the city shaping the future generation (not feasible, I know! Just being honest and thinking out loud), or it would become a federal European capital region which would be ruled from higher-up and accentuate the cosmopolitan character the city already has.

It wouldn't surprise me if within the next few years, the communautair debat in Brussels would evolve from a two-sided one between Dutch and French speakers to a more international one, that even the French-speaking hegemony won't be able to handle.

6
CedrinhoWest-Vlaanderen•

The great thing about our country and the main reason I love it so much is the fact that we manage to have all these different cultures together. Sure, there are some differences between the people from both parts of the country, but the fact that we get along so well is what makes us great.

Honestly, I love everything about our country except for 1 thing: politics. The decision to politically split our country by creating regions and communities is one of the biggest mistakes in our country's history.

Also, splitting our country would mean more taxes to be paid by the Flemish and less financial support (investments) for Wallonia. We would not be better off.

The only way our country would be better of is if our politicians started caring about our country.

2†
The_Godlike_ZeusBelgium•

Also, splitting our country would mean more taxes to be paid by the Flemish and less financial support (investments) for Wallonia. We would not be better off.

How so?

3
CedrinhoWest-Vlaanderen•

As a country we pay taxes to the EU. Now, the amount of taxes to be paid is based on a country's GDP. For Belgium, the GDP is quite "average", but that would not be the case if we split up. Flanders is one of the richer regions in the EU, while Wallonia is one of the poorer regions of the EU. So if we split up, Flanders would have a higher GDP than Belgium, whil Wallonia would have a lower one. So Flanders would pay more taxes per person to the EU than now.

Right now, the situation is that there is more money flowing from Flanders to Wallonia than the other way around. One of the reasons some political parties want to split our country is to stop that. But they are "forgetting" that the Flemish money that now goes to Wallonia will then (after the split) go to the EU and in higher amounts...

So why not just keep things the way they are and make sure Wallonia spends the money in a better way? Why not see it as investments to make Wallonia and therefore the entire country better? That's what we should do in my opinion, rather than split up.

-1†
wirekeAntwerpen•

Why are you scared to death for a split? We already do most things seperated? We would be 2 better functioning States in a european Union.

0†
CedrinhoWest-Vlaanderen•

Not surprised someone from Antwerp is saying this. No offence, but people from Antwerp and West-Flanders seem to have very different views on this.

We would not be 2 better functioning states if separated. Flanders would have to pay a lot more taxes to the EU and Wallonia would not get as much financial support and not be able to be better.

The best thing for both regions is to remain together in 1 country. It's just up to our politicians to take better care about our country. Our politicians care more about the votes they get than about the wellfare of our country. And that goes for all our politicians, on both sides of the language border.

6†
dokter_chaos•

Wallonia is a great if you want a vacation nearby. They still have some forests and nature is beautiful. Nice people but their economy is still dragging its feet. Usually we can only communicate because the Flemish are the ones speaking French. Charleroi is an ugly city where you have to watch out for criminality.
Less speed cameras. Great breweries. A generally more easygoing attitude.

^ What I think about, when I hear "Wallonia".

11
Squalleke123•

In my case: Good people, Bad politicians.

​

I'm in favor of confederalism, because I have the feeling that the issues I vote for can never come to pass because there is no party pushing for the same on the other side (And I'm not even a Flemish nationalist voter). I Don't know why, but it seems like a significant part of the political spectrum is missing in Wallonia. There is no right-wing really (CDH is the conservative party I guess?), But even the centre is very weak compared to the left-wing axis of PS-Ecolo-PTB. I Don't really see how this voting behaviour, compared with voting behaviour in Flanders, can lead to stable coalitions, let alone good government.

​

A unitary state would be another solution to the same issue, but the odds are stacked even higher against that. Not only does it erode power structures to a larger degree, there's also the issue that the media landscape, education system, etc. are totally different in both halves of the country.

​

I'm asking here cause I noticed there was more Flemish in this sub

There's simply more of us in any case.

​

9
NuruYetuBelgium•

Why not simply a federal circonscription for federal elections? That's much more simple and won't fuck up Brussels and the bordering region like confederalism would.

6
Squalleke123•

Still has the problem of a non-unified media. Which in turn is problematic with a language barrier.

6
NuruYetuBelgium•

I think the media would follow suit given the electoral incentives. Politicians would simply want to be seen and heard in all communities they can get votes from.

4
Squalleke123•

Politicians, yes.

Political analysts, not really. And the level of Dutch in Wallonia or French in Flanders is simply too low to actually allow enough people to participate in a proper debate.

If we switch to english as the national language, maybe I could see it happen. We speak enough of it on both sides to actually make that work. But that is not going to happen either.

6
loicvanderwiel•

I think a federal circumscription wouldn't be a good idea. The idea of the circumscription is to have a local basis for the representatives and you would lose that in a federal/national circumscription. What we need, on the other hand, are national parties, or at least parties that collaborate within their own political family which would significantly reduce political divisions.

In other words, if rather than having an MR and an Open VLD or a cdH and a CD&V, I could vote for a Liberal Party or a Christian Democrat Party, that would be great.

2
historicusXIIIAntwerpen•

Indeed. If you look at MPs in the Netherlands, you'll find out most of them come from the Randstad (the most urbanised area centred around Amsterdam, the Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht) while the south and the north-east are pretty much neglected. We don't have this in Belgium, we'll always have 4 MPs from Luxemburg and 24 from Antwerp.

3
NuruYetuBelgium•

You can always impose quota of a minimum set of provinces represented above X position on the list. Like we're doing with men and women at the top. That's a practicality. The point is you can't vote for anyone out of your province while we're electing a parliament defining the national interest.

4
NuruYetuBelgium•

Well we had national parties until the country was split electorally. It's exactly not advantageous to have a national party because of that. If for instance there are variations in what different Christian-democrat voters think in different places around the country, the different parties can go around that by being different, while if it was one big party they would be seen as inconsistent.

2
loicvanderwiel•

There are tendencies inside parties even in our communautarized parties. For example, if I vote MR how do I know if I'm favouring Vincent De Wolf social-liberal tendencies or Alain Destexhe more conservative ones? And that's only within two neighbouring municipalities of Brussels where you find the two extremes of what liberalism can be.

In every party, there are conflicting tendencies and reducing or increasing their size won't change much, unless there is a split along ideological tendencies rather than political ones.

In this case, I think regrouping parties would increase collaboration within political families from both side of the borders and reduce political dissensions in the country.

2
loicvanderwiel•

In case you didn't know, there's no historic conservative party in Belgium and the only major conservative party there is is the N-VA, which for obvious reasons doesn't have an equivalent in the French speaking areas of the country. One could say the PP fills the role of conservatives in the South but they are way too small to be taken into account here and are more like a far-right party that tries to disguise himself as a regular conservative party like the AfD than a real conservative party...

​

3
soldavFlanders•

PP fills the role of conservatives in the South but they are way too small to be taken into account

I'd place the CD&V and CDH in the conservative corner.
Just to be clear: right wing =/= conservative. You can have left wing conservative and have right wing conservative. https://www.quora.com/Can-you-be-a-left-wing-conservative-or-a-right-wing-liberal

4
loicvanderwiel•

If you do the distinction, I retract what I said. In most cases, right wing conservatism is implied (simply because its the most common form of conservatism). In the case of centrist conservatism, in Europe, it would more likely be Christian Democracy, although that can also be quite vague ranging from the centre (cdH, CD&V, CDU) to the right (Fidesz)

3
Communitarian_•

What are the CD&V and CDH like?

1
Communitarian_•

What about the CDH and MR? Would those parties be relatively conservative?

1
BenBenRodrBrilliant Strategist in the defense of Belgium•

I love Wallonia. I got along very well with every Walloon I ever met. I'm a Francophile, so I love French. I've started listening to a Walloon radiostation in the car since last year.

Yeah, definitely big love from me.

9
Rutger88•

Classic 21 also just plays better music, if I am allowed to gamble which radio station.

11
poseitomBeer•

Classic 21

All the way

5
BenBenRodrBrilliant Strategist in the defense of Belgium•

Nostalgie, but I'll check it out. Thx for the tip!

2
Abell370•

93.2 in case you were wondering.

2
forestheart13Brussels•

Classic 21 also just plays better music

100%.

1
aleajactaest3024OP•

I love listening to Studio Brussels. Great music compared to major frenchspeaking radio stations.

1
historicusXIIIAntwerpen•

Stubru does have the best music of all Flemish radio stations, but God damn, do they love talking. Allthough I guess that's a good thing if you want to pick up Dutch.

1
Jose_Padillez•

Really depends on the person but I think that the people who are anti-Walloon are a small minority.

​

"our money is going to the others" is political rhetoric you can hear from populists anywhere in the world and doesnt really say anything about, in this case, the average Flamand.

8
michilio•

I think certain people make anway to big fuss about this and try to involve everybody in it.

As a Flemisch person I don't mind Wallonia, Brussels or the German corner out East. it adds to the weird country Belgium is.

And what if money moves from one part to the other. It happens in every country. It used to be reversed until the 70's, so who cares.

Edit: it seems somebody doesn't like me having my own opinion about WaloniĂŤ. How about you tell me where I'm wrong then.

8†
krommenaas•

It used to be reversed until the 70's

This has to be the most popular tale in Belgian mythology.

12
michilio•

Maybe it isn't but it just doesn't fit your worldview?

It's a well documented fact.

https://blog.degroofpetercam.com/nl/economie/1767/hoe-groot-zijn-de-regionale-economische-verschillen-ons-land

-5†
krommenaas•

Where does that article quantify money transfers from Wallonia to Flanders?

15
merneh•

It doesn't, because the solidarity in that period amounted to 'we'll kindly let you work in our coal mines'

2
wg_shill•

If not being weird results in me paying a significant amount fewer in taxes than I can live without that quirk.

2
Bertdezwever•

I don't get why the majority of walloons vote left / extreme left while in Flanders it's the other way around. Most of my friends vote NVA not because of they wanna chop Belgium in half but because the cesspool that's called islam.

6
Le_pokpok•

Just spend 6 month in Luik, it's a red bastion, nearly impossible to break. People are afraid of change here...

3
robinkakE.U.•

Wallonia is cool in my book. Nice people, good food.

Too bad there's this artificial barrier. Would be nice if every region and media in Belgium is bilingual

6
Rutger88•

I always like to go to Wallonia for work, people are way nicer and much more laid back.

6
AEnesidem•

I am half Walloon and half Flemish.

Wallonia is so disorganised in general. And they do a horrible job teaching and learning other languages.

Oh and at work they take 20 minutes saying hi to everyone before starting to work. Which is both cool and frustrating. Depending on the situation.

6
krommenaas•

I think having an opinion about Walloons or any other people is silly.

As for Wallonian politics, the metaphor of a kid refusing to grow up and move out of his parents' house and take responsibility instead of staying dependent describes it best. While I am naturally inclined to prefer a country with several cultures and languages over a simple nation state, Wallonian politicians make me want Flemish independence.

4†
NuruYetuBelgium•

What does the metaphor represent? Where don't they take responsibility?

10
krommenaas•

They don't want to take the painful steps that would make Wallonia able to stand on its own legs economically. Rather they keep relying on Flemish transfers for eternity. Just like some bums rather keep living at their parents' place than get a job.

7
NuruYetuBelgium•

What would those steps be?

7
krommenaas•

Get competitive compared to your neighbours, invest in the future (education and infrastructure), and do what's necessary to still balance the budget (that's the painful part of course).

7
Avaere•

Don't mind any part of Belgium. If at all, Wallonia is more beautiful than Flanders (and def. Brussels) since they don't build on every square inch of land. Just don't make me talk to someone in French. My French is horseshit.

4
miejasBelgium•

In my experience, they really go a long way to try to understand what you're saying and even (sometimes) politely pointing out the errors you're making. As long as you actually try.

2
Morfidius•

In a world where it is imperative to work together to grow, people (read: politicians) try and force a gap between parties or sides of the country. Why? You give billions to the joint operations of EU countries, yet you also don't like your closest neighbour and cannot understand that goods go from one side to the other. I don't get it. Why keep bringing it up? I think if people from both sides were to come together and work on compromises, like us Belgians are known for, instead of blocking anything the other side wants to do because of different ideologies and an imaginary line... We'd be a lot better off. I get that both sides are different and have different problems and objectives... But why block something from the other side? It just takes up alot debating time which imo would be better spend on finding solutions rather than demonising the other and doing absolutely nothing productive.

4
NukaFristiVlaams-Brabant•

I think Wallonia is a charming and beautiful region. I really like a lot of it's artists and athletes. I also love the collaboration/clash of different cultures in Belgium and would hate to see it go. I do however belief a federal government with PS would be harmful for Flanders interest.

3