
Is there a Belgium? (1999) - atombender
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1999/dec/02/is-there-a-belgium/
======
keyle
I'm from Belgium and I left when I was 21, 15 years ago. As much as I love my
country and will never deny the fact that I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for
it, its laws and its freedom; I too am puzzled by it. The whole thing always
felt like "here is a piece of land, no one really wants it, let's just make a
country, and then divide it in half " (in thirds really, as Brussels thinks
it's above it).

I love Belgium for not being France, not Holland and not Germany, but its
identity is in constant crisis. For too long it's been trashed by the other
countries. Its biggest demise is trying to compete with them, to be like them.
Half the country pretend it's dutch, while most dutch can't understand them
well. The other half pretends its french, but only for the good parts, and has
a funny accent. And a large town thinks it's German (Eupen). Then in the
center, you got this weird beast that is Brussels, that would like to pretend
that it's more European than Belgian. These are my feelings and each to their
own. But one thing is for sure, Belgium is defined by its dysfunctional
history.

This culture I grew up in is unique. It's a melting pot of social laws,
acceptance and embracing cultures. Sadly, it's been abused and walked over
from every corner. If anything good came out of it, it's probably Europe. But
that's arguable, because the Euro screwed everyone up.

~~~
personjerry
> Sadly, it's been abused and walked over from every corner.

To be fair, Belgium has done its share of abusing (in which 10 million
Africans were murdered and many more enslaved under Belgian imperialism):
[http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/35/181.html](http://www.hartford-
hwp.com/archives/35/181.html)

------
philjohn
I was born in Belgium (to ex pat parents) and lived there until I was 18. I
loved my time there, but it's definitely an odd place. The strife between the
Walloons and Flemings (the roots of which stretch back a long time indeed),
the large groups of ex pats working for multinational companies, the European
Parliament, SHAPE and NATO.

Did wonders for my language skills having a steady stream of people to
converse with in both French and Dutch though.

See also the 2007 political crisis where they went without successfully
forming a new government following elections.

Despite being a young(ish) country, there's a wealth of culture from Adolf
Sax, Hergé to Magritte and sporting icons such as Eddy Merckx.

------
lobster_johnson
For those who don't know the author, this essay is by the great, late British
historian Tony Judt. He frequently wrote about post-war European history and,
as a former Zionist, was a well-known and sometimes controversial critic of
Israel.

~~~
huac
half-serious: is there ever a 'non-controversial' critic of anything?

~~~
jstalin
I'm guessing most critics of Hitler are noncontroversial.

~~~
ghaff
While true, in general use, calling someone a critic of XYZ tends to imply
that there is a (mainstream) constituency that is _not_ critical of XYZ.

------
JoeAltmaier
Wow there's definitely material here for a board game - play the Socialists,
the Catholics or the Liberals, vie for power, influence and wealth! Build your
'pillar' by coalescing local power into regional influence!

~~~
lobster_johnson
That's a great idea. "Belgium: The Board Game". Just be careful with the
"Scandals & Corruption" expansion pack, it's pretty NSFW.

~~~
NicoJuicy
That could be the European expansion pack with Karel De Gucht for example (
tax fraud + european commissioner for trade), don't forget electrawinds,
tecteo, ...

~~~
charlesdm
Not to nitpick, but, innocent until proven guilty? To accuse someone of tax
fraud is morally repugnant, when both the facts and courts say otherwise. This
isn't really a scandal, more of a personal matter (for him).

~~~
NicoJuicy
First of all:
[https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_De_Gucht#Belastingontdui...](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_De_Gucht#Belastingontduiking)
( dutch version) - here is more information then the censored english version.

And second, i "know" people who were pretty acquanted with the sale of the
justice building in Furnes ( West - Flanders ), where Karel De Gucht was one
of the so called secret investors and let's not forget who was closely
involved with that: Yves Vanmaele.

There was a "documentary" on Terzake about him.. Where there is smoke, there
is fire. But people who live nearby, see more smoke than others :)

It's hard to put in hard evidence, when politicians and judges shake hands and
forgive each others sins without a trial. It's like bringing in kadhafi under
the condition that he will be judged by his own friends ( to put it in the
extreme).

I know personally 3 friends who's cases were influenced ( good or not) because
of "Vanmaele" personally.

If you speak Dutch: [http://nieuws.vtm.be/binnenland/90071-integraal-de-
gewraakte...](http://nieuws.vtm.be/binnenland/90071-integraal-de-gewraakte-
telefacts)

I hate to say this stuff above, because it sounds so conspiracy like. But it's
more like a well known secret in the West-Flanders. Everyone here knows, but
why would you take a risk, with something you have no business with and agains
very "powerfull" / influential people. ( judges, politicians, Trade
Commisioner of the EU)

Edit: I'm watching the video again, it's practicly everything i'm saying here
(although i mostly forgot about the video )

~~~
charlesdm
(I am Belgian and speak dutch)

Oh, I'm not saying everything is above board. That I agree with. However, I do
have several wealthy friends who have, unreasonably, been harassed by the
fiscal administration on certain matters. A lot of it is fishing to see if
they can find something that sticks.

From what I saw in the media (we obviously don't know the exact details):

1\. He invested in a company, many years ago.

2\. He sold his shares, with a capital gain, which generally is tax free in
Belgium

3\. Some civil servant decided he wanted to interpret the law differently (and
tax him), and he tried to make it stick. As far as I know, he failed.

The problem with Belgian tax law is that it's full of "maybe's", "ifs", and
obscure undefined terms. That creates ambiguity in different matters and
different cases. Like everything in Belgium.. :)

~~~
NicoJuicy
He did not sell his shares the day before it insanely dropped. His wife and
friends did, with presumeable insider trading secrets :)

I also have some wealthy friends, but they haven't been accused of that. None
the less, Belgium is a lot of administration, i agree on that. And a lot of
"you know me" politics also :)

~~~
charlesdm
I think you're mixing things up. One of those cases was "abuse of power"
related (the one you're bringing up), and the other one (share sale described
above) was tax related.

------
leoc
It has to be added that a significant amount of "pillarisation"
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillarisation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillarisation)
was the norm, not an exception, across western Europe in the nineteenth
century. Usually it was either a Catholic and a Protestant pillar, or a
Catholic and a liberal or socialist one, or some combination. A lot of it blew
away around the 'Sixties, but significant amounts remain. It wasn't and isn't
unheard of in the US either, viz. for example the HBCUs or the Evangelical
parallel universe.

------
jcranmer
See also
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlwHotpl9DA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlwHotpl9DA)

~~~
leoc
Note also the 500 downvotes. ;)

------
dang
As long as we're on about Belgium, here's what Baudelaire had to say:
[http://harpers.org/archive/2014/08/brussels-
spleen/](http://harpers.org/archive/2014/08/brussels-spleen/).

But it's more Baudelaire than Belgium.

~~~
lobster_johnson
Thanks. Judt actually mentions, and quotes from, Baudelaire several times in
his essay.

------
vidarh
Made me think of the old classic "Belgium Doesn't Exist!" or "Land of Sprouts
and Chocolate, I Think Not.":

[http://zapatopi.net/belgium/](http://zapatopi.net/belgium/)

------
mikhailfranco
Perhaps it's entirely appropriate that the two most famous Belgians (in the
English speaking world) are fictitious: Tintin and Hercule Poirot.

------
J_Darnley
There won't be for much longer. No state can remain independent in the
Eurozone. Its survival will require more integration and centralisation. Time
will tell whether this applies for other EU members who don't use the Euro.
Just quite what the separatists hope to get from independence, I don't know.
They won't gain more sovereignty from it. Then there's the issue of the police
state experiment that was run last night. People were persuaded to drop their
free speech in exchange for cat pictures. By and large people seem to have
fallen for it.

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johansch
Belgium: Home of pedophiles, terrorists and wonderful strong beer.

Seriously, that is what I know about the country.

~~~
J_Darnley
Add to that: world record holder of longest time to form a government. See:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%9311_Belgian_govern...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%9311_Belgian_government_formation)

------
WildUtah
On the question of whether there is a Belgium in 2015, consider the adventures
of Tintin in Molenbeek:

[http://twitpic.com/9sbafs](http://twitpic.com/9sbafs)

