Comments on: The Odd Couple

By: The Odd Couple Redux « threedonia.com

The Odd Couple Redux « threedonia.com — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 19:57:00 +0000

[...] Odd Couple Redux Floyd | Sunday, 13th of June 2010 at 12:56:50 PM I posted on Belgium’s potential separation this past December here. It seems that the Flemish separatists have won the largest number of parliamentary seats setting [...]

By: fritz8945

fritz8945 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:04:42 +0000

I’ve been to Belgium. Wasn’t the word “Eurotrash” coined about it?

By: Kenn Christenson

Kenn Christenson — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:50:38 +0000

Don’t know – if we do that “double dip” the coming trough might be low enough to force some massive splits.

Of course, it probably won’t be necessary as Congress will be about to change hands when/if this happens.

By: Rufus

Rufus — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:46:19 +0000

Excellent point, Mighty Skip.

By: No one in particular

No one in particular — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:16:37 +0000

The “federalization” of Belgium was necessary because the lion’s share of the tax money from the productive north was being absorbed in the bureaucratic south. The French civil “servants” were ripping off the Dutch producers and it came very close to blowing the country apart. It’s too bad some of the people being ripped off in the US can’t get the same spirit of “We’re not going to take it any more” and do something about it.

By: Mighty Skip

Mighty Skip — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:15:34 +0000

Another problem with Europe that the article alludes to, but doesn’t quite state right out is that in Europe, nationalism and ethnicity go hand in hand. While the US has never really had that limitation.

By: Veruckt

Veruckt — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:53:05 +0000

Were we not intended to function more as independent states with a federal government that largely focused on common defense and international affairs? I know that was always a big argument between the Federalist and anti-Federalist but by in large our founding fathers were wise enough to realize states had different needs and no central government could meet them all. Thus the 10th Amendment.

By: David Marcoe

David Marcoe — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:13:52 +0000

…historically, Americans have always been willing to set aside culture in favor of economic efficiency.

Of course, Americans have always been proud of their local cultures, even as they were proud of their larger shared heritage.

By: Rufus

Rufus — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:09:18 +0000

David,

You are correct, and in that sense the U.S. is very different from Belgium. The U.S. had a bit of a mishmash of English, French and Spanish, and you still see those differences. Compare Boston to New Orleans to San Antonio, but we always tended towards one currency and one language. Belgians have intentiionally kept two (three) very distinct cultures going within their borders where, historically, Americans have always been willing to set aside culture in favor of economic efficiency.

By: Rufus

Rufus — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:06:45 +0000

It’s been a good decade since I worked there, but Belgium was one of my favorite foreign countries for overseas assignments. Beautiful towns, decent, friendly, multi-lingual citizens. Service was pretty decent too. They seemed to understand that it could be profitable to be nice to customers.

The dichotomy between the Dutch and French was striking, however. The amount of extra work even simple tasks took due to the language and cultural differences permeated everything and I did notice a superior attitude amongst the French speakers. The “Dutch” folks I worked with preferred to speak in French (it was a sign that one had attended University).

All in all an easy place to get around with charming scenery and friendly citizens but I always figured the rest of Europe would eventually overrun them, economically, because of all the inefficiency of having two (actually 3 when one counts the German speaking east) languages and cultures in such a tiny landmass.