# Belgium, be gone **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 14, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-be-gone/543071 "2010-06-14T00:33:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-be-gone/543071/41 "2010-06-14T13:45:51Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > So, the First World War was all a waste then!:mad: (British guy.) No, it produced the one thing all wars are meant to produce, their one and only purpose: Songs. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-be-gone/543071/42 "2010-06-14T13:53:39Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > “Belgium” is funnier. Agreed. It’s one of those pointless things that ends up demonstrating just how out of touch and clueless the “carbon-based life forms so amazingly primitive they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea,” really are. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-be-gone/543071/43 "2010-06-14T15:42:46Z")
As I mentioned, our company has major offices in Belgium, specifically Ghent. I often go there on business. So you’re saying it may be part of a separate Flanders sometime soon? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-be-gone/543071/44 "2010-06-14T16:08:31Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > We could make it a federal district for the EU 🙂 Good God, no! I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. /former Washingtonian. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-be-gone/543071/45 "2010-06-14T16:12:47Z")
Question - if the real concern here is that the Flemish and the Walloons fear the spread of each others’ language and culture, how would the dissolution of the Belgian state help? Presumably, both new states would still be in the EU, and travel between them would be pretty darned easy. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-be-gone/543071/46 "2010-06-14T17:01:38Z")
I think the real concern is that Flanders is a lot richer than Wallonia, but that the Walloons have more political power and that the Flemings see their tax money going out of Flanders into Wallonia. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-be-gone/543071/47 "2010-06-14T17:02:15Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > More important, who gets the sprouts? Divorce is always hardest on the offspring. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-be-gone/543071/48 "2010-06-14T17:23:57Z")
Nope! My favorite beer is Stella Artois I cant lose that ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-be-gone/543071/49 "2010-06-14T19:36:31Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Although Belgium is clearly going through some serious issues, it is way too soon to conclude that it will collapse as a country; independence is not part of the platform of any of the political parties, including the nationalist Flemish party that won yesterday’s elections. Some accounts pretty much describe independence _as_ the platform. > [@Wilhelmina Lyfytt](#): > > The NVA, led by 39-year-old Bart De Wever, ultimately wants to split the wealthy Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north from Belgium’s poorer, French-speaking region of Wallonia in the south. De Wever passionately advocates the end of Belgium, calling its six million Dutch-speakers and 4.5 million Francophones a “hopeless mismatch.” Others make it sound like the goal is just the simplification of the federal system which already exists–but it seems to me that the simple solution would in fact be two (or three) independent states with a confederation agreement for a few matters, rather than the web of interlocking authorities they have now. > [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Question - if the real concern here is that the Flemish and the Walloons fear the spread of each others’ language and culture, how would the dissolution of the Belgian state help? Presumably, both new states would still be in the EU, and travel between them would be pretty darned easy. Presumably the relocation of French-only speakers into Flemish territory would end, or at least the feeling of entitlement they reportedly bring with them. I don’t think this is the “failure” of Belgium, or that there is some external reason to press Flemish and Walloons to work things out and stick together, or that Flanders and Wallonia would have any trouble operating as independent states within the EU. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-be-gone/543071/50 "2010-06-14T19:46:47Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > Nope! > > My favorite beer is Stella Artois > > I cant lose that [You could just buy this instead.](http://www.amazon.com/BVD-Mens-A-Shirt-4-Pack/dp/B000ZPNM1E) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-be-gone/543071/51 "2010-06-14T19:58:16Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > [Monty Python] > > Miserable fat Belgian bastards! > > [/Monty Python] I prefer “The Phlegms”. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-be-gone/543071/52 "2010-06-14T20:02:09Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > More important, who gets the sprouts? I think they’ve got a cream for that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belgium-be-gone/543071.md?page=2)