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Our own little conspiracy theory
Jan. 24th, 2005 11:04 amRead today in De Standaard, submitted by a reader:
I hardly talk about politics here, because it makes me angry and I cannot write coherently when angry. But what makes me even more angry is people who think "they know" and come up with some strange conspiracy theory which is actually believed by others. Saying Wallonia is looking for affinity with France is a reason to argument in favour of an independent state of Flanders. As if Flanders would mean something if it were independent. Flanders is a construct, but so little people understand that. A majority thinks it's a historical truth.
In all this communitarian talk not once it is said that mistakes were made in the past and not once someone dares to state the easiest solution to these problems, because this solution is fuel on the fires of people that write dumb letters to newspapers.
* Brussel-Halle-Vilvoorde is a polling district that consists of the nineteen communities that make up the Brussels region and the Flemish communities around those. This means that French-speaking parties that can take part in the elections in Brussels, because that region is officially bilingual, can also take part in the elections in a tiny piece of Flanders. So the Francophone residents of these Flemish communities (a majority in some of them) can vote for "their own" party instead of a Dutch-speaking one. The existence of the polling district Brussel-Halle-Vilvoorde is just one of the many mistakes made many years ago when ideologies clashed. A solution has never been found, for it isn't about what people do in everyday life, it is about what they think that happens and is going to happen in everyday life.
It seems Brussel-Halle-Vilvoorde* will only be divided when Flanders pays a 'price'. This demand will most certainly be an infringement on the Flemish territory around Brussels.
The island Brussels is Walloons a thorn in the side and if they can get a Francophone link between Brussels and Wallonia, they have what they want. [...]
When Brussels is completely frenchified and is part of the Walloon territory, Wallonia will become very interesting for France and people will ask more and more for a joining with France. [...]
I hardly talk about politics here, because it makes me angry and I cannot write coherently when angry. But what makes me even more angry is people who think "they know" and come up with some strange conspiracy theory which is actually believed by others. Saying Wallonia is looking for affinity with France is a reason to argument in favour of an independent state of Flanders. As if Flanders would mean something if it were independent. Flanders is a construct, but so little people understand that. A majority thinks it's a historical truth.
In all this communitarian talk not once it is said that mistakes were made in the past and not once someone dares to state the easiest solution to these problems, because this solution is fuel on the fires of people that write dumb letters to newspapers.
* Brussel-Halle-Vilvoorde is a polling district that consists of the nineteen communities that make up the Brussels region and the Flemish communities around those. This means that French-speaking parties that can take part in the elections in Brussels, because that region is officially bilingual, can also take part in the elections in a tiny piece of Flanders. So the Francophone residents of these Flemish communities (a majority in some of them) can vote for "their own" party instead of a Dutch-speaking one. The existence of the polling district Brussel-Halle-Vilvoorde is just one of the many mistakes made many years ago when ideologies clashed. A solution has never been found, for it isn't about what people do in everyday life, it is about what they think that happens and is going to happen in everyday life.
