It's going a little far from that to concocting a ridiculous caricature of the author of that article and how she came to write it in order to discredit her and it;
That's because the article is a ridiculous caricature. See e.g.
But there is also deep resentment in Flanders that its much healthier economy must subsidize the French-speaking south, where unemployment is double that of the north.
We've been seeing this 'feckless and lazy French' narrative from the US media for years now, typically tied to 'Europe is falling apart' and 'Lazy Europeans need reform' (in the form of longer working horus, lower wages, etc.)
But Europe is not falling apart, the state of Belgium is not a reflection on the rest of the Union, Belgium is not on life-support, we've already discussed the possibility of greater regionalisation here on ET, and the sky is not falling.
So what is the author's problem, exactly?
We could easily write a similar hit piece about the US, pointing out the US is no longer a democracy because the Beltway circuit has lost interest in the majority opinion, or how Texas is considering a split from the rest of the US, or how the Deep South is mired in poverty, superstition and violence.
Any of those narrative points would be at least as plausible as the view of Belgium being presented here.
But we don't, because no one in Europe is trying to actively promote the end of the US as a functional unit.
However, what I did get is that there is a serious crisis in Belgium, and this was not just some pseudo-news story made up by a New York Times reporter to make look the European Union look bad.
Remember what Nordic Chef wrote:
The Dutch language was not even recognised as official until the 1967 Dutch language version of the constitution was adopted. Since this time the split between the French and Dutch speaking parts of the country have only worsened until the current climax when they now threaten the future of the Belgian State.
Since this time the split between the French and Dutch speaking parts of the country have only worsened until the current climax when they now threaten the future of the Belgian State.
I don't know if you read French, but would you then say that France's "left-of-centre" news magazine L'Express has also bought into this narrative:
Belgium: Flanders doesn't want to pay anymore
L'indolence présumée des Wallons n'arrange rien. Ni la politique sociale généreuse - mélange de clientélisme et d'assistanat - pratiquée par les socialistes au pouvoir depuis des décennies dans les municipalités et à la région dans le Sud. Si le chômage est indemnisé par l'argent fédéral, le versement de l'aide est contrôlé par les régions - avec plus ou moins de rigueur... «Il manque, en Wallonie, une éthique et un goût du travail, dénonce l'économiste Aernoudt. La Flandre doit exiger des Wallons qu'ils travaillent davantage. Si le taux d'emploi des francophones était au même niveau que celui des Flamands, le montant des transferts serait réduit des deux tiers. Il n'est pas admissible que 40% des chômeurs, dans le Sud, gagnent plus que ce qu'ils toucheraient en travaillant.» Les patrons flamands ont d'ailleurs beau jeu de rappeler que 150 000 emplois restent vacants dans le Nord - sans que les chômeurs wallons se précipitent pour les pourvoir. «La Flandre voudrait faire sauter nos tabous belges: l'indexation automatique des salaires sur l'inflation, le modèle fédéral de concertation, le versement sans limitation dans le temps des indemnités de chômage - unique en Europe! souligne le sénateur libéral Alain Destexhe. C'est parce que les francophones bloquent que les Flamands demandent l'autonomie sur ces matières.»
Sorry, I don't buy the idea that l'Express and Rudy Aernoudt are just aping the neoliberal narrative that Francophones are lazy.
Bottom line: there does seem to be a pretty serious problem in Belgium, and while she may get other aspects of the story wrong, and while "break-up" may be unjustifiably hyperbolic and sensationalistic, it's pretty clear that the author of this article is not necessarily just disseminating anti-French neoliberal propaganda by making this point: she is pointing to an issue that seems to be a real concern in Belgium. Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read or write.
