From the AP today

[deckardcanine]

450: The number of days that Belgium has gone without a government as of Monday. Intractable divisions between Belgium's Dutch and French-speaking camps hang over the nation, and as anything can become a linguistic spat, Belgium has had 45 governments in 67 years. No one appears to be in a big hurry to resolve the situation.

A week in Belgium and I didn't notice? Just comes to show that anarchy need not spell utter chaos.

Also, I had wondered why Flemish looked exactly like Dutch to my eyes. Turns out that "Flemish" informally covers two Belgian dialects of Dutch.

Comments

[dhlawrence.livejournal.com]

It probably helps that they have a good-sized bureaucracy and a neutral monarchy to preserve a semblance of political order. Still amazing that the country hasn't split in two yet. Kind of amazing that Canada hasn't done the same at times.

[deckardcanine.livejournal.com]

This is not the first time I've seen Belgium and Canada compared in that regard. They've also been derided as lesser versions of immediate neighbors.

[nefaria.livejournal.com]

It may further the philosophical argument that if the laws are good and the people consent to them, there is no need to constantly reinforce and revise them. Or in short, that rules are more necessary than the rulers.

[thatcatgirl.livejournal.com]

It does seem that way, pretty cool.

Anyway, it's fascinating.

[dhlawrence.livejournal.com]

By said immediate neighbours, no doubt--both of whom have had no problem using the 'lesser' nations as battlegrounds in the last two centuries. Yet, as the Thenardiers put it in "Les Miserables":

Masters of the land
Always get our share
Clear away the barricades
And we're still there!

[gothelittle.livejournal.com]

Canada, a mix of French and English, is derided as a lesser version of their English neighbor.

Belgium, a mix of French and Dutch, is derided as a lesser version of its Dutch neighbor.

Hmm...

[deckardcanine.livejournal.com]

Actually, I've seen Belgium called France, Jr.

[mrinitialman.livejournal.com]

In response to Deckard's reply, Canada has also been called France Jr.

[deckardcanine.livejournal.com]

Areawise, that's one big junior.

[mrinitialman.livejournal.com]

Blame Québec. I think that province swallowed something nasty (in particular, the French language), and the rest of Canada had a bad reaction and swelled up.

[ceruleanst.livejournal.com]

Belgium's GDP growth this quarter is bigger than that of any other country. Everyone else reacted to the global recession by gutting domestic spending (the policy that conservatives ironically like to call "smaller government"), but such measures couldn't be taken by Belgium's "no government". With its vital workings left unmolested, the country's economy was uniquely able to recover. (source)

[nefaria.livejournal.com]

The U.S. government increased domestic spending by $1 trillion with the stimulus, then did two (probably a third pending) rounds of "quantitative easing", which involved printing hundreds of billions of dollars to buy government bonds (diluting the value of existing dollars). And we're still stuck on the brink of recession.

If the Belgian method worked, maybe it means that we should stop going crazy with new spending and just spend at long-term average levels.