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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GUSTAVE JAEGER who wrote (340486)	6/16/2007 1:11:57 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1571635

Somehow, there never was such a thing as a "Belgian" --there are only Flemings and Francophones, the latter breaking down into two cultural subgroups : the urban(e) Bruxellois and the tacky Walloons. I've come to think that the best way to define the Belgians is to view them as a CLASS, a social class in the same sense as the proletariat and the capitalists.... Belgians, as a social class made up overwhelmingly of Francophone upper-middle classes and a few Flemish notables (most of them ennobled during the 20th century) have a vested interest in keeping the Belgian ball rolling, so to speak. Their motto could very well be, "Better to be the first in Namur than the last in Paris." Belgians, as a social class, have successfully held a tight grip on Belgium's most secure jobs --in public services/utilities, in the military, the media, etc. Hence they've got the most to lose should Wallonia merge with France. Corporate and bureaucratic redundancies would severely hurt the Belgian class.... I take it that when you speak of Belgians you mostly are speaking of the Bruxellois. Is Bruxelles nearly all French...few Flemish? It sure seemed that way when I was there.