Should minority languages be exterminated?

rep   Tue May 11, 2010 7:50 pm GMT
<<What is ironic is that the Flemish demand a separation of the walloons with linguistic reasons, but in the same time, they refuse to leave the territory of brussels which is french-speaking as 80 %.>>
Brussels was Flemish town in the past.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frenchification_of_Brussels
Franco   Tue May 11, 2010 8:05 pm GMT
That is past. Problems must be solved taking into account current circumstances.
encore   Tue May 11, 2010 8:22 pm GMT
<<That is past. Problems must be solved taking into account current circumstances. >>
If Francophones will not ignore, learn and speak Dutch as Flemish learn and speak French there will be no problems.
Franco   Tue May 11, 2010 8:24 pm GMT
I see Walloons and Flemish as a couple where love has gone. You ask the French speakers to love Flemish, but they don't, so you can't force them. Divorce is the solution.
rep   Wed May 12, 2010 7:37 am GMT
How about situation in Platdietse streek,Belgium, German and Dutch (or their dialects) speaking area (Gemmenich,Aubel,Baelen,Welkenraedt,Plombières-Bleyberg,Montzen,Homburg)? How Wallonian authorities protect German and Dutch languages in this area?
Francophone overlordism   Wed May 12, 2010 11:40 am GMT
Are there any maps out there which show the historically traditional German speaking areas in Belgium including areas thoroughly Frenchified and ethnically cleansed by the Francophone imperialists. I bet Belgiums German speakers are not even allowed to display a regional map of the German areas annexed into Wallonia out of fear of offending their Francophone overlords. Apart from Brussels, what is the most Frenchified former Flemish and German speaking territories within Belgium? I serious believe Belgium should be sited on the Wiki page on 'ethnic cleansing'
Baldewin   Wed May 12, 2010 3:57 pm GMT
Well, it would be a great start to not see Flanders as a brutal linguistic dictatorship because it doesn't recognize the French language as official. In general most Flemish are even less radical than I am and thus it's not the 'Flemish separatist wanting to split'. I'm 100% sure that Walloons are just as separatist, despite not voting for nationalist parties. Also the majority who votes for N-VA isn't a separatist, it's only that in other parties there are too much communitarian nihilists people vote for them, without being a nationalist.
Keep in mind that a assertive stance like the N-VA is mainstream in Francophonia. It's normal that Flanders doesn't want to just give up territory because non-Dutch-speaking move there (not automatically Francophone btw! sometimes they're automatically made such). In fact, for the split of B-HV Flanders doesn't owe any recompensation. B-HV is unconstitutional. Francophones must learn to realize that it's common decency accepting the administrative language of the region they move to. This is a basic role of civilization only Francophones seem to lack (cfr. Swiss Francophones, or the ones in Luxembourg). Hysterically screaming against this is showing they're not meant to be Belgians to begin with, and even shows they are 'failed Europeans'.

20 years ago there were more Flemish living in Walloon Brabant, and they were brutally and violently assimilated (cfr. that one Flemish school, used to facilitate their integration or that one Flemish politician that got thrown out by force). People even assumed Flemish would demand Dutch linguistic rights, but that's just not our mentality. We willfully assimilate (many still speak Dutch today, by the way). Also in the Dutch-German border people didn't complain to accept the administative language. I guess it's a Germanic thing.
Baldewin   Wed May 12, 2010 3:59 pm GMT
I will tell you why they make a hassle for it. Most Francophones predict that Belgium will cease to exist. This is why they don't cause trouble elsewhere in Flanders and live in harmony with the population. They won't to win as much territory as possible to eventually blow up Belgium. This is where it's all about. You're making a mistake to lable Flemish collectively as separatists or monopolizing them at it.
Double standards   Wed May 12, 2010 5:42 pm GMT
<<Well, it would be a great start to not see Flanders as a brutal linguistic dictatorship because it doesn't recognize the French language as official.>>
Nobody can officially use other language than French in France,but nobody see France as a brutal linguistic dictatorship (officialy).
Thor   Wed May 12, 2010 7:17 pm GMT
"Brussels was Flemish town in the past."

Everyone can choose in the past what he wants. Spanish government could demand the return of Flanders under their crown, because it was so in the 16th century. Do you think that the inhabitants of the Middle-West in USA would be ready to give back their regions to the french canadians because thos regions were francophones before the Indian and French wars ?
And once again, it wasn't a problem for flemish to live with francophones in the 19th century, while it is now. So, the problem seems to be more economic than linguistic.

"Francophones must learn to realize that it's common decency accepting the administrative language of the region they move to. This is a basic role of civilization only Francophones seem to lack "

Maybe right. And that's why the last solution is the separation. But it remains the problem of Brussels that Flemish want to keep. You didn't answer : why would it be unbearable for Flemish to abandon a french speaking territory ?

"20 years ago there were more Flemish living in Walloon Brabant, and they were brutally and violently assimilated...You're making a mistake to lable Flemish collectively as separatists or monopolizing them at it."

Every walloon will be able to describe the same things in the other way. It is just a subjective point of view.

"the Dutch-German border people didn't complain to accept the administative language. I guess it's a Germanic thing. "

I'm not sure. I heard that german-speaking austrians would like to be rattached to Austria. And have you ever heard about german speaking Sudetenland before the WWII ?
Thor   Wed May 12, 2010 7:42 pm GMT
I wanted to say "german-speaking tirolians of Italy" who want to be rattached to Austria.
Franco   Wed May 12, 2010 7:52 pm GMT
Flanders could be an autonomous Spanish community. They would have freedom to impose their language on the Wallooons in Flanders.
Thor   Wed May 12, 2010 8:01 pm GMT
Yes, we know that spanish are very efficient to manage autonomous communities...

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grupos_Antiterroristas_de_Liberaci%C3%B3n
rep   Wed May 12, 2010 8:33 pm GMT
<<But it remains the problem of Brussels that Flemish want to keep>>
So, majority of Brussels inhabitants was Flemish until end of XIX century. Historically Brussels-Bruocsela-Broekzele is a Flemish town.Most of Francophones of Brussels is of Flemish origin.In my opinion , frenchification of Flemish territories is not a reason for Flemish to abandon them .
la paranoia   Wed May 12, 2010 8:46 pm GMT