Quote Originally Posted by Louis VI the Fat
And, not every second person you meet is a close-minded crypto-facist like in Antwerp or a narrow-minded loser like in Liège or Charleroi. Maybe you are right, Adrian, and the Bruxellois/Brusselaars will save Belgium in the end.
Very well-informed post, as usual, Louis VI the Fat.

Ironically, the thought that Brussels would preserve the Belgian nation occurred to me over the years as I spoke to many of the (minority) Flemish intellectuals in Brussels like philosopher Dieter Lesage, writer Koen Peeters and choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. These Dutch-speakers don't want anything to do with the Flemish 'identity politics' inspired by Antwerp. They have found new allies in the Wallish elite, and together they will support an 'independent' Brussels as a cosmopolitan centre.

It is these people who are (re)creating the new Brussels together with Maghrebine immigrants and intellectuals from all over the world. They are quite a force in Belgium, and a growing one. In the end (or so one hopes) Brussels will no longer be ruled by the divisive politics of the two linguistic communities (i.e. by Flemish peasants and Wallish Lumpenproletariat) -- it will, in turn, rule Belgium and help it integrate into Europe and expand globally.