The Belgians' values

I have chosen to discuss Belgian patriotism and the notion of equality. First of all, I think that the Belgians love their country a lot. They are very proud of being Belgian, and really like to be famous worldwide for their chips, chocolate, waffles and mussels. From an architectural point of view, they show the same pride: they are proud of many places, such as the Manneken Pis of Brussels, the station of Antwerpen, and the canals of Brugge. This is my own opinion, but I think I am right because we can easily see patriotism in the streets, during festive events such as the Doudou (which takes place every year, in June, in Mons) or the carnival of Binche. We can also notice the Belgians’ patriotism when there are governmental problems in the country. For example, Flemish political parties have recently tried to divide the country in two. As a consequence, a large majority of the Belgians protested and fought together for a united country.

As far as equality in Belgium is concerned, I think that we are all more or less equal. Even if there are social differences (for example there are rich people and poor ones, illeterate people, tramps and migrant), men, women, gays, heterosexuals, foreigners, and native Belgians are all considered as equal in Belgium. Indeed, men and women have the same rights (men are not more privileged than women anymore, as it was in the past, women have the same chance to get a job and they can vote), immigrants and native Belgians enjoy the same help from the State in case of unemployment, blacks and whites get generally along well (Belgium is not at all racist in view of the number of established foreigners). Also, gays also enjoy the same opportunities as the heterosexuals. For example, they can get married and have children.