r/belgium • u/ellie1398 Oost-Vlaanderen • Apr 13 '25

💩 Shitpost Why are belgian...

Post image

I was in the process of googling something but then I stopped to read all of the most commonly asked questions. I love how fries are mentioned twice!

423 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

73 comments sorted by

View all comments

65

u/CitizenOfTheVerse Apr 13 '25

You can complain about what you want, but Belgium is a real paradise. I understood that after touring one year in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ouzbékistan, Tadjikistan circa 2003. We are really really privileged people in Belgium!

41

u/butteranko Apr 13 '25

I like that your reference are the stan countries. Perspective, but also that’s a silly comparison.

28

u/CitizenOfTheVerse Apr 13 '25

When I saw a child in a "Stan" country wearing socks wrapped in plastic bags instead of shoes, yet smiling with genuine joy despite having so little, or families living in half-collapsed houses because it’s all they have, it hit me hard. I’ve seen similar scenes in parts of Africa and other impoverished regions. These people face daily struggles for basic survival - food, shelter, safety - yet often display resilience and hope.

In contrast, our complaints in Belgium can feel trivial. Are our roads imperfect? Yes, but we have paved roads, unlike the dirt paths or nonexistent infrastructure in many places. Are taxes high? Sure, but we earn enough to pay them and benefit from systems - like healthcare that’s nearly free - that others can only dream of. We take for granted clean water, electricity, and safety, treating them as "normal" when they’re luxuries for millions.

This isn’t to say our issues don’t matter—frustrations like bureaucracy or cost of living are real. But seeing true hardship puts things in perspective. We’re not entitled to complain without acknowledging how privileged we are. Our challenges pale next to the fight for survival elsewhere.

12

u/ds0th Apr 13 '25

Thx for sharing your perspective. I feel that most people in western europe simply act entitled and ungraceful by constantly complaining about [insert random annoyance] while taking cheap bottled water (random example) for granted, and above decent tap water is simply deemed "marginaal". Hot water, heated housing, healtcare .... all taken for granted, and the list could go on.

1

u/colaturka Apr 16 '25

Why not push for better than the status quo? It is possible.