You could go on and on with this theme.

Have you ever heard of a Scotophile (someone who likes Scotland)?

You could always be a Belgophile (someone who loves Belgian stuff)! Yes, they do exist despite the belief put about that everyone thinks France is the most wonderful country in Europe. When I’ve been in France I’ve been bored out of my mind – no proper pubs, no proper chips, no Atomium, no proper beer, no Brugge etc.

And if you like young Belgians in particular you are paedophile :p. bad taste in jokes, I know. just some national humour.

Comet I see you are still obsessed with Belgium :D. However, there are also other nice countries on the continent besides the land of beer and sprouts. I am flattered with your comments, but luckily for the french there’s no atomium however they have an equally hideous eiffel tower.

hey Ben, Nice to see youre still lurking around here also (you remember who I am, right?). I’ll be very curious how you like the US, hope you can send me an email about how it turns out. Its really funny that you would show up on this topic, because the solution to the problems of poverty in this world are in my opinion political, namely the democratic socialist systems of government like you have in your country of Belgium as well as other northwestern european countries like France, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, etc. Ben, you spend so much time trying to blame the Americas domination of world economics as being bad (it is sort of bad, but europe is no better) that you never spend any time studying how to provide a better alternative. You should really study politics/economics instead of history since that seems to be an area of concern for you.

Ofcourse I remember you, Brad! Nice talking to you, again! 🙂

Anyway, I never said the America’s world domination of politics is bad as such. Neither do I say our social/christian democracies are a solution to problems such a world poverty. There are many differences between European states in fact, even between Holland and Belgium. Holland for instance is a lot more inspired by socialist cooperation while Belgium is more ‘liassez-faire’, at least when we talk about political institutions. And you are right stating European domination of world economy is no better. Dumping surplus goods on African markets is not that different from what the 19th century imperialists were doing.

Unfortunatelly, I can’t study economics because I got a scholarship from the faculty of arts, hence I have to study cultural related issues. Apart from that, i’m not so much interrested in political science. I do take a class ‘international relations’ though, which is compatible with my graduate history degree.

Just a random thought-type question…. but while watching Nigel Spivey’s ‘Kings & Queens’ this evening, the thought crossed my mind…. we’ve been trough the Elizabethan, Edwardian, Georgian and Victorian (etc.) periods…. but just what will historians refer to the last 54+ years as?

I only ask this simply because ER II has been the only queen I’ve known (and owed alegiance to) and her more than half century on the throne is surely owed a regal ‘title’.

JJ

Good question, being a historian myself with a healthy interrest in the Victorian Age. (I wrote my master thesis on the Boer War) It could be that the present age would be regarded as the elizabethan age (though not to be confused with 16th century QE), but the reason why we talk about ‘the age of the victorians’ has not only to do with the queen herself. It’s the whole cultural background you have to take into account: conservatism, dandyism (O. Wilde), new imperialism (the scramble for africa). Even back in the 19th century people were talking about the ‘victorians’, not because of queen victoria only. The ‘Victorian Age’ symbolises an era when Britain was still ruling the waves, when its financial and military power were still not matched by any other nation. With all respect, the heydays of British financial, political and cultural dominance are over since the 1950’s, so I don’t think it would be appropriate to call this the Elizabethan age. Whether you like it or not, Britain now is a part of a larger entity called Europe (I’m not pro/anti EU here just making a non-political statement!) and does not have the same influence over other countries. From a British national perspective you can ofcourse talk about the QE2-era, however, it will never have the historical significance as the Victorian Era.

Ahoi hoi,

I read your whole thread, PII. In fact, I even printed it out so I could have a thourough read while taking a bath. PII, eight years ago I was one of the first people on the forum, and you were already telling this paranoid crap 😎 Now, years later, you are still on the same level. :rolleyes: “We vs the rest”.

Oh BTW, your best dream/worst nightmare is coming true as I am moving to the US to study history at U-Penn. 🙂 I’m leaving next week.

Ben (Geforce)

Woooow, been some months, years maybe, since I last checked this site! Some people are getting dumber and dumber though 😀 Not that Saddam is any of my business, personally I don’t care wheter they execute him or not, but you have to be a complete moron to believe things will get better once we get rid of satan’s right hand.

Before I forget are the other dinosaurs still around? Frankvw I see, but where’s Arthur, Kabir etc? Last time I saw Arthur he was vomiting in my toilet after having drunk a whole lot of beer and wiskey 😀
Can’t find their post. Seems like a whole bunch of new people joined the forum.

BTW, my old nick was Geforce

People tend to forget very rapidly. And it would be wrong to say they are neo-nazi’s because they most certainly are not. Then they woudl not have the popular vote. At first look they seem very moderate, and a foreigner would just describe them as “conservatives”, however, they are racists.

This is a very sad affair,this typifies the ridiculous side of racism “he was obviously in search of people of foreign origin to shoot them down”.
So it was a colour thing ,because any one of pale skin avoided attack,this never ever fails to shock me ,the whole prejudice against a colour thing.We all talk to one another on here mostly civilly, and as statistics go some of us may Haber race issues,is this due to the point that your skin colour is not posted….
dave

You are ofcourse right, Laviticus, but unlike the UK, Belgium has a extreme far-right party which accounts for 25% of the votes. This party, Vlaams Belang, openly condemns this kind of violence, but it is well known that they have a lot of “spin-offs” (can’t find a better word for it) which do support these criminal acts. The past few weeks Belgium has been going through a lot of racial attacks and even murders. Though these problems exist everywhere, the situation in Belgium is problematic because we are the only country where the extreme-right is not regarded as a marginal political party, consisting of skinheads, but as a political solution to all of our country’s problems.