Seeing the current state of the rest of the world. I’ve changed my opinion from hating living in Belgium to being thankful for it. What are you all thankful for in Belgium?

39 comments

1. Belgium has always ranked in the top 10 on most positive stats.

   We are both some of the wealthiest and most equal in wealth people on earth.

   This place was never bad to begin with, we all just live in a bubble where we don’t realise how good we have it here.

2. I am thankful for the frietjes

3. Lol, civil war… i think you watch too much media.

   But thankful? I’ve got a feeling this won’t age well seen the current financial state of this country. It doesn’t look good, not for us, not for western europe.

4. Lived for a year in a nearby country… Realized we had a good things here:
   Paid sicks days (all of them!)
   Indexed salary
   The Gini index is quite good (sure, equality can always improve)

5. We have a good life here in Belgium. For my self i figured out why im still frustrated about our country. It’s not using our full potential, we have all the cards to be even better yet we notice are getting behind of what could be.

6. I enjoy that I can complain about our politicians without getting put in a hole somewhere

7. – generally no extremists in the government
   – no extreme weather like hurricanes or typhoons (guess I’ll just have to accept the rain and wind)
   – affordable universities
   – affordable and accessible healthcare. I recently realized the concept of a ‘huisdokter’ is pretty unique here and I’m really grateful for it

8. As a trans women… Being alive and not jailed or killed to exist is enough 🙂

9. There are very nice places not part of your list and yes, most of these places are in Europe.

10. Social security and more specifically around health topics. Having a child who needs special attention and being able to support him thanks to our system is a blessing. And I am not only talking about the financial aspect but also about the institutions in Flanders which help children and parents around that topic.

    It’s already a lot to process on a daily basis so I am really thankful for it.

    Both my parents originate from another EU country but I am born here. I despise people with comparable backgrounds to mine who are still praising their “other country” above Belgium. Like sure, you can be proud of your “roots” but belittling Belgium? Fuck off.

11. Nothing. I don’t like the country.

12. I’ve lived in Belgium for 30 years, and it’s home now. Ja, ik heb Nederlands geleerd. The schools are excellent, the food is great, and the healthcare is outstanding. We own a large, paid-off home—something I couldn’t have imagined as a young person in the U.S. I also appreciate the Flemish sense of humor, especially their ability to laugh at themselves.

13. Belgium gave me asylum. So I am thankful for being able to wake up every morning knowing i wont die by someone exploding himself to get to 72 virgins.

14. the usa is not at the brink of a civil war. lol.

15. It’s refreshing to hear this being said out loud. As an expat, I truly love and appreciate this unique country, especially for its institutions and systems designed to prevent the tyranny of the majority and populist governments. I wish more Belgians would recognize their privileged position in the grand scheme of things and not take for granted the seemingly basic but increasingly rare benefits they enjoy. The US should serve as a reminder for those in the developed world.

16. Im only here for the food and cause many belgians love dogs (and cats), a few weeks ago I saw a big dog running alone in the streets. It was not friendly so too big of a risk to catch it in my car. I parked somewhere and asked an owner of a store if she knew who it belonged to. She immediately started making calls. Meanwhile every single car, including a Lijn bus, stopped near us and warned us a dog was in the streets and if it was ours or if we would call someone.

17. I don’t live in Belgium but as a US based euro who has visited a bunch, I think Belgium is underrated. It has a lot of the good things about Europe like it’s comparatively affordable to have a high living standard (including education and healthcare), walkable, bikeable cities with good transit etc etc. But it also has diversity and actual good food and beer and joidvivre unlike most the other Germanic countries. Only bad thing is weather and lack of outdoorsy stuff, but all that is just a few hours train ride away.

18. Clean running water, hot and cold. Heating. Warm clothes. Bombs not falling on my head. Enough access to food. Strict regulations on food making it safer to eat and also tasty. Access to abortion. Access to healthcare. Despite being disabled and relying on the government for an income, which isn’t a lot, I’m still better off than about 95% of disabled people in other parts of the world. I’m still mad at the government for how they do things though in regards to that because it means I can’t, yet, receive all the support I need. So I’m grateful ànd mad about that. Both can be true at the same time. Some of the support I receive I feel very grateful for because it’s amazing.
    I’m free to express my opinion. We have police that is fairly allright even though fatal mistakes happen too often (Jonathan Jakob, Chovanez, etc).
    Been able to study even though I came from a poor family.
    I’m not forced into marriage. I can speak in public. I can wear the clothes I like as long as I’m not publically nude. I have. There’s access to euthanasia even for psychological suffering. I’m allowed to believe what I want. I was allowed to go to school in the first place. Climate is such that we can grow our own food in most of the year. Access to internet and thus: knowledge.

    There’s a lot to be grateful for simply for living in Belgium. I didn’t grow up in a good situation but there’s always worse. I’m disabled but there’s also a lot things I don’t have, like parkinson, MS or cancer. I don’t have a lot of money but I can still afford to eat and have clothes on my back. I can go on and on. We have serious problems in Belgium too. But all countries have serious problems. We just have less of them than most other countries.

19. I’ve answered the same thing on the same question some weeks ago:

    I am a woman married to a woman, and if we’d like to have a child that’s not a big deal.

    Grateful for being born here every day.

20. Our social security system and food regulations/checks

21. Nederlander / Amerikaan hier. Woon al decennia in the VS en trek het niet meer, politiek en cultureel gesproken. Altijd een zwak voor Vlaanderen gehad. Ook in vergelijking met Nederland, de mensen in België zijn aardiger en minder opgefokt, eten en drinken is beter, er wordt minder nauw op elkaar gelet (sociale controle) en minder met vingertjes gezwaaid. Ben dan ook hard aan het denken om de boel hier te verkopen en naar België te verhuizen, als jullie me hebben willen…

22. Maybe switch off the news / propaganda for a few days and relax jeez… 😂

23. Social security system.

24. Belgium is a heaven in disguise

25. The only thing to be thankful for in Belgium is that our ruling class is to fractious and incompetent, and the populace electing them too dim-witted and complacent, to be actively evil. Instead of going straight to ludicrous speed (per that movie Spaceballs), we are happy to keep careening towards the abyss at a steady pace.

26. I like it here. Some things bother me but that will be the case everywhere on this planet. There’s a lot of good things about this country. Good food, good drinks, lots of cultural stuff, relatively affordable houses compared to most countries and especially neighboring ones.

27. I’m thankful for our good and cheap education, our good and cheap healthcare and our very boring weather.

    Oh, and our good and boring king.

28. I will soon begin a medical treatment, and thanks to our excellent healthcare system, I will only pay 16 euros per session. Although not all treatments or medications are covered, making it challenging for those with other conditions, this support for my treatment is invaluable. In comparison, the same treatment costs 500 euros in Spain and 700 euros in the US. It’s truly a blessing to have such affordable care here!

29. Absolutely!! I couldn’t be more grateful for my Belgian countryside life!!

30. I’m especially thankful for my (relatively) cheap Master’s degrees!

31. Seeing all the racism around I’m also thankful to be in Belgium and proud of Belgian people.
    Our main racism problem is vlaams Vs walloon. You’re Arab? It’s ok. You’re black? It’s ok. Just choose a side.
    I hope we can remain the chill welcoming people we are and live all together at peace

32. Kunnen vertrouwen op medische zorg. Goede infrastructuur. Super kunst, cultuur & mode van eigen bodem. Prachtige steden om een dagje door te brengen. Mooie natuur op een boogscheut verwijderd. Makkelijk en snel reizen naar een heleboel andere landen… Veel voordelen 🙂 

33. Trans health care.

    Don’t live in Belgium anymore but I would be fucked if I had moved to Ireland before going through the steps in Belgium.

    10 years waiting list for inadequate services ugh

34. It’s not that bad. Just better access to information these days making it seem worse but in reality it’s the usual shitfest that it is…

    Also USA is doing what it’s always been doing and what it’s designed for, it’s a republic like ancient Rome, not a democracy like ancient Greece. It’s people like to call it a democracy but they don’t really understand what they’re saying.

35. Our education system is, as far as I can tell, unrivaled even in Europe. I have expressed myself negatively about foreign students coming here for their higher education, but I understand why they do it. If I am not mistaken, we are pretty unique in offering access to education on all levels to all people alike.

    This means people can live the real American dream here and go from a life as a menial worker who had to spend their free time sustainability farming, to living a middle class life and affort multiple foreign holidays per year, in two generations. Or one, depending on how you call it when your parent is the menial worker and you are the middle class person.

    I know this is not true for everyone but it is attainable if you are born with a good hand of cards in terms of health, intelligence and a stable family life with at least one steadily employed parent.

    Then there is the indexation of wages and benefits, which really makes a difference for those are in the lower income tier.

    And with all its flaws, our public transport system is pretty performant and our road / traffic infrastructure is, in general, reasonably maintained and well designed and made. Emphasis on ‘in general’.

    And finally, there is our health system. Pedro Brugada performed surgery on our king and then went on to the next patient, retired 69 year old part time seamstress Godelieve Knockelmans from Zulzeke, with the same level of care, skill, expertise and equipment.

    I know a relative small amount of people is footing the bill to provide this for all of us. But I’m semihappy to be among them, because it’s being used to make so much possible for so many people. Even if a most of that doesn’t seem to benefit me directly, a lot of it I will never need, and a small portion of it is even used for things I actively oppose, I firmly believe I will have a better life when both me and my neighbours are doing well than when it’s just me living it up and everyone around me struggling.

    In conclusion: education, social mobility, accessible high quality healthcare, infrastructure and ‘welvaartsvaste uitkeringen en lonen’ something so unique there isn’t even an English term for it, make me feel very privileged and grateful.

36. FRIET

37. Fact that I can travel travel to many cheaper countries.
    I can just quit my job whenever I’m bored of it, fly out and be a ‘flaneur’ in a cheap sunny country for a few months.
    I love it.

    Also frituur

38. FYI : The world has never been safer than it is now. It may not seem like it, because everything gets more media attention these days, and everything is more visible because of internet and social media, but it’s true.

    Less crime, less wars, less diseases, less car accidents, etc etc.

39. I am thankful for the fact that I got an education at a relatively low cost. Yes, I had to keep living at home, a student room was out of budget (except during the extra year that I did).
    Everyone who whines about the cost of studying here has no idea about how it is in other countries.

    I am thankful for our healthcare. It is of a good quality, and affordable, especially, again, compared to other countries.

    I am thankful for our social security. Due to health issues, I couldn’t work for a long time. I was still able to live a decent life.

    I am thankful that as a woman, I have rights and freedom.

    Is it a perfect country? Far from, but compared to most countries, it is pretty good here.

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