Europe

[Brother None]

Industriousness? Belgians? Bwaha!
And French have cultural finesse? They're mostly a bunch of smelly men with bad personal hygiene.

Yeah, the Wallonians use to be industrious, but now they lost that. And now the Flanders look down on 'em, despite the fact that they're really not much more usefull.

Heh. Belgs.

The French dó have cultural finesse, tho'. Unless you count their culture having a heavy influence on all their colonies and all of the Western world (including Russia, in this case) for nothing.

French-bashing is new, everyone used to fellate them. 'cept the Americans 'cause, y'know, they weren't a country back then

 

[Jebus]

Y'know, with the early Dukes of Flanders 'n all... Untill Maria van Bourgoundië came to the throne and 'bout half her territory proclaimed independance...

Was that conquered? I'd call it acquired.

I'd call it a little of collumn a, a little of collumn b. Filips de Goede and Filips the Stoute aquired most of their territory by diplomacy, while Karel de Stoute conquered most of it by force... And it just so happens, that most of the Dutch states were added during the reign of Karel de Stoute...

Industriousness? Belgians? Bwaha!

Be careful what you say now dear, the Flemish are officially the most productive workforce on teh globe...

Yeah, the Wallonians use to be industrious, but now they lost that. And now the Flanders look down on 'em, despite the fact that they're really not much more usefull.

*twitch*

FLEMISH!

And it serves them Wallonians right. Trying to dominate us great peoples of Flanders for all those years... Grrrr...

 

[Sander]

I'd call it a little of collumn a, a little of collumn b. Filips de Goede and Filips the Stoute aquired most of their territory by diplomacy, while Karel de Stoute conquered most of it by force... And it just so happens, that most of the Dutch states were added during the reign of Karel de Stoute...

Quite possibly true. I don't know that much about that period.
But you do realise that talking about countries and national awareness and all that during that time is mostly anachronistic.

Be careful what you say now dear, the Flemish are officially the most productive workforce on teh globe...

Linkage!

The French dó have cultural finesse, tho'. Unless you count their culture having a heavy influence on all their colonies and all of the Western world (including Russia, in this case) for nothing.

There's a difference between culture and cultural finesse. I wouldn't call the courts Louis XIV XV and XVI courts with finesse.
But the Belgians didn't pick that either, so...

French-bashing is new, everyone used to fellate them. 'cept the Americans 'cause, y'know, they weren't a country back then

Meh. Bashing French is easy: Generally speaking, they're rude, have really poor hygiene (try visiting a camping which is run by a Frenchmen, and compare to a camping run by a Dutchman or Englishman in the same region. Or visit a camping when there are a lot of French there: yuck!) and are arrogant, refusing to not speak French.

 

[Johns Volition]

Meh. Bashing French is easy: Generally speaking, they're rude, have really poor hygiene (try visiting a camping which is run by a Frenchmen, and compare to a camping run by a Dutchman or Englishman in the same region. Or visit a camping when there are a lot of French there: yuck!) and are arrogant, refusing to not speak French.

Aw c'mon that's not true.. it allways depends who you're hanging with...
There are some serious cute girls in france.. and when I say serious, I mean serious

 

[John Uskglass]

Be careful what you say now dear, the Flemish are officially the most productive workforce on teh globe...

No. It's the Finnish then the Americans.

 

[Jebus]

Be careful what you say now dear, the Flemish are officially the most productive workforce on teh globe...

Linkage!

België vertegenwoordigt 1% van de totale oppervlakte van de EU en 2,7% van de Europese bevolking. Het economisch belang van België in de EU is echter een stuk groter. In 2000 bedroeg het Belgische bruto binnenlands product (BBP) immers 244 miljard euro, wat 2,9% is van het gezamenlijke BBP van de EU. De productiviteit ligt in België dus een stuk hoger dan in de rest van Europa en bijgevolg ook de materiële welvaart. Het inkomen per werknemer bedroeg in België in 2000 62.560 euro, wat bijna 20% hoger is dan het gemiddelde van de EU.

Translation:

Belgium represents 1% of the surface of the EU and 2.7% of the European population. The economical importance of Belgium is much greater, though: in 2000, the Belgian GNP was €244 billion, or 2.9 of the GNP of the EU. The productivity of Belgians is therefore much larger than the rest of Europe, and therefore also the wealth. The earnings of the avarage Belgian were €62.560, 20% higher than the rest of the EU.

And that's Belgium as a whole, also counting the 'poorer' Wallonia... I'm trying to find me a source that deals with Flanders specifically. And since Flanders is the wealthiest state in the world, it seems likely I'll find me one... Gimme a sec.


*EDIT* Damned, I just read this on www.vlaanderen.be:

Volgens "The Conference Board" heeft Noorwegen de hoogste arbeidsproductiviteit per gewerkt uur
(Bron: FET 22 februari 2003)

België heeft niet meer 's werelds hoogste arbeidsproductiviteit. Dit blijkt uit de jaarlijkse studie van The Conference Board. Noorwegen stak België voorbij en had in 2002 het hoogste bruto binnenlands product (BBP) per gewerkt uur.

Translation:

Belgium doesn't have the world's highest production efficiency anymore, as the yearly study of the Conference Board concludes. Norway has surpassed Belgium, and had the highest GNP per working hour in 2002.

So Belgium was the most productive nation in the world, up till two years ago...
I'm still trying to find a source about Flanders, though...

*EDIT Again*

Now this is strange: on the same website, another study reveals the USA as the most productive nation:

België tweede op ranglijst productie per werknemer
(Bron: FET, 2 september 2003)

België heeft de op een na hoogste productie per werknemer van heel de wereld.[...]De nummer één wereldwijd waren de Verenigde Staten met 60.728 dollar. Ierland, Frankrijk en Noorwegen vervolledigen de topvijf.
Dat blijkt uit een recent gepubliceerde studie 'Key Indicators of the Labour Market' van de Internationale Arbeidsorganisatie (IAO).

Belgium has the second highest production per employer in the entire world. [...] The number 1 worldwide were the USA
with $60.728 . Ireland, France and Norway complete the top-five.
This was published recently published in the study 'Key Indicators of the Labour Market' of the International Labour Organisation (ILO)

Still trying to find Flanders...


*EDIT 3*

Well, I didn't find any Flanders-specific studies on the net.
But it does strike me as logical that, if Belgium is the second most productive country in the world, and Flanders is more productive than Wallonia, Flanders would be the most productive region in the world...

 

[Brother None]

I'd call it a little of collumn a, a little of collumn b. Filips de Goede and Filips the Stoute aquired most of their territory by diplomacy, while Karel de Stoute conquered most of it by force... And it just so happens, that most of the Dutch states were added during the reign of Karel de Stoute...

Wait, so Dutch was conquered by the French when William of Orange became King? 'cause y'know, Orange is French.

Plus neither the Netherlands nor Belgland existed back then.

Be careful what you say now dear, the Flemish are officially the most productive workforce on teh globe...

I think this argument has been properly counterworked by yourself. But y'know what the real funny thing is:

Belgium represents 1% of the surface of the EU and 2.7% of the European population. The economical importance of Belgium is much greater, though: in 2000, the Belgian GNP was €244 billion, or 2.9 of the GNP of the EU. The productivity of Belgians is therefore much larger than the rest of Europe, and therefore also the wealth. The earnings of the avarage Belgian were €62.560, 20% higher than the rest of the EU.

Explain to me how, exactly, the percentage the GDP (it's Gross Domestic Product in English, Jebus) being higher than the percentage of the population Belgium presents proves it's higher than other European countries? It only proves it's higher than average, but considering the low output of the south, I think it's rather presumptuous to assume that just because it's higher than average it's higher than everyone else.

The second point is better, but income != productivity. In fact income has, obviously, very little to do with GDP.

Also: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html
Belgia = #13, under such EU countries as Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark and Ireland.

And it serves them Wallonians right. Trying to dominate us great peoples of Flanders for all those years... Grrrr...

Dude get over it or we'll swallow you back up.

 

[Jebus]

I'd call it a little of collumn a, a little of collumn b. Filips de Goede and Filips the Stoute aquired most of their territory by diplomacy, while Karel de Stoute conquered most of it by force... And it just so happens, that most of the Dutch states were added during the reign of Karel de Stoute...

Wait, so Dutch was conquered by the French when William of Orange became King? 'cause y'know, Orange is French.

There's a diffence, you know. Willem moved to Dutchieswamps and ruled Holland from there, while the Flemish dukes ruled from their cozy chairs in Gent & Brugge...
Anyway, that comparison doesn't make sense at all, come to think of it. I mean, the Flemish dukes aquired those territories for the Dukedom of Flanders, in the name of the Dukedom of Flanders, and for the benefit of the Dukedom of Flanders. Willem of Oranje basically just went to Holland since he needed a job 'n stuff, but he didn't rule Holland in the name of France, yet as a sovereign ruler.

Therefore, your comparison makes no sense.

It would be the same like you'd say Belgium would've been conquered by the Germans when Leopold I became the Belgian king...

Hahaha! Imagine! The Germans conquering us! Bwahahaha!!!

Oh... Wait...

Plus neither the Netherlands nor Belgland existed back then.

No, but Flanders did. And Flanders just happens to be what I'm talking about...

Actually, for all you Dutchies out there: here's a lesson in Belgian state-stuff:

Belgium's a construction. Belgians don't exist. What you have are Flemish and Wallonians. Living together in a federal state...

Be careful what you say now dear, the Flemish are officially the most productive workforce on teh globe...

I think this argument has been properly counterworked by yourself.

Well, allright, so mebbe the first source wasn't all that; but the other two were studies made by respected international organisations... Like the ILO, for example.

Explain to me how, exactly, the percentage the GDP (it's Gross Domestic Product in English, Jebus) being higher than the percentage of the population Belgium presents proves it's higher than other European countries? It only proves it's higher than average, but considering the low output of the south, I think it's rather presumptuous to assume that just because it's higher than average it's higher than everyone else.

I'm not going to go all to deep in this, 'cause I'm not an expert in economy - by far. Yet, I agree with you that this source may not be the best around. Therefore, please direct your attention to the other two...
Also, I'm trying to prove FLANDERS is the most productive region. The fact that Wallonia is less productive than Flanders, and therefore dragging down the total productivity of the Belgians, was exactly my point.

Also: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html
Belgia = #13, under such EU countries as Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark and Ireland.

Never said nuttin' 'bout GDP. Allright, the first source I quoted did, but can we just all agree that one sucks now? Sjeesh!

Oh, and don't tell me you're actually using studies from the CIA to prove anything? I would've thought history has pointed out already the CIA can't be thrusted...

They probably took some pictures of an old container park and said it was our GDP or something...

And it serves them Wallonians right. Trying to dominate us great peoples of Flanders for all those years... Grrrr...

Dude get over it or we'll swallow you back up.

I'm curious how long it would take this time before we'd kick your ass and proclaim independance...


Oh yes, and on a sidenote: I am now on STRIKE! I will now refrain from posting untill that damn SQUAWK is finally gone. 't Was fun for a while, but it's truly starting to annoy me now...

 

[SuAside]

Oh yes, and on a sidenote: I am now on STRIKE! I will now refrain from posting untill that damn SQUAWK is finally gone.

somehow i find this very hard to believe

and if you do hang in there for a while, i think the mods will just keep the SQUAWK thingy there just so you wouldnt post anymore

 

[Briosafreak]

The squawk thing is starting to bother me too, i`m avoiding topics when it shows up. Someone please remove it, at least from the guys that give elaborated and meaningfull posts.

 

[Brother None]

Therefore, your comparison makes no sense.

Yeah, I know, I was mostly kidding.

In other words: made you post.

Actually, for all you Dutchies out there: here's a lesson in Belgian state-stuff:

Belgium's a construction. Belgians don't exist. What you have are Flemish and Wallonians. Living together in a federal state...

No, you think?!

We're well aware that you're not a real country, Jebus, that's why we keep making fnu of you and offering to swallow you back up.

Also, you forgot the German part of the country.

Also, I'm trying to prove FLANDERS is the most productive region. The fact that Wallonia is less productive than Flanders, and therefore dragging down the total productivity of the Belgians, was exactly my point.

Yeah, yeah, I don't think Wallonia draws you down that much.

Besides which, Belgium has often lived only on the Wallonian's working-power while Flanders sat on its ass and did nothing. You're only returning the favour.

Never said nuttin' 'bout GDP. Allright, the first source I quoted did, but can we just all agree that one sucks now? Sjeesh!

GDP = gross domestic product = productivity. If you have a low GDP, you're not being very productive, ey?

Oh, and don't tell me you're actually using studies from the CIA to prove anything? I would've thought history has pointed out already the CIA can't be thrusted...

The World Factbook is not a CIA study, it's a collection of facts provided by the countries themselves.

Oh yes, and on a sidenote: I am now on STRIKE! I will now refrain from posting untill that damn SQUAWK is finally gone. 't Was fun for a while, but it's truly starting to annoy me now...

You deserve the SQUAWK for disrespecting my Indian name in your quoting (what's "Hung-like-woman" anyway)?

And dude, I offered to remove it a long time ago, stop your bitchass whining.

It's gone. Be proud of your Orderite tag

 

[Jebus]

And dude, I offered to remove it a long time ago, stop your bitchass whining.

Yeah, I know, but that was about eight days ago, and the SQUAWK was only supposed to be there for a week or so... Plus, I already had the SQUAWK for two or three days then; so basically it started getting on my nerves...

Well, I guess that's the point of the entire SQUAWK thing anyway, so nevermind.

It's gone. Be proud of your Orderite tag

Wheeeee!


Anyway, I'm going to slowly back up from this economy-stuff now. My knowledge of these things is way to shallow for me to keep the upper hand in this discussion.

(in other words: I'm afraid to get pwnd.)