[fooph]

> I tagged every one of our ministers (remember: 6 governments) that could have made a difference in solving this question. 1600 people saw the post, no one got back to me.

> This might seem trivial, however to me this is part of a larger problem. The political class does not really care about improving the system as it is too busy with infighting.

He left Belgium because some politicians he tagged on LinkedIn didn't reply to his post? Lol

[rovr138]

I mean, he doesn't like how they do politics which affect him so he left. Is there a better way of dealing with the issue?

He can't force a vote. He also doesn't have to stay. So he packed up and left. Sounds like a great way of dealing with people in power. Imagine if we all had that flexibility.

'We'll just pack up and leave. Good luck with your bullshit and governing over nothing.'

[insightcheck]

It's a valid option, but an alternative is to stay in the country and try to lobby and advocate for change within the country.

There is a certain point where lobbying and advocacy can be futile, and emigration is a stronger option. For example, in Venezuela's recent history, it went from a prosperous country to an economically devastated one, and the population fell in the 2010s as a result [0].

However, Belgium is in a much better place in terms of political stability. It's far more likely that advocacy can be effective. However, it takes a lot of time, and you can give up a lot of potential earnings by staying and trying to advocate. If one has an attachment to a country, especially as a citizen, one can find a lot of value in trying to introduce reforms instead of emigrating.

[0] https://www.google.com/search?q=Venezuela+population+over+ti...

[Wronnay]

I mean, this would be the case in every country. I face similar Issues in Germany but decided to join a political party and drive the change by myself - it won't change overnight but at least it is a beginning of a long process.

Without constantly talking directly to politicians in a political party, it will be very hard to change political topics.

[spelunker]

I had a similar thought, but honestly if he wrote/called each one of them, would he get a better response? My guess is no.

And really, he left because he felt that Belgium wasn't a good place for startups and decided to move rather than try to change Belgium, which is completely his choice.

[insightcheck]

> "if he wrote/called each one of them, would he get a better response?"

Honestly, yes. From the social media post in the article, it's quite easy to interpret the question "How come I can’t find something similar for Belgium?" as rhetorical, and intended to raise awareness more than to get a response. The tone is also accusatory (nothing wrong with this, but it's less likely to get a response on social media), so there's less benefit for an official response on social media that will invite further scrutiny.

The post also tags multiple representatives. If he tagged just one, there would already be a greater likelihood of a response, otherwise each person can deflect the question to the rest of the group.

If he sent a personalized email or letter to a single representative with a question or proposal (then waiting, and emailing a new representative if they didn't respond), then he could have been redirected to the most appropriate person. It's generally recognized that calls/emails/letters are quite effective. You can see it in campaigns where people are asked to "call/send an email" to their representative, instead of getting asked to tag them on social media.

[spelunker]

All fair points. As someone who has never actually gone to the effort of reaching out to a representative by email/mail/etc, perhaps I should give it a chance instead of dismissing it as not useful.

[ricardobayes]

He got fed up by the tug of war between parties that seem to focus solely on grabbing power instead of implementing long-term solutions. I think we will see major changes in the ranking of countries in Europe in the next lifetime. Austria and Belgium are now net beneficiaries of EU budget. You simply can't build a competitive economy with 50-79% income taxes. I can't think of any single high-value add product or service that comes from Belgium. There must be a reason for that.

[maxboone]

The reason isn't just income tax, considering the tax deductibles in Belgium the income tax doesn't go near that for starters.

Belgium is a net beneficiary of the EU, because the European institutions housed there.

The reason that you don't know high value services is likely because drivers of the Belgian economy are not hyped products.

Take a peek at the BEL20 and you'll see some internationally influential businesses.

[DiggyJohnson]

That would be the most myopic way of interpreting his narrative license.

[mcqueenjordan]

Not a very astute reading of the article.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity