Solidarity in crisis?

Often presented as a model in terms of social welfare, Belgium soon risks not being able to boast of its record in this field, unless it acts rapidly. According to a study carried out by the Centrum voor Sociale Beleid in Antwerp, it seems in effect that the gap between those who work and those who depend on social security benefits has sharply increased in our country over the last ten years. Belgium is therefore slipping, slowly but surely, towards the leading group of European countries that are losing ever more ground in terms of social protection, such as Ireland and Great Britain. This phenomenon is all the more disappointing given that we were for a long time, in Europe, among the first of the class in terms of social security. Why are we becomes so backward in this field today? It’s difficult to reply to this question in just a few lines. One thing is sure: our sense of solidarity has been strongly eroded in time, making way for ever more manifest selfishness and spirit of competition. “Everyone for himself and everything for me”: that seems to have become our national motto in recent years – especially in the north of the country, where the population is increasingly of the view that the region of Flanders would be far more free and prosperous without being lumbered with the deadweight of Wallonia. Unfortunately people forget that it hasn’t always been that way and that those who are rich today perhaps will not remain so for ever. In fact, is not being unselfish – or even “scandalously unselfish”, as the campaign for Lent this year reminds us – perhaps a demonstration of being provident? Is not solidarity foresight? Of course, many people today have the sensation of working for others and not fully profiting from the fruits of their own work, but who says that one day they would not be happy to be helped and supported, in turn, by society? This principle may seem simplistic. But it is just this that has permitted us to figure for so long among the top ten states that combine prosperity with social equality. Obviously, the world has changed (unemployment, decentralization, ageing of the population…) and probably it won’t be possible to preserve all our social rights. The fact remains that solidarity is our main protection against poverty, in Belgium, in Europe and in the whole world. So we need to find a new way to revive solidarity and make it more efficient and attractive, otherwise we risk seeing our quality of life even further decline.