Laurent LOUIS presents the slogan of Révolution: "A happy Belgium!"

Gloom pervades everything around us. The news is increasingly negative, anxiety-inducing, and monotonous. People have lost their capacity to dream. This dream, which in the past enabled so many positive developments, whether through the vision of Martin Luther King Jr. or the dreams of those workers who obtained Sunday rest or paid vacations.

Today, the population is desperate. It sees only the negative, sinks into gloom, bogged down in the difficulties of everyday life, without any long-term vision, and sinks deeper and deeper into the paralysis experienced by every person trapped in depression.

It is true that things are going badly. It would be foolish to say otherwise! It is true that the situation is serious. It is true that we are on the edge of the abyss.

Once again, such a slogan might seem out of step with a movement whose name is Revolution. But you know me — I like to break the codes, to be where people do not expect me. I hate the boxes in which we are imprisoned, I hate the labels, often false, that are stuck on us. And besides, I am a bon vivant, an epicurean; it would be impossible for me to speak only about negativity every day!

It is true that I am often told that the word Revolution frightens people. I am told about the French Revolution, which does not concern me in any way, on the pretext that it eradicated neither poverty nor exploitation — granted, but what does that have to do with our revolution? I am told that Revolution brings to mind war, heads being cut off, literally and figuratively. I am told that this name carries violence within it, etc... It is true that certain traitors to the Nation would deserve to spend the end of their days in prison, but it is false to believe that every revolution must automatically take place under the sign of violence. Once again, my duty is to break false beliefs and blow up preconceived ideas!

Thus, through this slogan “A Happy Belgium!” but also through the colors chosen for our clothing range — sky blue, pink and sand — I want to show that these shortcuts are completely false.

I am particularly attached to the French language and, regardless of inappropriate references to the past, the word “revolution” is the word which, in the dictionary, exactly corresponds to the project we carry. And I can tell you that nothing prevents us from carrying out this revolution with a smile.

The people carry within themselves the ability to change things with fluidity and benevolence if their state of mind is oriented toward the positive.

Changing everything does not mean destroying everything! Our Revolution can perfectly take place in a positive way by working on the evolution of people’s consciousness. Within the word Revolution lies the word evolution and, as you know, I am convinced that what Revolution proposes constitutes the logical evolution of our society. Our future will therefore be either evolution or chaos. By working on the evolution of consciousness, our revolution can impose itself naturally as an obvious choice.

My objective with the Revolution movement is therefore to rediscover a happy Belgium so that Belgians can regain their smiles, their joy of living and the good-natured spirit that characterizes them. Everything that makes it possible to recreate a happy Belgium is found in the program of Revolution. No other party or movement in Belgium proposes what we propose, because our program does not pursue partisan objectives, we support no doctrine, we are neither left nor right, but simply here to show the people that another Belgium is possible and to give them the tools to create it .

For Belgium to regain its smile, a true institutional, popular and fiscal revolution is required.

Institutional Revolution

It is imperative to give power to the people so that the people can govern the country in the interest of its inhabitants and no longer in the interest of lobbies or powerful elites who run political parties and have been spreading misery for decades. Why should we give our voice to representatives who despise us when we have the technological capacity to decide for ourselves? Political parties and career politicians have created a debt of 670 billion euros and precariousness continues to grow in Belgium. Why not finally give decision-making power to citizens? They could hardly do worse!

Popular Revolution

It is urgent that the country’s money primarily serve Belgians. Stop development aid, stop misplaced pseudo-generosity. The entire logic must be reviewed! Our country is rich, but unfortunately our money is wasted because of corruption, because of poor decisions made by our politicians, and through all the international contributions we pay. Thus, Belgium pays 6.87 billion euros to the EU budget, 3.8 billion dollars per year to the UN general budget, and additionally pays 100 million euros per year to UN agencies and programs. As part of official development assistance, Belgium provides approximately 1.7 billion dollars to multilateral organizations (a large share of which goes to bodies such as the UN or the World Bank). Not to mention the 8 billion euros devoted to NATO...

We must devote this money to improving our public services! Improve the quality of our public hospitals, create public retirement homes in which every senior can be welcomed with dignity without having to squander the savings of an entire lifetime of work to pay for decent housing. We must create free institutions to properly care for children with disabilities, rethink our education system and create public schools oriented toward excellence. We must also create high-quality public structures to care for people in situations of dependency. Finally, how can we accept that Belgians live on the street or in their cars? Every Belgian must have a roof through the development of quality social and emergency housing policies. We can easily achieve these objectives — the State budget allows it. The rest is nothing more than political choices!

Fiscal Revolution

By revolutionizing our taxation system, we can significantly contribute to improving the quality of life of our fellow citizens. By applying the principle of a micro-tax on every financial transaction, we can considerably increase State revenues and, in this way, establish a “citizen income” of 1,350 euros paid every month to all Belgians, from birth until death, and cumulative with salaries. Such a citizen income — combined with strict price controls (to avoid windfall effects following the increase in Belgians’ purchasing power) — will allow our young people to start life with assets rather than debts, as is the case today. This citizen income will allow students to devote themselves to their studies and will prevent many young women — in order to make ends meet — from being tempted to enter prostitution facilitated by the rise of social networks and online content platforms. This citizen income will also remunerate stay-at-home parents who devote themselves to their families, and it will also improve the quality of life of our elders, most of whom are today forced to tighten their belts after a lifetime of hard work.

As you can see, it is the entire logic of our policies that must be changed, but nothing prevents us from doing so!

I am often told that the ideas of the Revolution movement are utopian. Yet all these ideas are realistic and could be implemented as early as tomorrow if the people so wished.

Despair can only develop if we have no solutions to overcome difficulties. The program of the Revolution movement contains all the elements likely to bring smiles back to the faces of Belgians.

Admittedly, this change implies a total revolution of our institutions and political logic, but the better Belgium we can create must be our driving force — the force that pushes us to fight for what we simply deserve: A Happy Belgium!