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How long will the Minnesota government shutdown last? It's anyone's guess. A few more days? Possibly. Now try, say, 400 days.


Unlikely? Maybe, but not impossible. I should know. I come from a country -- the handkerchief-sized kingdom of 

, across the Atlantic - that has been in a similar situation for that long. In fact, it broke the world record for the longest period without a working government last February. No mean feat, since prior to that, the record had belonged to Iraq.


That is not to say that Belgium and Minnesota are the same. They're not. Ordinarily I spend my time writing about the differences between the United States and Europe. Living in Minnesota, I've come to own the snow removal tools and polar wear that I used to associate with arctic exploration. But lately, I'm struck by how odd it is that the two places I call home both have governments that have gone AWOL.


Before we go any further: There are important differences between the two situations. Public services in Belgium have not been interrupted. Chocolates and beer are still being served, and people still enjoy generous state subsidies for such things as having babies and hiring household help.


But since its last elections, on June 13 last year, the country has been politically rudderless. For just over 400 days now, the winners of those elections (the right-wing, regionalist New Flemish Alliance, and the left-wing Parti Socialiste on the French-speaking side) have been unable to forge a governing coalition, due to starkly differing fiscal philosophies and linguistic squabbles so esoteric that even many Belgians fail to understand them.
 

For the past year-plus, the country has been governed by a caretaker cabinet whose powers are basically limited to keeping the lights on. The latest attempt to form a coalition broke down over taxes and spending cuts, with both parties accusing each other of playing politics with the economy. Sound familiar?


In both Minnesota and Belgium, politics has become increasingly polarized and paralyzed. Whether it's St. Paul or Brussels, "my way or the highway" has become the new normal. Compromise is a dirty word and radical ideologues have taken everybody else hostage.


Seriously, how many Dutch-speaking Belgians would really ditch their country for an independent Flemish Republic? How many Minnesota GOP voters really believe that taxing millionaires a bit more during a budget crisis would have been the mortal sin they made it out to be? Enough to shut things down indefinitely, and let the chips fall where they may? Come on, now.


For both places, political gridlock and shuttered governments come at the worst possible time. The euro teeters on the brink as the Greek debt crisis fans out over the continent. Speculators are taking aim at Italy. Belgians fear they're next.


Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., the same drama about taxes and spending is playing out as in St. Paul. If politicians there don't reach a deal to raise the federal debt ceiling by Aug. 2, the United States will either have to default on its loans or stop paying many of its domestic bills. In both cases the recovery would be over, and Minnesotans would likely have to face another nationwide recession in addition to the continuing shutdown.
 
 
Everywhere you look, dire consequences are the price for lack of compromise. Surely, we here in Minnesota will come to our senses soon, won't we? It's starting to look like it. But don't bet on it just yet -- because that's what Belgians have been thinking, too, for 400 days.


Tom Vandyck is a St. Paul-based U.S. correspondent for the Belgian daily De Morgen. His work has appeared in The Boston Globe and The Christian Sciene Monitor.

It's Day 19 of the shutdown. Now, imagine Day 400.

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