This one small town (Donzy) still had a butchers, three bakers, two doctors' surgeries, several hairdressers and two beauty salons. Yet unemployment was the same as most similar French towns, hovering around 10%, far higher for the young.
And all here wondered if there was some magic middle way that France can find to keep its way of life, and the things that matter here: family, friends, good food and enough time to enjoy them all ... to keep them and yet put France back to work without turning into Britain or the US (a prospect quoted at me in horror by many on my recent travels).
Human side
Before I moved here I had assumed that the French were rather like the British, although with nicer wine and food, more mobile faces and a better class of shrug.
But I have come to realise just how Mediterranean France really is, far more like Catholic Spain or laid-back Italy than its work-obsessed northern neighbours, where time is money and time is to be raced against rather than savoured slowly.
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The big issue in the French election
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Re: The big issue in the French election
Bill, Admittedly I've been reading John Ralston Saul on Globalization, but I will still point out that the answer that you get depends largely on the question that you ask.
In North America the question has overwhelmingly been "How can we adapt to the demands of a globalized economy?" "Adapt" is taken to mean "What are we prepared to give up?" - leisure, health care, middle class jobs... It seems that the French, and those in other countries, are asking a different question. "What do we need to do to preserve our standard of living and our preferred ways of life in the face of the pressures of globalization? At what point do we say that some things are more important than the almightly dollar?" I'll leave to you to decide which is the healthier response. Re: Re: The big issue in the French election
by
billdoskoch
on Sun 29 Apr 2007 02:57 AM EDT | Profile | Permanent Link
Barry:
I wish the French all the best. While the North American way of life may be more "productive," it carries all kinds of costs with it on a whole host of levels. I believe the nature of the deal is called "Faustian." At the same time, the French way of life -- if you're pur laine, to borrow the Quebecois phrase, and inside the tent -- is pretty damned good. If you're outside the tent, it's not so good. I have some French (as in French citizen) rellies, and while they much love the French lifestyle, they have said their homeland has problems -- and they are hardly raving neo-Thatcheristes. What's the right answer? Damned if I know. Trackbacks
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