American business has infiltrated pretty much every corner of the globe, and our ideals are penetrating into countries throughout the world, as well. As this article in The New York Times reports, even France isn't immune to supporters of the so-called American work ethic. In hopes of galvanizing an economy plagued with high taxes that make the business environment unattractive to wealthy entrepreneurs and limited productivity time due to government-mandated 35 hour work weeks, Finance Minister Christine Lagarde basically suggested that the French think too much and need to spend more time working a bit harder to earn money and hopefully pay less taxes.
Man, what I wouldn't give to be paid to do nothing but think. Then again, based on the response from the professional "thinkers" of France, thinking isn't a cake walk:
“How absurd to say we should think less!” said Alain Finkielkraut, the philosopher, writer, professor and radio show host. “If you have the chance to consecrate your life to thinking, you work all the time, even in your sleep. Thinking requires setbacks, suffering, a lot of sweat.”
Bernard-Henri Lévy, the much more splashy philosopher-journalist who wrote a book retracing Tocqueville’s 19th-century travels throughout the United States, is similarly appalled by Ms. Lagarde’s comments.
“This is the sort of thing you can hear in cafe conversations from morons who drink too much,” said Mr. Lévy, who is so well-known in French that he is known simply by his initials B.H.L. “To my knowledge this is the first time in modern French history that a minister dares to utter such phrases. I’m pro-American and pro-market, so I could have voted for Nicolas Sarkozy, but this anti-intellectual tendency is one of the reasons that I did not.”
Last minute addition: Oh yeah, and be sure to use a snooty French accent to speak those quotes in your head for effect.
No comments:
Post a Comment