Bill Maher on France, 2007 (don’t agree that it’s the greenest country but he still makes his point well)
I’ve had it. I’m beyond fed up with having my critiques of happenings in the US interpreted as anti-American sentiment. The beauty of an indepedent civil society is that it allows the people to express criticisms and bring attention to the areas that require change. Of course, the downfall is representative democracy where the interest of the people can’t effect change unless they reflect what is profitable and secures reelection. But I digress.
This potential series, “Misconceptions about France” is motivated by further backlash I’ve received from a couple of family members (not Obama supporters if that was even a doubt in your mind) who perceived one of my most recent comments to be an example of liberal idiocy. I posted an article to facebook that talked about how the meat in fast food restaurants in the US has been found to be safer than the meat in school lunches. I prefaced the article by saying
“Perhaps a reason to have kids in France?”.
I could go into a lengthy, vehement monologue about the mechanized and corrupt food industry in America and its irreverence toward public health, but I’ll leave that for another post. This isn’t really about that. It’s about being able to critically analyze your homeland, point out its flaws and support those that strive to correct them. The backlash came in the form of a repost with the comments:
The best reason to have kids in France would be that their ultra-liberal idiot parents would stay there with them. Then they can say how wonderful France is. How many Americans died to make sure the French don’t speak German today ?
I like to think I’m equally critical of the US and France. I was motivated to start this blog after a
frustrating morning commute that left me thinking how inefficient this country is and I’ve continued to vent my frustrations with everything from the lack of
customer service and
festivity to the
sartorial standards. But this isn’t good enough, according to the author of the above comment, who claims that:
If you are critical of your new homeland, and critical of your old homeland, perhaps you should move to another homeland. Criticizing is wonderful, why don’t you do something about it?
The commentator is a former navy seal whose anger seems to stem from the fact that he fought for his country and the rights that I, apparently, take for granted. He is unquestionably patriotic (nothing wrong with that) and ostensibly anti-France without just reason, quick to throw down the big bad socialism card in the debate on universal healthcare. Wanting BOTH my homelands to improve and prosper is one of the most patriotic things I could do in addition to enlightening others in order to foster conversation.
What do you think? Does expressing dissatisfaction and disappointment with one’s homeland invariably make them unpatriotic?
Your assignment: SHARE!
To kick off this blog series, I want your thoughts. What are some of the most commonly propagated misconceptions about France that you think should be included?
Thank you to Bill Maher (as you probably know by now, I’m a loyal fan. Thank god for free itunes podcasts!) for kicking off this series.
