Refreshingly Un-moralistic

The Brits and the Americans usually talk contemptuously about the French. I guess the Brits feel that way due to all the wars they’ve fought with France over centuries. And the Americans feel the French surrendered without a fight to the Nazis and then had to be “saved” by the Yankees. Subsequent events reinforced the animosity: in the 1970’s, Charles de Gaulle said he didn’t trust the dollar and wanted to convert all of France’s dollars into gold. And the French, unlike the Brits, refused to be America’s poodle in the Iraq war.

In India, (for most of us) our opinion of France is largely based on Paris and the Eiffel Tower. And if you like arts and paintings, there’s no place like the Louvre. Plus, the French language sounds sexy. What’s not to like about the French? Other than their reluctance to speak in English…

Among the Europeans, I feel the French are the least hypocritical and moralistic nation. They do what they want to do. And couldn’t care less about what others do. Take 3 examples of that.

They kidnapped the world’s most famous assassin, Carlos the Jackal, from Sudan and brought him to stand trial in Paris. I’m pretty sure kidnapping violates some international law or the other.

Then there’s the uproar over the Roma deportations by France. Roma is another name for gypsies, a nomadic and long persecuted group through all of Europe. The EU is crying itself hoarse about such racism and bigotry and violation of EU law (EU citizens are allowed to travel freely through the EU). You think the French care?

And most recently, they banned the burqa in public places. President Sarkozy called the burqa "a sign of enslavement and debasement”. Plus, it is considered to be very un-French because offenders could be asked to attend courses on what the government calls "republican values".

Unlike the Anglo-Saxons, the French don’t preach about human rights, tolerance or international law to the rest of the world. It’s refreshing to see a European country that is so, well, un-moralistic. I guess that’s also why it’s so common for the French to have mistresses!

Comments

  1. KumarSeptember 19, 2010 at 7:58 AM

    When you finished the piece with "I guess that’s also why it’s so common for the French to have mistresses!" I recalled that in French there is an expression called 'menage a trois' (not sure of the spelling),which kind-of translates as 'three together'. When a man lives/sleeps with two women or when a women lives/sleeps with two men this expression comes in handy to describe the situation.

    You try this in a moralistic country, and particularly in the context of women in the middle of two men, hell will break loose!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Guruprasad RaoSeptember 21, 2010 at 10:54 AM

    VK - There will always be nay-sayers and resilience to match the bulls eye in India. It seems to be part of our everyday fiber, both moral and otherwise.

    It's isn't easy to pin down why, but it's good thing that we are not giving up ... you can give a try to get mistresses ... a french one :-)

    ReplyDelete

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