A French Perspective

As part of the Anglosphere (the English-speaking world), I am acutely aware of the bias my sources of information (the paper, websites, books) creates: they’re all in English. If you don’t see what I mean, consider this: which Western country do you hear endless praise for in its handling of COVID-19? Is it New Zealand? Or Germany? Even though Germany is far bigger, shares borders with numerous countries, matters far more globally, and did more tests than almost anyone else in the West, we only hear of English-speaking New Zealand…

 

Consider this my humorous effort to get a different opinion. A Frenchman’s opinion. And one with views that one, er, doesn’t hear often. From Niccolo Soldo’s interview with Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, here are a few snippets.

 

The interview started with the usual complaint against the French, of “looking at you like a filthy peasant when you dare ask them a question in English”, and that the “French are the epitome of snobbery”. Gobry’s response?

“The English word "snob" is an inaccurate description, since a snob is someone who thinks he's superior, which is different from a Frenchman, who knows he's superior. Our food is superior, our language is superior, our culture is superior, our women are more beautiful and sophisticated.”

 

Remember the #MeToo movement on Twitter, where women began calling out men in positions of power who had sexually harassed them? It took off in the Anglosphere, but didn’t get much traction in France. Why not?

“I initially looked upon #MeToo as a positive, since punishing sexual degenerates is good (if they're not me). But it quickly devolved into pure mob violence and scapegoating. As it went on and the mob came after men who were clearly just awkward fumblers rather than predators, it did powerfully highlight that progressives are utterly incapable of understanding human sexuality at any level. No wonder they're so miserable and angry all the time.”

 

Of late, the French have gotten more aggressive in their steps against not just Islamic violence but even against those anti-Islamophobia organizations. (It’s why there were anti-Macron protests in Islamic countries). How come?

“Not everything is about a victimhood narrative; that people have agency. Which means maybe terrorism isn't the product of alleged discrimination or lack of opportunity….that ideas have consequences and that Islamism is a package of ideas violently hostile to everything the West holds dear.”

 

On Macron, the French President who married his school teacher?

“Whether it's his MILF teacher or the Presidency of the Republic, when Macron sees something he likes, he takes it. And it's hard not to respect.”

I can’t imagine a head of state in the Anglosphere having married his teacher.

 

On France’s ever-decreasing role on the global stage?

“I see the Brits as having eagerly embraced their decline. Churchill was quite cheerfully resigned to it, from 1942 onwards. Indeed, in Suez, it was the Brits who wanted to bail first, predictably, and the French only left once both superpowers threatened them with nuclear annihilation (which on the scale of surrenders surely ranks as one of the most excusable ones).”

Then he took a shot at (who else?) the British:

“The Brits are notorious for not having an independent foreign policy, and bragging about it… I've always had a bit of sympathy for (Tony) Blair and his dogged defense of the Iraq war; it's not like he had any choice in the matter.”

He’s very honest how the EU has turned out. From a French point, that is:

“As for France, using the EU as a vehicle was always the plan. "We will be the rider, and Germany will be the horse." Didn't exactly work out that way, did it?”

 

On the accusation that the French don’t have any sense of humour:

“Dude, French humor kills. Just ask the staff at Charlie Hebdo.”

 

Jokes aside, I think there were a lot of different-from-my-Anglosphere-diet perspectives in that fun-read of an interview.