France’s hangover manifests as a permanent state of insurrection masquerading as “civic engagement.” Their identity is split between a delusional elite who still think Paris is the capital of the universe and a populace that expresses its “joie de vivre” by burning down bus stops every Thursday. The French suffer from a Napoleonic complex without a Napoleon; they demand the living standards of a conquering empire while working a 35-hour week and retiring at an age when most Americans are just hitting their stride. They preach “Republican values” and aggressive secularism, yet the state has lost control over vast swathes of its own suburbs. France is essentially a beautiful, open-air museum where the curators are on strike, the guards are afraid of the visitors, and the management is busy lecturing the rest of the world on “grandeur” while the electricity bill goes unpaid.
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France’s hangover manifests as a permanent state of insurrection masquerading as “civic engagement.” Their identity is split between a delusional elite who still think Paris is the capital of the universe and a populace that expresses its “joie de vivre” by burning down bus stops every Thursday. The French suffer from a Napoleonic complex without a Napoleon; they demand the [[living standards]] of a conquering [[empire]] while working a 35-hour week and retiring at an age when most Americans are just hitting their stride. They preach “Republican values” and aggressive [[secularism]], yet the state has lost control over vast swathes of its own suburbs. France is essentially a beautiful, open-air museum where the curators are on strike, the guards are afraid of the visitors, and the management is busy lecturing the rest of the world on “grandeur” while the electricity bill goes unpaid.