112 Gripes About the French • Hacker News Board

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#231

Post by analognoise » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 4:41 PM UTC

cycomanic wrote: post #165

analognoise wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We donate more to humanitarian causes than the next 10 countries combined. We openly admit we're not perfect and work to make things better. We do more good than anyone else - by a MASSIVE margin. We openly admit we've made mistakes. Where does this reflexive anti-American bullshit come from?

The what you call "reflexive anti-american bullshit" comes because of post like yours, which without evidence spout claims such as "we do more good than anyone else - by a assive margin". The US (as in government) like all large powers are doing a lot of self interested power politics. They have overthrown many democratically elected governments and supported (and sometimes even put in place) some of the worst dictat…

Go look up humanitarian giving. These are quantifiable numbers. We do more than the next 10 countries rolled up.

We AGREE about the negative bullshit the US has done. We're actively trying to work on that shit, none of us like it. We've actually done a stellar job looking at our history and current practices and saying "That was fucked up" and "We should fix this going forward."

But we still do WAY more good than, like I said, the next 10 countries combined.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/275597/largers-donor-cou...

So it's not all roses, but... Yeah, I wouldn't dismiss us as a net benefit.

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#232

Post by afr0ck » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 4:44 PM UTC

ThePadawan wrote: post #9

> (...) tensions began to rise between the French and the U.S. military personnel stationed in the country, with the former seeing the latter as arrogant and wanting to flaunt their wealth, and the latter seeing the former as proud and resentful. Well. I mean... Joking aside, the text is amazingly blunt and honest, in a rather refreshing way. "The French don't bathe." The French don't bathe often enough. They can't.…

I like the fact that the French didn't like American presence on their sole and had offensive feelings towards that, while at the same time, they were forcefully present all over Africa with totalitarian and oppressive military administrations.

In Algeria, many fought in WW2 as part of the French Expeditionary Corps (e.g; my great-grandfather) with the hope that in case the allies win, Algerians could possibly negotiate some sort of self-governance. on the 8th of May 45, thousands of Algerians protested for independence. The civilians faced an immediate annihilation by the French military [1], resulting in up to 30,000 dead civilians. And who can believe this happened in the aftermath of ending NAZI Germany?!!!! I mean that's very ironic but well ...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9tif_and_Guelma_massacre

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#233

Post by JumpCrisscross » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 4:45 PM UTC

orthoxerox wrote: post #222

dheera wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

xkcd doesn't agree with the "duty to listen". https://xkcd.com/1357/

Randall makes a typical mistake: the constitution bans one specific form of censorship, therefore all other forms of censorship are acceptable. They are not, they just aren't so unequivocally bad that you can ban them in the constitution with a single sentence.

> the constitution bans one specific form of censorship, therefore all other forms of censorship are acceptable

The First Amendment is perhaps the most powerful manifestation of the philosophy of free speech in our world today. As a result, we have a habit of conflating the two. But a culture of free speech can wither while the First Amendment remains strong (and vice versa).

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#234

Post by rascul » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 4:46 PM UTC

Intermernet wrote: post #178

jl6 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And one day, successive iterations of OCR, copy & paste, and machine learning will have us remembering the events of Peary Harbor.

Peary harbour was the site where the confederate forces of Robert Peary, in 1909, fought the communist forces of Franz Ferdinand. Ferdinand's forces were armed with revolutionary fire-arms, fitted with sights known as "Cross-hairs". This was immortalised in the song "Take Me Out" by the band "The Beegees", famous for their Delta-Blues sound, in 2067.

> in 2067

Music from the future? ;)

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#235

Post by thih9 » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 4:47 PM UTC

ThePadawan wrote: post #9

> (...) tensions began to rise between the French and the U.S. military personnel stationed in the country, with the former seeing the latter as arrogant and wanting to flaunt their wealth, and the latter seeing the former as proud and resentful. Well. I mean... Joking aside, the text is amazingly blunt and honest, in a rather refreshing way. "The French don't bathe." The French don't bathe often enough. They can't.…

Number 48. seems related, both about cleanliness and being blunt. I was glancing through the text and I was very surprised when I found it.

> "I'd like the French a lot better if they were cleaner."

> That's perfectly understandable.

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#236

Post by vanous » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 4:49 PM UTC

gregsadetsky wrote: post #88

Fantastic read! Via the French Wikipedia page about this booklet [0], I learned that the probable author is Leo Rosten, author of “The Joys of Yiddish” [1]..! That makes sense as “Joys” is an incredibly funny and witty read on the interplays between Yiddish and English in the US. Much recommended From Rosten’s Wikipedia page [2]: — In his book, The Joys of Yiddish, he defines the word chutzpah as "that quality enshri…

Omg. Kaplan. HYMAN KAPLA*N. :) Thank you.

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#237

Post by analognoise » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 4:49 PM UTC

Intermernet wrote: post #170

analognoise wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We donate more to humanitarian causes than the next 10 countries combined. We openly admit we're not perfect and work to make things better. We do more good than anyone else - by a MASSIVE margin. We openly admit we've made mistakes. Where does this reflexive anti-American bullshit come from?

You know how you just got all defensive and insulted about a generalization made about America? That's how the Chinese, Iranians, Russians, Iraqis etc. feel when you make generalizations about them. The recent US leadership hasn't done a very good job of representing "American Values". You can expect anti-American sentiment from this. It may not be justified when referring to individuals, but neither is the xenophobi…

...the countries that repress their own citizens and don't have a free press? You go to China and point out abuses. See how it goes. Or Russia - just don't stand by any windows.

Those countries have legitimate issues we call out. We call ours out too. That's the difference.

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#238

Post by julienfr112 » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 4:50 PM UTC

danans wrote: post #220

isbvhodnvemrwvn wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

Race operates on an individual regardless of their behavior. It is a construct that is based on physical appearance only. Race is something that an individual has no control over. Culture and ethnicity are constructs derived from behaviors, including language, manner of dress, interests, etc. Culture/ethnicity is something that depending on the individual, they can have far more (though not total) control over, via c…

Yeah, maybe French people could just unfrench their frenchiness...

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#239

Post by ThePadawan » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 4:50 PM UTC

eplanit wrote: post #209

techrat wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever been on the L in Chicago in a car without working air conditioning? Spoiler: Everybody stinks.

Wrong. Try Japan. They're clean, polite, and courteous. Crowded trains in August (like all year) are surprisingly absent of body odor (and litter, and noisy people, ...). Different folks are indeed different in some ways.

Well if you want to compare Japan to other countries, you should be aware that the fear of being a burden to others due to one's body odor is a very Japanese phenomenon [0].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taijin_kyofusho

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#240

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 4:50 PM UTC

orthoxerox wrote: post #222

dheera wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

xkcd doesn't agree with the "duty to listen". https://xkcd.com/1357/

Randall makes a typical mistake: the constitution bans one specific form of censorship, therefore all other forms of censorship are acceptable. They are not, they just aren't so unequivocally bad that you can ban them in the constitution with a single sentence.

[deleted]