112 Gripes About the French • Hacker News Board

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#71

Post by retrac » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 1:23 PM UTC

k__ wrote: post #5

Interesting. I always had the impression, the US citizens and french citizen where buddies. Because of the independence war and the statue and everything.

France and the United States could not be more alike in national spirit (as elusive a concept as that is). Born of a similar era in revolution with practically the same slogans. Their constitutions paraphrase each other. Both deem themselves the birthplace of the modern republic and democracy, perhaps modern civilization itself.

With all that in mind, I wouldn't say buddies. More like siblings... with a serious rivalry going on.

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#72

Post by kimchidude » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 1:23 PM UTC

"Our friends the French" (the book's title in France) is a much softer title.

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#73

Post by QuesnayJr » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 1:24 PM UTC

QuesnayJr wrote: post #6

I've never heard of this. I'm reading the original right now -- it's amazing.

This website has serious problems with its voting culture. The serial downvoters should be banned from the site, but they never will be, because dang doesn't see the problem. You can't take disagree, and you can't agree.

Whatever, I'm out. Life's too short.

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#74

Post by eplanit » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 1:25 PM UTC

orwin wrote: post #61

fvdessen wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. 75 years later this topic is still taboo

It's honestly not taboo anymore. Multiple history books have breached the subject, and we can now say that while they were rape from US soldiers, the sentiments were inflated because the liberation let a lot of locals distraught, angry an hungry. Also US military had a bad reputation for multiple other reasons (some racism maybe, but also the bombing and the fact that they sort of replaced the germans as an occupatio…

"US soldier were rude, assertive and agressive towards women, and this was caused by racism and too much ego"

Do you regard French and Americans as different races?

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#75

Post by eplanit » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 1:25 PM UTC

k__ wrote: post #5

Interesting. I always had the impression, the US citizens and french citizen where buddies. Because of the independence war and the statue and everything.

Allies, not buddies.

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#76

Post by wffurr » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 1:32 PM UTC

bkirkby wrote: post #62

adamjb wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Offended" would be my suggestion. "Triggered" is only really used in this sense as part of bad faith culture war discourse, mocking the idea of trigger warnings.

I've heard advocates of trigger warnings share their lived experience by talking about what "triggered" them, using that word specifically.

There's a big difference between describing one's own experience and labeling others.

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#77

Post by coldtea » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 1:34 PM UTC

postingawayonhn wrote: post #54

411111111111111 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another thing that's been mostly sweeped under the rug wrt WW2 is that Russia both did the most damage to the German army and paid the highest price. America only started their offensive after Russia started winning and likely only wanted to deny them Europe. And the heavy casualties in the war likely caused Russia to fold on the cold war as well, there were just not enough able men after the war to create families w…

No western democracy could have paid the human cost the USSR did. Arguably they only paid such a high price due to their industrial underdevelopment which was partly due to their economic and political system. It's often said that the war was won with British intelligence, American steel, and Soviet blood.

>Arguably they only paid such a high price due to their industrial underdevelopment which was partly due to their economic and political system.

Very arguably, as it's actually the opposite: the socialism forced mass force industrialization, and prepared USSR better for WWII than Russia ever had any chance of being.

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#78

Post by coldtea » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 1:35 PM UTC

mbfg wrote: post #66

bumby wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wish we had such a book currently on how arabs and the muslim world are different I also wish we had such a book currently on how progressive and conservatives are different

sometimes groups of people are just nasty, bad people worthy of mocking and ridicule. You can't always pretend that situations are around reasonable differences of opinion with each side being honest actors. Each situation is going to be different. the english/french situation may be one way and the progressive/conservative situation may be different.

sometimes groups of people are just nasty, bad people worthy of mocking and ridicule

Yes, conservatives aren't just people with a different belief system than yours. They are bad people, liars, evil, rotten to the core, and deserve to die.

/s

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#79

Post by coldtea » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 1:37 PM UTC

eplanit wrote: post #52

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.…

It's true. Europeans of that era did not bathe everyday. My stepfather escaped nazi Germany, and moved to the us in the 40s. He grudgingly adapted to daily bathing (my mother's insistence), but remarked how very American that is. He was very 20th century European, for sure.

>It's true. Europeans of that era did not bathe everyday.

Americans of a very close earlier ear didn't bathe everyday either...

Re: 112 Gripes About the French

#80

Post by smhost » Sat, Jul 17, 2021, 1:39 PM UTC

postingawayonhn wrote: post #54

411111111111111 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another thing that's been mostly sweeped under the rug wrt WW2 is that Russia both did the most damage to the German army and paid the highest price. America only started their offensive after Russia started winning and likely only wanted to deny them Europe. And the heavy casualties in the war likely caused Russia to fold on the cold war as well, there were just not enough able men after the war to create families w…

No western democracy could have paid the human cost the USSR did. Arguably they only paid such a high price due to their industrial underdevelopment which was partly due to their economic and political system. It's often said that the war was won with British intelligence, American steel, and Soviet blood.

> their industrial underdevelopment which was partly due to their economic and political system

I'm sorry? They went from a peasant society immediately to defending against multiple foreign invasions (including the U.S.) to fighting and defeating the fascists, all in three decades. That was achievable only due to their economic and political system.