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Do the French think too much? - 7/22/2007 1:20:26 PM

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PARIS, July 21 — France is the country that produced the Enlightenment, Descartes’s one-liner, “I think, therefore I am,” and the solemn pontifications of Jean-Paul Sartre and other celebrity philosophers.

But in the government of President Nicolas Sarkozy, thinking has lost its cachet.

In proposing a tax-cut law last week, Finance Minister Christine Lagarde bluntly advised the French people to abandon their “old national habit.”

“France is a country that thinks,” she told the National Assembly. “There is hardly an ideology that we haven’t turned into a theory. We have in our libraries enough to talk about for centuries to come. This is why I would like to tell you: Enough thinking, already. Roll up your sleeves.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/world/europe/22france.html?ei=5087%0A&em=&en=392a32ad70d7c796&ex=1185249600&pagewanted=all

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RE: Do the French think too much? - 7/22/2007 1:55:40 PM

CuriousLord

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A nation.. on Earth.. ..that thinks.. too much..? ..yeah....

There's a valid point that one need not be intelligent to be productive. Further, such pursuit of thought may come at the cost of productivity- a farmer that spends all of his life considering his plants, never actually planting or harvesting anything, may not be the most productive farmer ever. However, such a farmer, should he find some advancement that might give, say, a 3% better yield, would be practical in a community with a population of over 33 other farmers. There should be balance.

Also, it's incredibly important to consider the type of thought. Philosophical thought, for all of its appeal, is often mental masturbation. On the other hand, Engineering thought can carry huge benifits for the society of the thinker. With the way the world is going, I certainly hope that this Frechman doesn't hope for his population to forsake practical engineering thought!

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RE: Do the French think too much? - 7/22/2007 3:35:40 PM

popeye1250

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LOL! Ah,.....no, I'll take a pass on this one.

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RE: Do the French think too much? - 7/22/2007 4:17:22 PM

TheHeretic

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quote:

ORIGINAL: CuriousLord
I certainly hope that this Frechman doesn't hope for his population to forsake practical engineering thought!

I take it you don't have much experience with French automobiles...

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RE: Do the French think too much? - 7/22/2007 4:18:34 PM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

quote:

ORIGINAL: CuriousLord
I certainly hope that this Frechman doesn't hope for his population to forsake practical engineering thought!

I take it you don't have much experience with French automobiles...

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RE: Do the French think too much? - 7/22/2007 4:50:41 PM

stella40

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Thinking is a bit like speaking. It requires evidence of action or an achievement to be any good.

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RE: Do the French think too much? - 7/22/2007 4:51:17 PM

Griswold

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Level

PARIS, July 21 — France is the country that produced the Enlightenment, Descartes’s one-liner, “I think, therefore I am,” and the solemn pontifications of Jean-Paul Sartre and other celebrity philosophers.

But in the government of President Nicolas Sarkozy, thinking has lost its cachet.

In proposing a tax-cut law last week, Finance Minister Christine Lagarde bluntly advised the French people to abandon their “old national habit.”

“France is a country that thinks,” she told the National Assembly. “There is hardly an ideology that we haven’t turned into a theory. We have in our libraries enough to talk about for centuries to come. This is why I would like to tell you: Enough thinking, already. Roll up your sleeves.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/world/europe/22france.html?ei=5087%0A&em=&en=392a32ad70d7c796&ex=1185249600&pagewanted=all

Mon Dieu!!!!

(They said):

“How absurd to say we should think less!” said Alain Finkielkraut, the philosopher, writer, professor and radio show host. “If you have the chance to consecrate your life to thinking, you work all the time, even in your sleep. Thinking requires setbacks, suffering, a lot of sweat.”

The government’s call to work is crucial to its ambitious campaign to revitalize the French economy by increasing both employment and consumer buying power. Somehow Mr. Sarkozy and his team hope to persuade the French that it is in their interest to abandon what some commentators call a nationwide “laziness” and to work longer and harder, and maybe even get rich.

(God forbid).

“We are seeing an important cultural change,” said Eric Chaney, chief economist for Europe for Morgan Stanley. “Working families in France want to be richer. Wealth is no longer a taboo.

Still, the French seem to be divided about the best way to get rich. On Thursday, a widely reported TNS-Sofres poll of more than 1,000 people concluded that 39 percent of the French think that it is possible to get rich by winning the lottery; only 40 percent believe that getting rich can happen through work.

“Western civilization, in its best sense, was born with the promenade,” Mr. Finkielkraut said, noting that thinkers like Aristotle, Heidegger and Rimbaud all were walkers. “Walking is a sensitive, spiritual act. Jogging — it is management of the body.”

Jog.

(Get rich).

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RE: Do the French think too much? - 7/22/2007 4:54:12 PM

kittinSol

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Level

quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

quote:

ORIGINAL: CuriousLord
I certainly hope that this Frechman doesn't hope for his population to forsake practical engineering thought!

I take it you don't have much experience with French automobiles...

Oi! French motors aren't as solid as Vulva... sorry, Volvos, but they're fun to drive

: ever been in an old Citroen DS? The one with the hydraulic suspension? Now we're talking!

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RE: Do the French think too much? - 7/22/2007 4:55:57 PM

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Le Citroen Ds : http://fawny.org/blog/images/BabyBlueCitroenDS.jpg

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RE: Do the French think too much? - 7/22/2007 4:58:20 PM

kittinSol

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That's exactly the one! A thing of beauty, and the link you sent represents a particularly fine example. Thank you, Lev :-)

PS: more seriously, Nicolas Sarkozy has a Napoleon complex. As for Lagarde, or whatever her name is, the woman who extolled the virtues of no-think, she should be locked up in a fish factory gutting stinkers all day

PPS: en bref, Sarko est un sale con.

< Message edited by kittinSol -- 7/22/2007 5:05:29 PM >

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RE: Do the French think too much? - 7/22/2007 5:03:59 PM

TheHeretic

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I had one of these. The seats were wonderfully engineered to fold flat and give you a nice place to have sex while you waited for someone to come pick you up when it broke down.

I drove it for two months before I figured out how to honk the horn...

http://www.garage24.net/m504-1.htm

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RE: Do the French think too much? - 7/22/2007 7:17:42 PM

popeye1250

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quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

I had one of these. The seats were wonderfully engineered to fold flat and give you a nice place to have sex while you waited for someone to come pick you up when it broke down.

I drove it for two months before I figured out how to honk the horn...

http://www.garage24.net/m504-1.htm

GOD, what an UGLY fuckin car!!!
It looks so,..so,............FRENCH!

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RE: Do the French think too much? - 7/22/2007 8:36:32 PM

Lordandmaster