"Cheese-eating surrender monkeys"

The quote of course is from The Simpsons and refers to the Battle of France. Many unflattering versions of history have the Battle of France as pretty much a surrender to Germany. I can't help but think about that quote as I read about the nationwide strike that is paralyzing the City of Light and the rest of France.

When Americans think of France, they tend to think of an artsy nation full of liberal thinking egalitarians. History tends to show a different side. The huge economic disparity between the monarchy and peasants led to the French revolution, which in-turn gave the world Emperor Napoleon. After ridding themselves of monarchs and despots, the bourgeois settled in to try their hand at running things. The bourgeois begat the Vichy. The bourgeois subjugated much of sub-Saharan Africa. The French did such a wonderful job of persecuting the Muslims of Angola that it is rather surprising that 9/11 happened on American versus French soil. The United States is struggling with how they feel about Muslims (something Juan Williams chose to dive into head first) but we have nothing on the French.

The French worker sees themselves aligned with the peasant class of the revolution but with a sense of privilege. A brief example, an eight hour work day in France includes lunch time. In the US, lunch is not considered part of the 8 hour work day so most Americans work 9 or more hours. Most Americans get a 30 minute lunch break, many get 60 minutes. In France, lunch is much more of a relaxed concept with no set amount time. French workers work less hours than Americans yet they get paid more. The French pension system is much more robust than what the average American can expect. Maintaining such a system though is bankrupting the country. Never mind all of that, the French worker is so entitled that if they feel these privileges threatened, a strike is inevitable. I wonder if Mr. Sarkozy will surrender?



France in turmoil as nationwide strike over pension reform stretches on