With free access to healthcare, free schools and universities, and a 35-hour work week maximum, the French seem to have few reasons to be gloomy. Sp why are the French, who seem to have much, so quick to protest?
For the last week, bus and train drivers have been on strike, paralyzing the public transportation system. Police officers, teachers, civil servants, hospital staff and many other workers have joined in protests over President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to reform the country’s complex pension system.
Economist Claudia Senik, a professor at the famous Sorbonne University, has studied the French malaise and believes it dates back to the 1970s and the end of the “Trente Glorieuses,” the 30 postwar years when France boomed. On paper, the French have few reasons to be gloomy: They enjoy free and universal access to an enviable health system ranked first by the World Health Organization, free schools and universities, a maximum 35-hour workweek, six weeks’ annual vacation, paid parental leave and anDespite the recent strikes, the pension system is comparatively generous: Retirement age is 62, but many workers in the public sector, including train drivers, can retire much earlier, some in their early 50s.
“Americans consult life coaches with the goal of self-improvement. It’s goal-oriented and based on a positive outlook. The French see a psychiatrist for a lifetime and never feel their deep-seated troubles have been resolved. French melancholy is inscribed in literature and art. Voltaire satirized optimism in his classic ‘Candide.’ Later, French existentialism made nihilism fashionable,” Fraser added.
“France is not a ‘yes we can’ civilization, it’s a ‘no we can’t.’ We have a saying: If you want to live happily in France, live hidden,” Moutet says.by the country’s National Drug Safety agency found 32% of French took antidepressants, sleeping pills or other mood-altering medication on a regular or occasional basis.
Denis Olivennes in his new book, “Delicious French Unhappiness,” writes that France has become a “society of mutual detestation.”“The French model, the strong feeling of a common identity culture, is finished. Everyone thinks their neighbor has it better than them and so we all have this intense social resentment, jealousy and mistrust,” he writes.
Deutschland Neuesten Nachrichten, Deutschland Schlagzeilen
Similar News:Sie können auch ähnliche Nachrichten wie diese lesen, die wir aus anderen Nachrichtenquellen gesammelt haben.
With 71 soldiers dead in Niger, anti-French sentiment grows in West AfricaFrance’s security failure in the Sahel has caused popular anger towards the former colonial power as many chant: 'Get out France, we don’t want to see you here.'
Weiterlesen »
Review: Knife Pleat is the perfectly tailored French restaurant Orange County needsCritic Patricia Escárcega reviews Knife Pleat, a modern French restaurant in Costa Mesa.
Weiterlesen »
French PM defies unions with pension overhaul, they pledge more strikesFrench Prime Minister Edouard Philippe defies striking workers with plans for a pension overhaul. Trade unions pledge more strikes, with one union leader calling the plan ‘a joke’
Weiterlesen »
French workers will need to work until age 64 to get full pension, prime minister saysFrench Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the minimum retirement age will remain 62, but workers will have to work until 64 to get a full pension.
Weiterlesen »
Macron Grapples With Showdown Over French Pensions After Days of ProtestsAn overhaul of the pension system—particularly entitlements owed to France’s robust public sector—is central to the president’s campaign of transforming the nation’s economy.
Weiterlesen »
Macron calls for immediate release of French nationals held in IranFrench President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday the imprisonment of two French ...
Weiterlesen »