Rillifane
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At its most basic level there is no difference of course.
People are born, go to school, work, fall in love, get married, raise children, hope, dream and eventually die.
The details differ and are influenced by politics, culture and the physical environment.
The French live under a government that regulates and taxes them far more than American government does its citizens.
Marginal tax rates in France are considerably higher than in the USA and the government proportionately larger.
Therefore the average French citizen has less disposible income than an American but receives more services from the government.
Notably, the French government system of public health insurance provides a very high level of care to all citizens.
Public education at the college level is very low cost as there are no tuition charges.
A government system of early childhood education provides care for kids starting from age two.
On the other hand, the French government is far more intrusive than the American goverment and the French bureacracy is a constant source of citizen complaints for its often petty, surly, and unhelpful behavior. Government regulations dictate a host of standards, permissions and permits that are rarely encountered in the USA.
Culturally, the French differ in many small but apparent ways.
They are somewhat more formal than Americans and the sort of hale and hearty, slap on the back, ready informality and big smiles to all American persona is regarded by most of the French as crass and a bit goofy. From the American standpoint the French are therefore often seen as aloof and unfriendly or even rude.
The French are quite proud of their intellectual heritage and tend to be better informed about world events than Americans. The French role model is one of their famous philosophers or intellectuals in the mode of Sartre. The French delight in debate and Americans, who have been told by their parents never to argue politics or religion often think that the French are attacking them rather than engaging in normal behavior. the French tend to think the Americans are dunces who never want to talk about anything of substance.
Americans have traditionally scorned intellectuals and American popular culture generally extolls the man of action. Think of the many movies in which the brilliant and cultured bad guy gets taken down by some hulking toughguy. The American role model is the cowboy gunslinger played by John Wayne. That's why in the current election cycle Americans may listen to the candidates debate but there is no analysis of the intelligence of the arguments made but only a evaluation of who got off the best zinger. The press focues on things like Hillary choking up or John Edwards good looks because thier audience would go to sleep if they discussed the candidate's platform in detail.
France is much smaller than the United States. all of France could fit into Texas with plenty of room left over. That, coupled with lower disposible incomes. mean that a smaller percentage of Frenchmen own their own home and their homes are small compared to American ones. That makes entertaining at home a moment of greater intimacy than for Americans and sends Frenchmen to cafes to sit, think, write or meet with friends when an American would be sitting in his den or inviting people over for a pool party or barbecue.
That is one reason why friendships are a bit harder to make in France. People are more guarded about their personal spaces because those spaces. being smaller, are much more intimate.
So in America you may have hundreds of people who have been to your home, some of very slight acquaintance but in France you will likely have a much smaller and more tightly knit circle of friends with whom you visit.
Finally, the French spend more time appreciating life and less time working than Americans. Month long vacations are the norm along with 35 hour work weeks.
Most of my French friends cannot fathom why, before I retired, I put in an average 12 work hours a day during the week and then often did 5 or 6 hours of work at home each day of the weekend. When I explain that the work expectation for a lawyer in the firm of which I was the senior partner was 60 billable hours a week they regard me as very close to being insane (to say nothing of being a slave driver viz my employees).
In fact the new President of France has, as a top priority, getting the French to spend more time working.
NB@Bambis: You should note that for decades now the French have ben sending their young vintners to California to study winemaking at UCal Davis and that California wines routinely win blind tastings versus French wines. |
Pure Jersey
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Very different. The french are really cool people, not saying Americans aren't cool, some are. There is very old history there. The food is better, the wine is better....it just has an old world feel to it. I like France very much. If I could afford it, I would live there for the bread, cheeese, wine and the countryside. |
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