5 ms·

Hacker News?

jacquesm 16y ago
Yep. If only because the author is a regular contributor here. What with the recent spate of questions here about what the ideal country to live in is this is one way in which you could answer that question.
- Jun8 16y ago
  Disagree. People can blog on many different domains. Just because someone is a regular contributor here doesn't mean that all his ideas about anything under the sun is relevant to HN. Also, some of his points are highly debatable. The OP seesm to be against the Iraq war and mentions France's occupation of Algeria, but fails to notice the irony that that occupation was as brutal and unjust as the Iraq one. As for France being the best country to live in, well, this is not the place for that type of discussion, but just a few highlights to the contrary: (i) highly elitist attitude of French towards foreigners, especially if you cannot speak French well; (ii) toxic environment for startups (this applies to a lot of European countries but France is an extreme example, I think), (iii) high taxes (again, true for most Europe), (iv) (to me the worst) the Grand Illusion that French governments for the past 60 years have tried to continue, namely that France is a superpower, with its own sphere of influence (on paper, they love the Francophones, but if you are dark skinned and live in Paris you are despised). They go to great lengths, even detonating nuclear bombs and sinking Greenpeace ships to keep this illusion. OK, that was my prejudiced (aren't we all?) ideas on France. Now, let the downvoting begin.
  - jacquesm 16y ago
    I think you missed the humor in that post entirely.
    - Jun8 16y ago
      Maybe you are right. OP's post seems to be flame bait, but raises some interesting questions. As I said, these are loong discussions, better to be left for a meeting on a rainy day in a small Viennaise cafe, over pastries and hot tea. However, let me say this much: Every European country has prejudices about the other ones, and, of course, about the US. These are not well-known in the US, who tend to lump Europeans together (was IKEA from Sweden or Norway?) except for some simplistic stereotypes, i.e. Paris is the city of love, Germans make great cars, you can smoke pot in Netherlands, etc. etc. It's like the Chinese denoting all Europe as "Westerners". My favorite stereotype quote comes from Shibumi by Trevenian: "But even I am forced to admit that they [the French] are a ridiculous people, just as one must confess that the British are bungling, the Italians incompetent, the American neurotic, the Germans romantically savage, the Arabs vicious, the Russians barbaric, and the Dutch make cheese." The interesting thing is that there's always some truth in stereotypes. The thinking man's job is to find the percentage of truth. P.S. Kieslowski's *White" is a movie that I like, that addresses some of the issues of living in France (and being married to a French woman)

Hacker News?

Yep. If only because the author is a regular contributor here. What with the recent spate of questions here about what the ideal country to live in is this is one way in which you could answer that question.

Jun8 16y ago
Disagree. People can blog on many different domains. Just because someone is a regular contributor here doesn't mean that all his ideas about anything under the sun is relevant to HN. Also, some of his points are highly debatable. The OP seesm to be against the Iraq war and mentions France's occupation of Algeria, but fails to notice the irony that that occupation was as brutal and unjust as the Iraq one. As for France being the best country to live in, well, this is not the place for that type of discussion, but just a few highlights to the contrary: (i) highly elitist attitude of French towards foreigners, especially if you cannot speak French well; (ii) toxic environment for startups (this applies to a lot of European countries but France is an extreme example, I think), (iii) high taxes (again, true for most Europe), (iv) (to me the worst) the Grand Illusion that French governments for the past 60 years have tried to continue, namely that France is a superpower, with its own sphere of influence (on paper, they love the Francophones, but if you are dark skinned and live in Paris you are despised). They go to great lengths, even detonating nuclear bombs and sinking Greenpeace ships to keep this illusion. OK, that was my prejudiced (aren't we all?) ideas on France. Now, let the downvoting begin.
- jacquesm 16y ago
  I think you missed the humor in that post entirely.
  - Jun8 16y ago
    Maybe you are right. OP's post seems to be flame bait, but raises some interesting questions. As I said, these are loong discussions, better to be left for a meeting on a rainy day in a small Viennaise cafe, over pastries and hot tea. However, let me say this much: Every European country has prejudices about the other ones, and, of course, about the US. These are not well-known in the US, who tend to lump Europeans together (was IKEA from Sweden or Norway?) except for some simplistic stereotypes, i.e. Paris is the city of love, Germans make great cars, you can smoke pot in Netherlands, etc. etc. It's like the Chinese denoting all Europe as "Westerners". My favorite stereotype quote comes from Shibumi by Trevenian: "But even I am forced to admit that they [the French] are a ridiculous people, just as one must confess that the British are bungling, the Italians incompetent, the American neurotic, the Germans romantically savage, the Arabs vicious, the Russians barbaric, and the Dutch make cheese." The interesting thing is that there's always some truth in stereotypes. The thinking man's job is to find the percentage of truth. P.S. Kieslowski's *White" is a movie that I like, that addresses some of the issues of living in France (and being married to a French woman)