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Sorry for confusing profit and revenue, it was a mistake. Being French, I was not brought up in a world of Bloomberg and stock markets, so I've obviously been s

Sorry for confusing profit and revenue, it was a mistake. Being French, I was not brought up in a world of Bloomberg and stock markets, so I've obviously been short-changed on the whole business-venture / capitalism theory. My bad.

robomartin 14y ago
Are you serious? If so, I'd like to understand why you think that being French could alter your ability to understand business. There is no shortage of good French business men an women. Are you implying that there's some kind of a cultural or educational element in France that might bias your views? I am genuinely interested. I've spent a lot of time in other parts of Europe but, sadly, never visited France so I don't have any first-hand impressions to go by.
- chris_wot 14y ago
  Perhaps it was a language thing?
- VeejayRampay 14y ago
  Well, here's what I think: France had a religious rift in the past due to horrible religious wars, our brand of Christianism is mostly catholic as a result. Self-determination and the myth of pre-disposition are core values of protestantism which largely influenced the way Anglo-Saxon societies approach self-enterprise and self-reliance in general. Luther was quite insistent that each individual should have direct relation to God through scripture, which promotes the idea that one gets to decide things for oneself and should not rely on middlemen. Protestantism also doesn't promote self-castigation as much as catholicism, which creates an atmosphere where people are actually encouraged to acquire wealth, thrive as entrepreneurs, etc. In France on the other hand, our culture, due to the aforementioned mostly Catholic culture, success and the amassing of riches is seen as something you should not boast about and almost repent for. I'm talking general religious influences on the collective unconscious of a nation as a whole here, particular cases might of course be much less coarse in their specifics. The other very important difference is the fact that France has traditionally tried to preserve a strong social safety net and government involvement in most matters (education, transportation, health care, roads, investment in research, major companies, national defense, etc) is still strong and has wide support among the population, which as you know means that everyone and businesses in particular have an obligation to give back to society as they grow (through high taxes), to ensure that we can then try our best to share the benefits with everyone for the greater good. As a result of all this, there is much less of an incentive for self-entrepreneurship and much less possibilities for the likes of Google, Facebook, Enron or other American business behemoths to emerge, which creates an atmosphere where the emphasis on business is not as strong as it is in the States. We don't have channels as big as Bloomberg or other 24/7 stock market channels here, we don't know the ins and outs of lemonade stands at age 8, we don't read about trading theories, MBAs are not as big, etc. TL;DR: The emphasis on business and self-entrepreneurship in particular is not as big in France as it is in most "Protestant" societies because we favor a model where everyone is in a mediocre middle rather than having people going through the roof and others down the gutter. Different approaches and I don't reckon either to be inherently superior to the other, they're just, well, different approaches.

robomartin 14y ago

Are you serious? If so, I'd like to understand why you think that being French could alter your ability to understand business. There is no shortage of good French business men an women. Are you implying that there's some kind of a cultural or educational element in France that might bias your views? I am genuinely interested. I've spent a lot of time in other parts of Europe but, sadly, never visited France so I don't have any first-hand impressions to go by.

chris_wot 14y ago
Perhaps it was a language thing?
VeejayRampay 14y ago
Well, here's what I think: France had a religious rift in the past due to horrible religious wars, our brand of Christianism is mostly catholic as a result. Self-determination and the myth of pre-disposition are core values of protestantism which largely influenced the way Anglo-Saxon societies approach self-enterprise and self-reliance in general. Luther was quite insistent that each individual should have direct relation to God through scripture, which promotes the idea that one gets to decide things for oneself and should not rely on middlemen. Protestantism also doesn't promote self-castigation as much as catholicism, which creates an atmosphere where people are actually encouraged to acquire wealth, thrive as entrepreneurs, etc. In France on the other hand, our culture, due to the aforementioned mostly Catholic culture, success and the amassing of riches is seen as something you should not boast about and almost repent for. I'm talking general religious influences on the collective unconscious of a nation as a whole here, particular cases might of course be much less coarse in their specifics. The other very important difference is the fact that France has traditionally tried to preserve a strong social safety net and government involvement in most matters (education, transportation, health care, roads, investment in research, major companies, national defense, etc) is still strong and has wide support among the population, which as you know means that everyone and businesses in particular have an obligation to give back to society as they grow (through high taxes), to ensure that we can then try our best to share the benefits with everyone for the greater good. As a result of all this, there is much less of an incentive for self-entrepreneurship and much less possibilities for the likes of Google, Facebook, Enron or other American business behemoths to emerge, which creates an atmosphere where the emphasis on business is not as strong as it is in the States. We don't have channels as big as Bloomberg or other 24/7 stock market channels here, we don't know the ins and outs of lemonade stands at age 8, we don't read about trading theories, MBAs are not as big, etc. TL;DR: The emphasis on business and self-entrepreneurship in particular is not as big in France as it is in most "Protestant" societies because we favor a model where everyone is in a mediocre middle rather than having people going through the roof and others down the gutter. Different approaches and I don't reckon either to be inherently superior to the other, they're just, well, different approaches.