This is not a French phenomenon. There is a difference between political affairs, such as extreme rights winning elections and a nuclear bomb explosion, than yo

This is not a French phenomenon. There is a difference between political affairs, such as extreme rights winning elections and a nuclear bomb explosion, than your neighbor being an asshole. Being ashamed of something means people you consider in the same group as you do things you find not acceptable (it could be a country, as it's the case here, but also a community, a football team or whatever). In fact, being ashamed shows you'd prefer this entity to react differently to make you and the group you're considering better. Yes, we should be ashamed when someone does something wrong. In fact, we shouldn't be ashamed to be ashamed of some dumb decision. Being ashamed doesn't mean we are not doing anything else about it. You've seen Frenchmen being ashamed to be French, and that's OK. It means they're not thinking their country is the best, but they can also learn from their mistakes. And I am proud of this, as a French person, too, though I am ashamed of LeBonCoin's strategy.