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I have a burning need to know stuff and I love asking awkward questions.

Wednesday, May 03, 2023


 ... the French (mostly), plus the Tory Government, the "Left-Wing" media - especially the BBC, the Brexiteers, those who have taken 'early' retirement, strikers, the Young.......  Oh, and the French..... 

10 comments:

Marianne said...

Nice that you didn't include the Germans. Usually we are the ones to be blamed for everything.

CyberKitten said...

No, it seems like the 'right-wing' media have a "thing" for the French being 'difficult' at the moment and treating us as if we're NOT part of the EU anymore and clogging up our border posts - especially in Dover. I mean... the CHEEK of them... [rotflmao]

Germany (as far as I can tell) isn't getting much UK news time presently. No doubt that will change.... I wonder if its because Angela Merkel isn't Chancellor any more? The press over here seemed to have a bit of a fixation with her... Olaf Scholz seems to be a bit of a non-entity (or at least not *as* newsworthy) compared to Merkel.

Marianne said...

I know, you really don't like the French. And with "you", I mean the people, not yourself.

Weird, how did the French get the idea that you're not part of the EU any more. Oh, wait a minute, might Brexit have led to that? LOL

And yes, I have never felt any anti-German sentiments while living in England, whereas in some other countries, they still seem to live in the 1940s ... Scholz gets a lot of negative press over here, but that was to be expected. Any new guy (or girl) usually gets that. Germany has mainly been ruled by the right wing (not extreme but still) and they are sore losers. You can hear their politicians moan about stuff that they didn't change for 16 years and now they blame the opposite party. Everywhere the same.

CyberKitten said...

Personally, I've never understood the antipathy with the French. Sure, we've been at war with them intermittently for CENTURIES, but it's not like we haven't been at war with most of the rest of the world at some point or other. I've always found the French to be OK - actually more than OK - especially if you're willing to meet them half way & at least *try* to talk to them in their own language.... Plus I like their movies, wine, books and general style. What's NOT to like, right?

I've also never understood tarring an entire nation of people for any historical event. OK, people from countries across the globe did particularly bad things in history. I think we can point THAT particular finger everywhere. That doesn't mean that individuals from a particular geographical location are personally responsible or accountable for things that may have happened years, decades or even centuries before they were born. What kind of sense does THAT make - none.

It seems that once a party is in power for 3 election cycles - around 12-15 years - they're going to get removed no matter what. Unless things are going particularly well people demand *change*. So, that means we're due for a Labour government next time unless they *really* mess up or the Tories manage to produce a miracle out of a nearby hat. I'm putting my money on Labour.

Marianne said...

I am not a big fan of the French movies or their literature but I never had any problems with the French, I love their language and their country.

And while you might want to judge certain politicians from certain countries, that doesn't mean, everyone in the country is for them, especially not, if they were born decades or centuries later. No French person living today could do anything against Napoleon, even if they wished to.

Unfortunately, there are politicians who reign longer than the three election cycles, even in a democracy. Kohl was one of our worst chancelors since the beginning of the FRG and look at the length of his reign ...

Stephen said...

I think it's just fun to hate the French. It's the geopolitical equivalent of a sports rivalry.

CyberKitten said...

Hating the French is almost a parody position here. People seem to do it - but have no idea *why*.

Of course it's all summed up in a book I picked up recently:

'1000 years of Annoying the French' by Stephen Clarke. Be sure to get the updated and expanded 2015 addition if you're interested!

Marianne said...

I have read a few of Stephen Clarke's book and am looking forward to this one. They are funny, yet informative.

CyberKitten said...

The 1,000 years book looks VERY funny, but as its quite a chunkster it'll be a while until I get around to it. I need to work on putting some fat on my TBR pile first!

Marianne said...

True, almost 800 pages. Though I like that.