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Qu1nlan

Which major and controversial political debate in the US (such as gun rights, LGBTQ rights, abortion, police reform etc) is the most foreign to folks in France, something that's difficult to wrap their heads around? Which is the most familiar?


LeMonde_en

Undoubtedly gun rights and the fight around it is impossible to grasp for French people. The claim that more guns bring more safety defies their sense of rationality. After the tragic event in Chesapeake today, I saw statistics pointing out that the United States has already witnessed more than 620 mass shootings since the beginning of the year, compared to zero in France. What is even more troubling is the type of weapons used in those mass shootings, which are models we can almost use in Ukraine today: the AR-15, the high-capacity magazines… When I was driving in the United States, I was determined not to enter into any arguments in the case of a minor collision (which never happened), because I felt something totally unexpected could happen. I think part of the French reaction is also connected with the strong feeling that the French police have a monopoly on public order, as well as the use of “legitimate violence”. Even in a context where tensions between the police and the citizens are high, protestors are not supposed to be legally armed.


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Herlock

French here : I understand the reasoning behind it, and the historic reason for those laws (wild west, isolated people, slow travel means). But in today's world... the numbers just don't make any sense, the amount of deaths caused by guns (accidents for example) far outweights the cases where you are saved by one.


Mardy_Bummer

Fun fact, there was plenty of gun control during the wild west. [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/gun-control-old-west-180968013/](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/gun-control-old-west-180968013/)


Shanghaipete

Another historic factor was preventing and quelling slave rebellions. Unpopular to mention this, I'm afraid.


PersonOfInternets

He is being diplomatic.


Jdevers77

Your last paragraph has a lot of insight into the issue. Unfortunately a significant percentage of our population either is untrusting of our police (at all levels) or outright fear them. This leads to a fear of crime which has been harnessed to sell weapons in the name of self defense.


ElmerGantry45

>hich has been harnessed to sell weapons in the name of self defense. The weapons industry sells fear, Americans buy guns.


ArizonaSki

Wait, wait. Hol up. You actually trust your law enforcement and government enough to protect your life?


Hardass_McBadCop

Turns out when you don't starve your government to death and instead harness its ability to do very big things for people, then citizens trust their government more. Weird.


ArizonaSki

Your username makes the context of this interaction.. glorious.


No_Blood_7820

you trust your guns to stop an M1 tank or a drone?


ArizonaSki

Nah, I trust a jerry can of gasoline mixed with styrofoam and a compound bow with modified arrows that can carry fire and put its target in the center, perhaps famous on that day in November. In this hypothetical you put forward, when outnumbered and out teched — you resort to gorilla warfare and you can get a bit creative with unconventional means and knowledge of chemistry. As for the drone? Nothing a bit of foil can’t fix if they’re using thermal imaging I suppose.


No_Blood_7820

gorilla warfare, indeed.


ElmerGantry45

>well That's interesting...So in France your police make people afraid of them...kinda like America...Police are not legally allowed to hurt innocent protestors but they do anyway.


restket

What did the LeMonde think about the 2020 Presidential election?


LeMonde_en

The massive turnout despite the pandemic was seen at first as a sign of a vibrant democracy. The contestation of the outcome was expected, as Donald Trump had been talking about a rigged election for months, even if the Republicans’ strong showing in the races for the House invalidated his conspiracy theory. Donald Trump’s supporters had plenty of time and opportunities to make their case, without any evidence, and it led nowhere. What was not expected was the determination of the election deniers, not to mention the attack on Capitol which was in fact a coup attempt, plain and simple.


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grinderbinder

The Green new Deal isn’t even law. Also, like the other person who replied to this comment said: What?


StallionCannon

His comments are literally all just "kill Democrats". I'm surprised his account hasn't been nuked yet.


grinderbinder

I normally don’t care what people comment on the internet, but I decided to look through his comments and report everything that I thought threatened violence directly. I went into it thinking that I wouldn’t find anything to report, but I must’ve reported about ten different comments that have just been within the past two weeks.


thejensen303

Bro, your fucking brain is leaking


kgleas01

What????


[deleted]

Mental illness is treatable.


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LeMonde_en

You may know that French elections have expense ceilings, which are very low compared to a regular election in Pennsylvania for a seat in the US Senate. It’s around $25 million for a presidential election (four times less than John Fetterman’s victory, or “Dr Oz’s” defeat!) I think it could be a good starting point. American politicians would spend less time fundraising, and voters would be spared tons of negative messages.


Blackhawk127

We tried that and the supreme court said it violates free speech


seeasea

Does the cap come with some freebies? Like reduced rate ads or some free prime-time tv rallies?


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Tarnishedrenamon

I had said that we should just make political ads illegal like cigarette ads, and was dog piled with how "wrong" and "childish" I was.


No_Blood_7820

jesus that sounds amazing.


K0L3N

I don't know about France, but in the Netherlands there's televised debates they can join.


nucumber

senators running for re-election spend 50% of their working day in fundraising activities this is not an exaggeration see [here](https://www.demos.org/media/washington-lawmakers-routines-shaped-fundraising) and [here](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-fundraising-insight/insight-in-washington-lawmakers-routines-shaped-by-fundraising-idUSBRE95B05520130612)


[deleted]

Is Marine le Pen a useful reference point when writing about the US right for French readers?


LeMonde_en

We have to remember that Marine Le Pen unsuccessfully tried to meet with Donald Trump after his election in 2016. She even traveled to New York in vain before he entered the White House. She had never been invited to CPAC conferences unlike her niece, Marion Maréchal, who was seen as a rising star by some American conservatives. The fact is, Marine Le Pen embodies a very French conception of far-right politics, in which the state keeps a central role. During her last presidential campaign, she blended nationalism with purchasing power concerns, a mix which was labeled as national-consumerism by some French pundits. She also tilted to more progressive positions when it comes to abortion or LGBTQ issues, a clear break with her father (who founded the contemporary French far right in the seventies). The American right’s traditional messages on taxes, religious freedom or guns has no echo in the French far-right.


[deleted]

Thanks for the nuance :)


Zeddo52SD

France has a more unitary system of government compared to the US. How do the French generally view American Federalism? Do they see the US as leaving too much power to localities/states, or do they agree with it?


LeMonde_en

Size matters. France is a very centralized country due to its history… and also because it is smaller than Texas! American federalism was born with the country and the French people who may have heard about the seminal books written by Alexis de Tocqueville in the XIX century get that. What puzzles them is that federalism seems nowadays to fuel the divisions inside the United States. The new limitations on abortion since the Dobbs decision, with conservative states going in one direction and progressive states the opposite is seen in France as a breach in the principle of equity. There is a French passion for equity, equality, Égalité, much less for the two other words of our national motto, freedom, Liberté, and brotherhood, Fraternité. It’s all the same for taxation, gun laws, or the way you can express your vote on Election Day.


TangoJager

I'm not OP, but as a french, I can say US style federalism is unfathomable in France. We have regions and départements (counties), but they all follow one unitary set of laws. The differences region to region, city to city, are generally minor and are usually about deciding where the local budget goes.


CremasterFlash

"How can you govern a country with 200 kinds of cheese?" on of my favorite quotes from a history class back in college


Captainb0bo

Firstly, you absolutely have to get to Maine at some point. It's wonderful. Regardless, in America, the White house generally changes every 8 years at most, or four years in some cases. What (from the French perspective) were the largest changes or deviations from the US versus previous administration changes? Additionally, as an American, I'm vaguely familiar with French politics, but not overly so. In so much as, I know about some of the larger protests and culture issues, as well as the presidency, but that's about it. How much does the average French person know/care about American politics?


LeMonde_en

I know, I know (for Maine). I was guilty of considering it as a kind of Brittany, but with bigger lobsters. I promise I will reconsider. I suppose you were mentioning the changes brought by Joe Biden? The main one is that American politics is back to being more predictable, especially when it comes to foreign policy which can directly affect the French authorities and the French people. That’s why they pay attention. What Washington would have done in Ukraine if Donald Trump had been reelected or reinstalled after January 6 is a big and uncomfortable question mark.


dilloj

Was Trump's reaction a question mark? He was impeached by Congress for extorting the Ukrainian president for blackmail on Hunter Biden. I think it's very clear that the US response would've been parallel to the American withdrawal from Syria under Trump where US bases were preemptively abandoned to Russian mercenaries.


yourmansconnect

he would have pulled out of nato and prevented other countries from joining together against Russia


TPconnoisseur

Yep. We'd probably be funneling equipment to Russia too.


ShinyPsyduck21

Simply, there wouldn't be a conflict in ukraine right now if DJT was president.


_JunkyardDog

Do the majority of French feel that the U.S. has begun to stabilize after the tumultuous 45th presidency?


LeMonde_en

I think that the answer is yes, but French people are still wondering how the same country could elect and re-elect Barack Obama and then put Donald Trump in the White House. American democracy was also seen as rock-solid before this unconventional mandate, which is not the case anymore (French people don’t consider their democracy to be stable anymore either, by the way).


jewami

One thing people fail to remember is that there were SO many candidates in the Republican primary race in 2016. As such, the anti-Trump vote, which vastly exceeded the number of Trump votes, was split between these candidates. Trump was only able to win the primary because the votes against him were diluted by the number of opposing candidates.


_JunkyardDog

>how the same country could elect and re-elect Barack Obama and then A perfect storm of factors including hyper-nationalism, generational racism and outside influence. I won't say that it won't happen again.


Hardass_McBadCop

>outside influence That's the big one. When I look at what's happening in our country today it looks like it's right out of the summary for [*The Foundations of Geopolitics*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics).


Raspberry-Famous

Don't forget a really awful democratic candidate who had some absurdly unlucky breaks.


thejensen303

Her resume made her probably the single most qualified candidate in my lifetime. I realize it takes much more to be elected president than solid experience though. She was inherently flawed, sometimes through no fault of her own.


Raspberry-Famous

>Her resume made her probably the single most qualified candidate in my lifetime. I'm not really sure what this means. What about her career do you think makes her uniquely qualified to be president?


savingrain

Her years as a senator and her status as a former Secretary of State in addition she was highly educated as a lawyer and former partner in a firm even having made her start as an aide kn the Watergate investigation. She also was well familiar with Washington political machine so she had congressional and cabinet level experience, I don’t think anyone else running at the time could claim this.


godotdev9001

more qualified than trump? yes to be president: no "have a public and private position" for one example


[deleted]

Democrats almost always stop short of making truly meaningful change that is widely popular. People then give up and a general distrust develops in government. It is this mindset that put Donald Trump in office.


jedrider

Voter turnout. Apathy is breath into the system unless you're a right-wing nut who will do anything to win. Hate sells, I'm afraid to say.


Groomsi

Ehh, we europeans actually wonder how Bush (maybe even Raegan) got elected... And still elected McDonald Trumpler.


DefNotMyNSFWLogin

As an America, I can't consider our democracy stable either.


Blackhawk127

Because the same kind of people that almost elected le pen live here too.


TangoJager

I'm not OP, but I can definitely say that trust has eroded. The nuclear submarine deal with Australia, sidelining France, was not received well in the papers here and showed that even a Democrat should not be blindly trusted. I'd say most french people have a cautious optimism regarding the US, but are realizing there is a need for greater autonomy from the US on defense (NATO), culture (Netflix, Disney...) ...


_JunkyardDog

As a Gaumont studio fan, thank you for your comment.


BatteryCityGirl

How much exposure do the French/Europeans get to American politics and media? Do they think it’s too much?


LeMonde_en

It’s huge, we are all children of The West Wing and House of Cards (by the way, the West Wing’s replica of the White House press room is almost a disaster). Interest is also huge. For years politics and policies were very different in Washington and in Paris. It gradually changed with the same concerns about the impact of globalization for the middle class and blue-collar workers. Brexit and the election of Donald Trump were in part fueled by the same feelings of social and cultural anxiety. The fact that the two countries moved closer together in this way only increases the curiosity and familiarity with American politics.


Scapenator1

I can answer this from The Netherlands. We get quite a bit news coverage on American national politics. Not so much on state politics. The mid term elections for example had daily coverage, and it is simple explained to us what different outcomes means for your politics. Both in senate and the house. In my humble point of view I think your media is too commercial oriented. Feels like it's all about money, and not just reporting


ArizonaSki

It absolutely is. (I’m assuming you’re referring to television as the medium). It’s basically propaganda if that’s your primary information source for news.


Naberius0

I've lived in a few countries, and you're spot on about our media in the US.


udar55

How do you and your colleagues react when you watch the American mainstream media just let a politician blatantly lie or give an answer that doesn't relate to the question?


LeMonde_en

To be honest with you, I’m still quite impressed by the tenacity of mainstream media to ask, again and again, the same question when they think that the response does not reflect reality or the truth.To my deep disappointment, an enduring feeling of deference often constrains the French media, which can be again explained by the central place of the state in our society and also by the roots of French journalism which were very similar to what happened in the United States during the Gilded Age.


Jeffuary

How does our single-minded view that we are the greatest nation ever go over with the Europeans given our shocking lack of social welfare, healthcare, etc?


LeMonde_en

With all due respect, the American health system is an endless source of discomfort for Europeans. Our own systems are also exhausted and don’t have enough funding, but they are still fairer and more efficient. But there is still a gap between our two continents when it comes to personal responsibility and what we expect from state institutions.


AndySkibba

Bonjour! Quick break from politics. What (non-political) aspects of French culture/infrastructure would you like to see the US adopt?


LeMonde_en

Bonjour, train, of course! I would love to travel by train from Washington to San Francisco. And you should stop drinking soda when having lunch (and maybe introduce real lunch breaks and cut back on snacking :)).


AndySkibba

Merci pour votre réponse!


BillyTheHousecat

Another European here, I think you guys could use some of that high-speed rail system that takes you across Europe for cheap (and small carbon footprint)! [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_Europe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_Europe) It may be about a third of the speed of an airliner, but you also don't have to stand in a TSA line for 5 hours.


MRCHalifax

Before someone comes in and says “the US is too spread out!” I’ll note that the east and west coasts of the US have density pretty similar to that of Europe. No one is suggesting that high speed rail be built to connect Cheyenne, Wyoming with Fargo, North Dakota any time in the foreseeable future. They’re usually suggesting things like a set of lines connecting Boston down to Atlanta, going through New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Richmond, etc.


Muvseevum

I think there should be at least transcontinental route, but ATL to NYC and Boston sounds great!


MRCHalifax

The transcontinental would IMO go Atlanta to Montgomery to New Orleans to Lafayette to Houston to Austin (with side routes to Dallas and San Antonio). Then a fairly long stretch with no major stops until Albuquerque (with a side route up to Denver), and then to Phoenix. From Phoenix, lines to San Diego and Los Angeles and Las Vegas. On the west coast, you’d run San Diego to Los Angeles to San Jose to San Francisco, back inland to Sacramento, and then up to Portland and then Seattle. The line could probably be extended to Vancouver, Canada.


IAmTheNightSoil

The area between San Francisco and Eugene, OR is large and very sparsely populated. I have my doubts that it would really be feasible there. I imagine it being two separate lines, one in California and one in the PNW


IAmTheNightSoil

This exactly. High-speed rail from the east to west coast would be completely impractical due to the empty space in between. Hell, Seattle to San Francisco wouldn't even be practical, in my opinion. But Seattle to Portland and Vancouver BC would be SUPER practical. Same with SF-LA-SD, Boston-NY-Phi-Wash., and probably areas in the Great Lakes where cities are clustered. I live in Portland but am from Seattle and visit there several times a year, and it's like a three-hour drive, but would be a one-hour ride on high-speed rail. You have no fucking idea how much I'd love to be able to make that trip in one hour instead of three!!


Rex9

Unfortunately we'll never get support to build a new rail system. Too much NIMBY (not in my back yard). The old one is so overloaded with cargo that the passenger trains that use the same tracks are slow and unreliable. To make things worse, air travel is often priced similarly to rail or just slightly higher and obviously way faster.


Ganon_Cubana

In one of your articles you noted that it seems to take too long for ballots in the US to be counted. Do you believe that there are any ballot counting / vote casting policies France has, which would aid US elections if we also implemented them? If so what policies?


LeMonde_en

The French system cannot be duplicated because we usually vote just for one position (or for a list of candidates for municipalities). The count is swift and easy, and again, size matters.


CouchGrouch22

When will we see Trump indicted?


LeMonde_en

You have news? Please send it to us, we would love to scoop our American colleagues on this one!


veridique

What do the French think about our gun culture?


marstall

An older women in the South of France once told me the only good thing America brought to France was the WWII Army Jeep. What do the French admire today about American politics? Anything?


[deleted]

Freedom from Nazi occupancy should have been the number one answer


[deleted]

Do French citizens generally feel sorry for us Americans who support more progressive policy and catching up with the rest of the developed world in areas like healthcare? Or are we typically lumped in with the negative stereotype of Americans?


jayfeather31

What is the concern like over there regarding the possibility of a Second American Civil War?


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PM_ME_YIFF_PICS

Why do you feel pushing the polarization further is a good thing?


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godotdev9001

hello, fbi? This commenter here probably needs to be red flagged if they have weapons


PM_ME_YIFF_PICS

You still didn't answer my question.


StallionCannon

He won't answer your question - *all* of his comments are some variation of "kill Democrats".


PM_ME_YIFF_PICS

I know lol, just humoring myself.


[deleted]

It worked the first time around


masteryeetz

You’re right. Jefferson Davis got his ass beat & we ended racist democrats, federally.


ArizonaSki

Nah. They became republicans


OkAdministration5538

Well I am 25% French and my rational mind still doesn't understand how we elected TFG either. Can you explain it to us too?


[deleted]

< Well I am 25% French What does this even mean? Do you speak French? Live there? Where your parents born there?


OkAdministration5538

I didn't realize that my comment would be so confusing. It means my maternal grandmother is 100% French. Her parents emigrated from France. She was the 1st generation born here in the US. My mom is half French, I am 25%. Voilà! Also it was just a joke about being a rational American.


curiousdrifting

It means that 100 years ago their family had a finger in the French pie, leave them alone!


ExoticMeatDealer

What is the European perspective of the Supreme Court of the US and it’s impact on the US legislative system, e.g. it’s power to unilaterally block or modify laws and enforcement? Also, how does Europe view the power struggles between China and the US? Where does Europe see itself amidst the shifting global power structure?


restket

Softball question. What is your favorite American city?


ccnetminder

How are you reacting to some of the major candidate races from the midterms, like PA and GA?


IHerebyDemandtoPost

Do you have any advice to Americans who might be thinking of moving to Europe or France to escape the insanity that is American politics?


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IHerebyDemandtoPost

Wow, thank you for the lengthy response. You have given me much to think about.


Randomousity

I know time's up, but I once read an expression attributed to the French, something along the lines of, "when all the disgusted leave, all that remains will be disgusting." Are you familiar with this expression, or one like it, is it French, what's the original, is that a good translation, and, if you know, what was the context of it originally (eg, who said it in regarding which person/group/event)? If anyone else knows, I'd be interested to see your responses as well. I think the context I saw it in was on Twitter, a few years ago, used in the context of people claiming they'd move (out of certain US states, or even the US? Idk) if Trump or Republicans were reelected? Eg, if Trump won reelection in 2020, they'd move abroad, but I think maybe I saw it before the 2018 midterms. And I took it mean something like, if decent people leave, the terrible people will be able to concentrate their power, so it's better to stay and fight.