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| 2004-02-26 |
| From the Times Of London, registration required. Franceâs state-subsidised intellectual classes were stunned yesterday when a government minister told them to stop complaining and start winning Nobel prizes, like the Americans. The unfavourable comparison with the United States from Patrick Devedjian, Minister for Local Liberties, amounted to blasphemy for the guardians of the supremacy of Gallic thought. It demolished a parallel attempt by Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the Prime Minister, to calm the anger of writers, scientists, teachers and artists, who are accusing the Government of âwaging warâ on them. M Devedjian, an outspoken Gaullist, was responding to a petition from 20,000 penseurs and créateurs complaining that the conservative administration was starving them of subsidies and dumbing down France. Yeah, pull the dummy from their mouths and that will dumb them down everytime. Signatories included Jacques Derrida, the philosopher,? Bertrand Tavernier, the film director, and Danny Cohn-Bendit, leader of the 1968 student uprising. And you couldnât meet a dumber load of postmodernists, if you tried. M Devedjian said: âChez nous, the intellectuals have a habit of signing petitions while in the United States they have Nobel prizes. âBeing an intellectual should not be considered to be a protected status. Being an intellectual has demands and results are often expectedâ. . . Heresy M Raffarin sought to soothe les intellos yesterday with a letter published on the front page of Le Monde, the thinking personâs daily newspaper. âI understand the fears of a section of the creative and artistic world,â he said. âI know that the future of France depends on creation and innovation and not through banalisation and standardisation And then he had a laughing seizure. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #13 they used to have titles in france--now they just have entitlement |
| Posted by: SON OF TOLUI 2004-2-27 2:02:39 AM |
| #12 Maybe they should strike... but then would anyone notice? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-2-26 9:42:21 PM |
| #11 State-subsidized intellectuals are even bigger whores than state-subsidized artists - and that's saying something. Want a DATE, baby?... |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-2-26 6:03:08 PM |
| #10 And THIS is the society that looks down their noses on Americans? Jeez. So let me get this straight: they appease everyone from striking bakers to farmers to truckers to muslims (except in the case of quesionable politically motivated headgear) but the only ones they can't seem to tolerate are intellectuals and Jews! Helluva country, that france! |
| Posted by: PlanetDan 2004-2-26 4:49:46 PM |
| #9 âI know that the future of France depends on creation and innovation and not through banalisation and standardisation." It's a short drive from banal to anal. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-2-26 1:56:01 PM |
#8 âI know that the future of France depends on creation and innovation and not through banalisation and standardisation"Now there's a man who's setting himself up for a major disappointment... |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2004-2-26 12:57:08 PM |
| #7 GK - Methinks epiphanies, being such pivotal events, are prolly reserved for when profit-sharing checks are distributed, heh. "What? No profit-sharing? Shit! In that case, I'm outta here!" Career decision, hence falls into the epiphany category. Q.E.D. ;-) |
| Posted by: .com 2004-2-26 12:10:20 PM |
| #6 LOL, .com. And epiphanies are scheduled for when? |
| Posted by: GK 2004-2-26 11:48:40 AM |
| #5 I find the Phrench idea of designated intellectuals rather hysterical. I once worked for a company which had designated "thought leaders" - same goofiness. Good ideas and brilliant (used in the American sense, not the over-generous dumbed-down Brit version) insights can and do come from all over the map - from the assembly line to the executive suite. Only hearing those which originate from the designees is just as self-defeating as the Izzoid practice of discarding the brainpower of half their population at birth... maybe worse. "Gentlemen, serendipity is scheduled for 2:30 this afternoon. All desginated recipients should tune into their muse and make us some magic. The rest of you drones get back to work." |
| Posted by: .com 2004-2-26 10:57:17 AM |
| #4 "Being an intellectual has demands and results are often expectedâ. . . Well now THAT'S not very Socialismistic. France should just drop the pretense and go all the way for Communism, 'cause you know: From each according to his yapper; to each according to his pomposity... |
| Posted by: Hyper 2004-2-26 10:33:19 AM |
| #3 That had to hurt a lot. hehe. |
| Posted by: BH 2004-2-26 10:27:32 AM |
| #2 This isn't Scrappleface? |
| Posted by: whitecollar redneck 2004-2-26 9:38:51 AM |
| #1 subsidies huh? How about "get a real F&*KIN' JOB, ya lazy arrogant P.O.S."? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-2-26 9:20:14 AM |