In Paris, where the cliche image is that of a literary set gathering over Pernod to loathe globalization and its American antecedents, one of the most depressing signs of cultural defeat to many is the presence of Starbucks. The coffee chain has opened three stores in Paris and has ambitious plans for a dozen or so more.

At the new Paris Starbucks near the Opera metro stop, French people approached for an interview seemed ashamed on some deep level to be there but that doesn’t stop it from being packed like the French McDonald’s franchises squeeze them in every day at lunchtime.

 There is agreement these days that a national rigidity and an aversion to risk have stunted France’s development.  “The Decline of France,” surprised the publishing industry by becoming a bestseller. About France, the author said:

“There is a huge gap between the elite and aging political class and the society it represents, a huge gap between the rhetorical exertion of power and the real means of military and economic power. The French economy is static relative to those around it, especially Spain and Ireland and the UK. The GDP in these countries is growing, unemployment is steadily diminishing. But France is stuck at the same levels.”

There are also are several other books with similar titles like “France in Free Fall” or “French Arrogance” now on the market.

Does this self-humility bode a turnaround for French society? In a word, “non,” because in France there remains a huge gap between bitching about a problem and accepting the pain that is associated with fixing it.

Additional reading: “Ingrate French Kids…” and “Krugman’s French Connection is Really Les Miserables”

Source: Boston Globe

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 17th, 2005 at 9:27 am by Insider and is filed under France, We Taunt You. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.