My friend Philippe Grolleau responded to my recent posting, itself triggered by a message from Bill Bocquet. You can read what he had to say as the second set of comment pertaining to that message. Here is my reply. We certainly all have made-up images or “clichés” of each national group and a bias for what we think is their own “conventional wisdom.” I also recognize that it’s very difficult not to see events and issues through some “cultural” lenses that we end up adopting after living in, and understanding various cultures. Much has been written about the current financial crisis and there is not a week that goes by without new revelations made or symptoms and causes unearthed by the media and sent through our information-hungry networks. I have copiously dispensed my point of view on that disaster and won’t return to it. Like Philippe, I would hope that some intelligent regulation are put in place that work in concert with a global scope, but I’m no longer naïve enough in believing they’ll be totally perfect and won’t be up for revision in another two years. As for expecting a rebalancing of wages and earning out of this crisis, I don’t believe this will happen. You see, the rest of the world doesn’t necessarily share the European and particularly the French ethos of an egalitarian system. Most societies have fully embraced a concept of a life in which the smarter, the luckier and the most daring get the top prizes. For some reasons, France is still held up in its revolutionary and utopist mantra of “liberté, égalité, fraternité” at all cost, even though each French citizen knows deep inside that it can’t quite work that way. The fundamental difference between the French and the American worker is that the former will have a tendency to go in the street and demonstrate, still believing in the effect mass protests might have on society, while the latter will take on a second job, pack up his or her stuff and move across the country or take classes at night to get a better position or a new job, believing solely in their rugged ability to master their own fate.
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It’s said that the French are taking some unfair shots at Americans, but sometimes I wonder if it’s not the reverse;
whether we see the international aspect of a situation and its implications out of professional or personal interest. Perhaps these folks are few and far between on either shores of the Atlantic?
For over a year, the mechanisms of the crisis have been explained and discussed on “France Culture” (a French radio station), in the Expansion (a business magazine) and several books like "Le roman vrai de la crise financière” by Pastré Olivier and Jean-Marc Sylvestre, published by Perrin May 2008. The Movement of Christian Executives also published a compelling article in the June issue of its journal "Leaders” entitled: “L'argent, critère de notre humanité” ( http://www.mcc.asso.fr/).
We all agree that bankers and traders have played roulette committing in their follies other people's money and ignoring all common good! All these "games" don’t add any new wealth but redirect (I could say steal) part of the common wealth for the benefit of a few.
Let’s hope that this crisis will bring a consolidation of financial and economic regulations so that labor income is given its due priority over capital income or, at the very least, is somehow rebalanced!
As for the comment on strikes, it must also be understood that the majority of our citizens, both in the U.S. and in Europe, have to live with low wages for the goods and services they produce (the median French income is around 1400 euros per month). It’s therefore very easy to understand how they will react when they see billions poured back into banks (be it in capital equity, loans or guarantees) while at the same time they’re laid-off for weeks or are losing their job, not counting the looming large number of cutbacks in the auto industry, construction and other sectors...
Philippe Grolleau
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