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| French
issues (2) |
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See on page Issues (1)
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Ethical issues
The French do not fight about
the same issues as Americans. On some of them there is, globally,
a consensus and the French rarely quarrel or demonstrate about
them. For others (typically French),
the country is split and it is important to observe that the
division is always along a political line (right vs. left) and
never along a religious line (read about religion
in France).
| Issues for Americans (and not so much for the French, who
globally agree about them) |
Not much difference between France and America about : |
- Abortion
has been legal in France since 1976 (loi Veil)
and no significant political or religious movement is campaigning
for a return to the previous situation ; see facts
about IVG (abortion)
- The death penalty in France was abolished in 1982 and
only a handful of extreme-right-wing politicians campaign for
re-establishing it
- Arms control is not an issue in France : it is prohibited
to detain arms and nobody challenges it
- More to come...
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- Euthanasia and Stem cells : same situation
and debates as in the USA
- Homosexuality is now much better accepted due to several
important anti-discrimination laws (and the HALDE
: see below) ; the PACS
(a purely contractual form of quasi-marriage) is largely used
by homosexal couples but many still want a "real" one,
which is not (yet) possible ; adoption by homosexual couples
is not legal
- More to come....
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| DID YOU KNOW THAT...... ? The HALDE ("
Haute Autorité de Lutte contre les Discriminations et
pour l'Egalité " for "high authority against
discriminations and for equality") was established in 2004
as an independent regulator to help citizens fight against racism,
homophobia, sexism and generally any form of discrimination (age,
sex, race, health, mental condition, religion, etc), particularly
in the job and housing markets. Its mission statement includes
helping victims to take their case to court, setting up "testings"
to establish a discrimination, proposing new regulations and
valorizing best practices. Any citizen can write to HALDE about
his/her case for help or advice. |
Some typically French
ethical issues
|
Issues for the French (and not so much for Americans, for
whom they are not important issues)
- Secularism is an important issue in France and when
people have the feeling that it is at stake (for instance when
President Sarkozy declared in December 2007 in Rome that "
people need religion ") a majority of the French protested
(including churches) : see more about secularism
- " New social rights
" : an example is
the " droit opposable au logement " (opposable right
to a home) ; according to a law passed in 2006, any French citizen
is entitled to a home, and if he/she cannot find or afford one
and is not proposed social housing, he/she can invoke this law
and demand a home ; the left thinks this is a normal right in
a democracy, the right thinks it is crazy and not applicable
- The market economy is
morally questionable for a large minority of the French and so
is private money in any cultural or educational organization
: you can have thousands of artists, students or professors demonstrating
in the streets and shouting "Non à l'argent privé"
(no to private money) or "Culture (or education) is not
for sale", etc..... Read more about money.
- More to come .....
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A few examples of French controversies
about philosophical and ethical issues :
- most students demonstrating
AGAINST the autonomy of universities : see why
- thousands of artists, writers,
academics demonstrating AGAINST the Louvre museum opening
a branch in Abu-Dhabi
- a very large support for the
idea that all illegal immigrants should be granted working
papers
- more to come...
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To French society
To events, as reported by the French media
To more issues
To table
of contents
Back to home
page
|
Harriet Welty
Rochefort writes articles and books about France and the French.
Order her books:
- "French Toast, An American in Paris
Celebrates The Maddening Mysteries of the French", St.Martin's Press,
New York, 1999
- "French Fried, The Culinary Capers
of An American in Paris", St.Martin's Press, New York, 2001
More on Harriet's books (excerpts, upcoming
events, testimonials, etc..)
Together
or separately, Harriet and Philippe speak
about Intercultural Differences
: click here for information.
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