Okay, guys, this one's going to be long. Not that you need my permission, but feel free to skip it.
1. Do you feel French culture is superior to American Culture?Why?
Honestly, I don't know nearly enough about French culture to answer that question, but I would tend to answer that as a negative, by default. Don't get me wrong, I truly believe that some cultures are superior to others. Many people, often in the name of political correctness, insist that various cultures are merely different but one cannot be better than another because value systems are different from culture to culture so they cannot be measured on an objective scale. This is probably true to some extent, but I believe that there are some factors that can be measured. Rousseau said, "Man is born free, and everywhere is in chains." I think that freedom is better than servitude and a culture without slavery is better, at least in that respect, than a culture with it. Many things fall into similar categories, such as universal suffrage, equal protection, free speech, no female genetilia mutilation, freedom from warrantless searches, etc.
With all that said, the differences between French and American culture are not so pronounced as slavery. I think probably no other country beats America in ridiculous self-confidence and entreprenurial spirit. I don't think this is merely a product of our current position as the most powerful country in the world, militarily and economically. I think this is something that's built into the American psyche and dates back to America's earliest days. I guess a lot of what I'm talking about is the belief in the American Dream. We also have the greatest, and longest lasting constitution in the world, that sets the standard that almost all others (constitutional goverments, that is) strive to emulate.
France, on the other hand, has a much healthier attitude about sexuality than the United States, in my opinion. The French would have found the presumably accidental baring of Janet Jackson's breast as comical, where Americans called for blood. Just like I believe that the Catholic Church's draconian position on the celebacy of priests leads to high rates of sexual deviancy, I think America's insistance on turning sexuality into a taboo creates sexual deviancy. Our numbers on rape, child molestation and other sex crimes compared to most other countries would at least tend to back this up, if not actually confirm my theory as the cause of our high rates.
I think French cuisine is clearly superior to American cuisine, while American productivity outstrips France. I think America has problems with arrogance, which would probably put it in an unfavorable light when compared with any country
besides France. I love that tuition at the most prestigious university in France is approximately $150 a year because their higher education system is socialized (unlike America where education is only socialized K through high school), because it ensures that the best, brightest, most qualified students are admitted, rather than those with the richest parents. But I don't know enough about France to say whether I believe their line separating socialism from capitalism is drawn in the correct place or if it leans too much toward socialism. (Keep in mind, everyone, that we are no stranger to socialism -- think of lower education, police departments, fire departments. Some programs would simply not work well under pure capitalism)
So, basically, I just can't say. And the cultures are really much more alike than different anyway -- both being judeo-christian, western, first-world countries. Most likely it would be impossible to make a convincing case that either was better overall, so I'll just let the fact that I am personally an American and so hope for America's success over everyone else's, tip the scales in America's favor.
I'll try to keep my other answers much shorter.
2. Do you feel Lawyers mostly contribute positively to society?
This is kind of a difficult question to answer. I believe that lawyers are at the very least an absolutely necessary evil. We are a nation of laws, and few people want that to change. Our laws are also necessarily complex which makes it necessary to have people who specialize in the law. Lawyers protect individuals from a society that collectively has the power to destroy them in a number of ways including confiscating property, incarcerating them and putting them to death. The same goes for business lawers who protect people and businesses from entering into ill-advised contracts out of an ignorance in contract law. And the same VERY often goes for the lawers who do the suing. Corporations and governments are extremely powerful. Individuals are no match for them. Rent the movie North Country, or take a look at Brown v. Board of Education. When the powerful abuse their position to exploit the weak, lawers are often the only tool the weak have. Like the police, lawers are easy to hate until you need one.
I do think our legal system is broken in many ways, though.
3. Who paid for you to be on Paternity leave?(most men don't do this because they have to support their family, 2 kids and one on the way)
I paid for it. I'm an employee of the state and earn 10 hours of paid vacation leave every month. I've had my current job for seven years this October and at the time of my daughter's birth had about 300 hours of paid leave available between vacation and comp time (which I get for working overtime and works just like vacation leave). So I continued getting my regular checks while I was gone. Incredibly fortunate.
4. Will your daughter become bilingual if you don't go to France if it is so important?
That is certainly my intention regardless, though it'll be much more difficult as French is not spoken in my home; my wife doesn't speak any French. I've already started reading Roald Dahl to Maddy in French (also for my own practice). My sister-in-law is from Mexico City and my two nieces have been bi-lingual as long as they've been able to talk. It kills me to look at the language abilities that those two little girls have, having expended virtually no extra effort, compared with my limited French that I have worked ---my bottom--- off for over the last four years. If it's at all within your power I think you should do everything you can to give your kid multiple languages early-on, cos god knows picking it up later in life is one of the most difficult tasks you will ever face.
In closing, I'd ask that if you want to debate anything I've said in questions 1 & 2 that you copy and past this into a new thread in the politics forum. I don't want this thread geetting moved over there by an admin due to it turning political.
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