Is France still the country of Liberty and Human Rights?

Hi everyone,

When a kid, I thought I was very lucky to live in such a country, where the people was able to fight for its liberty and even cut the head of its king to build a world of liberty and equality and fraternity.

Is France the country of the 1st revolution in the second millenium? NO.
Is France the first country to cut the head of a king? NO.
Was historically France the first country with a republic, in 1789? NO.

Is France the country of liberty?... even clouds are not permitted to come freely!
Human Rights?... Hm!

Ok Gérard France is far from being perfect. Anyway we can improve things around us can't we ? ourselves included.

Hi Muriel,

Is France the country of the 1st revolution in the second millenium?
Is France the first country to cut the head of a king?
Was historically France the first country with a republic, in 1789?

I am not sure it was the 1st country in the 2nd millenium but I'm thinking of England.

Hi Gérard !
 You are right France is not number one. Anyway as polyglots we are not French are we ? we are rather citizens of the world.

MurielB a écrit:Hi Gérard !
 You are right France is not number one. Anyway as polyglots we are not French are we ? we are rather citizens of the world.

Of course, as Muriel said humorously, we are not French but Polyglots. I wonder, however, how we can fight violation of human rights in the world just by speaking several languages…

By the way, the idea of Liberty and Human Rights was not thought up by the French Revolution. It already appeared twenty years before in the American Revolution

Now, we should not delude ourselves: the world is ruled by King Money. Liberty and Human Rights are just minor details.

Philippe-Henri

Hi,

Well, the idea of human rights was supported and developed by the "Lumières", Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, D'Alembert... far before french revolution. Why so many philosophers in our country ? Perhaps because french people are not reasonable...
As aristocracy and clergy didn't want to surrender privileges of an outdated period, people made revolution and even cut the head of the king.

Sometimes, you are compelled to make a revolution to get free and enforce human rights.

Of course, human rights are today still mocked in many countries but, as emergent countries are raising, democracy is sure developing. Sometimes, democracy is not the best thing to develop a country, as we saw it in the URSS after perestroÏka...

gerardM a écrit:

Is France the country of liberty?... even clouds are not permitted to come freely!

To Gérard

Although the idea of democracy was already supported, as Remy said, by philosophers of the Enlightment, the 1789 Revolution was not properly meant to introduce democracy. The primary aim was to overthrow the absolutist monarchy and to strip nobility and clergy of their privileges. That’s why revolutionists beheaded their king and queen and looted churches and monasteries.

The second step to democracy in France is still to be made today. Meanwhile the French, like all West-Europeans, are making fun of a caricature of democracy. We couldn't blame them for it because even the ancient Athenians, who coined the term, alllowed only 10% of their population to vote (slaves, immigrants and women were excluded).

But this is not my point here. My point is Gérard’s fourth question. He said: «Is France the country of liberty?... even clouds are not permitted to come freely!». Clouds... hm! I can smell an allusion to the radioactive cloud from Chernobyl in 1986 that was «halted» by the French at their eastern border… Am I right, Gérard?

Philippe-Henri

Hi Philippe-Henri,

> Is France the country of liberty?... even clouds are not permitted to come freely!
Yes, of course, I was thinking of the big cloud that came from Chernobyl and was not permitted in our country.