...uh, yes, that's exactly how clichés work. Citing a bunch of pieces that all parrot the same talking points and add no substantive analytical content perfectly illustrates my point, so thank you very much for that.
And yeah, the vast majority of "opinion journalists" are worthless, lazy hacks whose whole job consists in peddling such clichés without an ounce of creativity or critical thinking. That's true for "left", "right" and "center" publications. I don't know what baffles you so much about this notion.
Okay, well how about this. All you've said in this thread is that people who are commenting here have no idea what's actually going on in France (more or less.) So, how would you describe the situation?
I appreciate that's broad, so you can start from the point of how are the French people entitled to their entitlements if you like.
Whatever its causes, I'd argue that the French's ability to organize collectively in defense of their interests (regardless of whether these interests are legitimate or not) is a good thing, since it implies an engaged citizenry that is ready and willing to take part in the political protests - in other words, the very opposite of lazy. Countries like Italy or even America (although things might be changing for the better in the T***p presidency) where people take everything the politicians do lying down, are too atomized to organize, and just tend to thing it's not worth it, have a far more serious problem than France IMO. But maybe that's just me who thinks active citizen involvement in political choices is a good thing.
Agreed, but at the same time I don't think going out on the street and barking your inferiority complex down a megaphone entitles to speak on behalf of the people. In the end the ballot box is a far more worthwhile tool. After all the other face of the "advocacy democracy" coin is the lobbyist culture that large swathes of French people rail against.
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