Sunday, January 23, 2005
LAND OF SAD
The French are a nation of depressed pessimists, wracked with self-doubt and unable to see a positive future. Who says so? The French:
This gloomy portrait of the current state of Gallic morale - or rather the lack of it - was made public yesterday in a damning report by France’s prefects, the country’s top administrators.
“The French no longer believe in anything,” the report said. “That is the reason that the situation is relatively calm, for they believe that it is not even worthwhile expressing their opinions or trying to be heard any more.”
The country’s 100 prefects went on to use the words “lifelessness”, “resignation”, “anxiety” and “pessimism” to describe the attitudes they believe prevail in France today.
Adele Horin will be shattered.
* Nation of sadness update:
A man who went missing five weeks ago in south-western France has been found alive in an underground cave system where he had got lost.
Jean-Luc Josuat-Verges, 48, told police he survived by eating wood and clay.
Mr Josuat-Verges left his home on 18 December suffering from depression and telling his wife he wanted to be alone for a time, local newspapers said.