Friday, February 7, 2014

This house believes that "Frenchbashers" are right - closing speeches

Third proposing speech
Dear debaters, dear readers, what a debate! There is such passion, such appetite from both sides, it is really entertaining. Unfortunately, the opposition should probably focus all this energy on more adapted activities for them, instead of wasting it with hollow arguments. As President Hollande poses for the Time Magazine cover [1], Frenchbashers are really trendy lately. His desperate moves, in order to save what remains from the past French glory, are laudable but useless. The whole English world are witnesses of his words, and analyses with more or less impartiality. (Continues below.)
By TK

Third opposing speech
Ladies and gentlemen,  it has become clear throughout this debate that there was no serious exchange of ideas. Rather than engaging in a rational discourse about the French model, its strengths and its weaknesses, the proposing team has opted for creating confusion by defending tautologies like "everything is NOT alright" and "we do NOT live in a perfect world", not to mention them considering paid maternity leave a "useless thing". I think that the proposition team likes having heavily pregnant women in the workplaces, getting emotional, vomiting and talking about how wonderful being pregnant is! (Continues below.)
By AB

Third proposing speech
Dear debaters, dear readers, what a debate! There is such passion, such appetite from both sides, it is really entertaining. Unfortunately, the opposition should probably focus all this energy on more adapted activities for them, instead of wasting it with hollow arguments. As President Hollande poses for the Time Magazine cover [1], Frenchbashers are really trendy lately. His desperate moves, in order to save what remains from the past French glory, are laudable but useless. The whole English world are witnesses of his words, and analyses with more or less impartiality.

First of all, please let me answer to my colleague, member of the opposition, about his/her statement on democratic countries. For him/her, bashing a country where fundamentals freedoms are protected and the people is not oppressed is never right. The opposition clearly mixes up gossips and critiques. Bashing a country is not only about complaining or whispering, it is also about highlighting what is wrong with its system, its politics, its people. Frenchbashers often propose alternatives to the current situation, and those deserve our attention. Our pride should be put aside when the fate of a whole country is involved.  

Let’s face some facts, there is no need to be the Sun or The National Enquirer to criticize France. Mr Hollande’s tax policy is a complete nonsense. Taking from the wealthiest and giving to the poorest is a great idea, but it can’t be done higgledy-piggledy. The 75% tax is an absurdity, and everyone agree with this, French people, German people and British people. We need the wealthy, making them leave won’t help. The country is urging for reforms, everyone agrees with that. However, they have to be built carefully. For instance, France education is in a complete mess. The lack of entrepreneurship and creativity sinks all the goods results in maths, and to my colleague, “This shapes professional profiles that are only able to work for the state and high functionaries”. We have a moral duty to change this, and it is exactly what Frenshbashers try to tell us.

The motion is a bit ambiguous. My colleague raised an issue in the argumentation of the opposition: ““being right” is telling something quite close to the truth that will benefit the audience accordingly to its moral standards”. The people ask for the truth to be told, not for some hidden pre-digest propaganda. If French media want to mask the reality, then we, as free responsible citizens, have to stay inform of all the issues of our country. And one way to do so is to listen to Frenchbashers. The brilliant example of the price of a half-liter of milk shows that foreign can’t be trust sometimes, but any errors can easily be detected. Therefore, foreign media become trustable.

Dear readers, I’m begging you, please stop being blinded by your French jingoism (very famous worldwide by the way). Please, criticism shouldn’t be mistaken with slurs. The French society is not perfect, and one way to improve it is to listen to new opinions. As Simon Sinek said, “One of the best paradoxes of leadership is a leader's need to be both stubborn and open-minded. A leader must insist on sticking to the vision and stay on course to the destination. But he must be open-minded during the process.”. Try not to forget to always remain open-minded, while sticking to your extraordinary French convictions. Thank you for reading, and please, please, vote for us.

TK

References


Third opposing speech
Ladies and gentlemen,  it has become clear throughout this debate that there was no serious exchange of ideas. Rather than engaging in a rational discourse about the French model, its strengths and its weaknesses, the proposing team has opted for creating confusion by defending tautologies like "everything is NOT alright" and "we do NOT live in a perfect world", not to mention them considering paid maternity leave a "useless thing". I think that the proposition team likes having heavily pregnant women in the workplaces, getting emotional, vomiting and talking about how wonderful being pregnant is! 

They criticized the healthcare system which is the best one in the world according to the World Health Organization (1). I do not mind paying taxes lower than the UK's (as pointed out by AC) and having in return a universal healthcare where everyone has access to social security whether you have a job, are looking for one or are homeless. It's far better than what they have in the US where the private sector jacks up health insurance rates all the time, which leaves a quarter of the populace without any insurance. The English and German media never talk about that! 

The proposition points out that France has "a whole generation of non-productive workers who prefer to spend their payoffs on holidays instead of engaging in the system ". I believe that they have every right to disagree with us, but this is quite frankly a malicious lie. According to the International Labor Organization (2), management level employees in France work among the longest hours in Europe (almost 10% longer than in the UK), while the workforce works slightly over the European average. My colleagues also showed that labor productivity in France, in terms of GDP per hour worked, is one of the highest in Europe (higher than in Germany or the UK). 

Another clash point raised in the debate was the French educational system. It is a tuition-free system, universal and very competitive. The Grandes Ecoles, for example, are very well funded, have small classes and top teaching staff. Studies and internships abroad feature more and more in the programmes, often a year abroad (a gap year "césure" or "double diplome") is integrated into the curriculum. In terms of productivity (the ratio between investment per student, quality, and the results obtained) France ranks among the most efficient institutions of higher education in the developed world.

Finally we believe that, by definition, French bashers are just simply not right, as said by GT. The French model is not the same as the Anglo-Saxon models and this does not make it intrinsically less successful, just different. France is home to many world-scale corporations; it has its millionaires and its entrepreneurs (and yes it is a French word), several of the best business schools in Europe (Insead, HEC), its rich and its poor. However the gap between the rich and poor is not as flagrant as it is in many other countries, and the French people want to keep it this way by providing free education and healthcare.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for reading and vote for us!

AB

References

No comments:

Post a Comment