Besides being multilingual. Tant pis pour toi si tu n’es pas bilingue.
My politics are pretty far left in the US, but pretty centre/centre-left in Europe. Case in point, I’m enjoying reading a couple of interesting stories in L’Express: “Se focaliser sur la race et le sexe a réveillé les furies et les furieux” and “Identité, “racisé”, universalisme… Rokhaya Diallo-Yascha Mounk, l’étonnante rencontre“. OK, L’Express is at the Centre of the French political spectrum, but one of the things I enjoy about French culture is the openness of the debate without the ad-hominems found in US politics. For example, “Trump supporter” or “Bernie Bro” being used to shut down the debate. With both sides being guilty.
The first article is a great discussion of that phenomenon. Although it’s hard to summarise, but I find the sentiment about identity politics very welcome. But identity politics doesn’t just include race, gender, or sexual preference–it also includes political and religious affiliations. As critical theory pointed out, the bottom line is power: whether it is racial, sexual, doctrinal, or relating to philately. Keeping people from talking to each other is the perfect means to preserve power. Things get dangerous when people start talking to each other.
The things you miss when you are stuck in one language.
Footnote:
You can use a translator such as Deepl, but it will miss properly translating this comment about reparations:
Réparateur de tort, s'inventant des ennemis de vent, vivant dans le passé, Don Quichotte est le premier woke de la littérature !
Best translated as "Reparations make enemies of windmills by living in the past, Don Quixote is the first "woke" in literature".
