A French Reader Sounds Off On Roger Cohen's Anti-French Column
October 18, 2007 -- 1:54 PM EST // //

Below I noted that Times columnist Roger Cohen's effort today blamed French people's resistance to doing away with their 35-hour work week on the fact that they are inclined towards "idleness" -- i.e., that the French are lazy.

Now TPM Reader ES, who is French himself, sounds off on Cohen:

Thanks for singling out Cohen's latest abomination.

As a Frenchman, I have always been deeply offended by Roger Cohen's articles (back when he was stationed in Paris) and by his puff pieces. Regarding his agonizing job, I suspect that Cohen is kind of jealous of his French counterparts: journos in Paris make much less than he does, and yet they seem to be enjoying life so much more, can send their kids to good schools without having to pay incredible tuition, and on a general basis don't seem to harbor the same upwardly-mobile obsessions as Cohen does...

And by the way, productivity in France is higher than in the U.S., probably because of better education and national health care. The French work less because they work better.

Vive la France. Yep, French people are lazy -- the things you learn from The Times Op ed page, ladies and gents.

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