"No! France will not be a colonial country! Americans in America!" Issued by the French Communist Party. This poster was paid for with funds collected by the workers in the Renault factories.
Many French people have what seems to be a sincere belief that the U.S. government is in charge of things. Watching over the world. Blundering, doing things wrong, but omniscient. I can't tell you how many times I've heard conspiracy theories based on the idea that the U.S. government had to know.
Among the things that the U.S. government knows, according to French people I've met:
--the moon landing did not really take place; it was filmed in Hollywood or Arizona
--polio vaccine and the AIDS virus are U.S. government conspiracies
--the World Trade Center attack was an inside job (so many people believe this! including, apparently, Marion Cotillard)
--the worldwide financial crisis was engineered by the U.S.
--Dominique Strauss-Kahn was snared by a U.S. government honey trap
--the Ukrainian crisis is being manipulated by the U.S.
--the Malaysian plane landed on a U.S. air force base in the Indian Ocean
I think they find it reassuring in some way to think someone is in charge of the world. How terrifying if there were no one!
I don't believe in huge conspiracies much myself. Have you ever tried to keep even a big surprise party secret?
Whenever I get into one of those weird "U.S. knows all" conversations, I just say the U.S. is such a big place that it's impossible to keep a secret for long. I'll add your comment about surprise parties!
Posted by: chrissoup | 31 March 2014 at 05:12
I just discovered your blog. It is quite funny/ insightful. I studied French for 9+ years.
I did not know people in France believed that the US government is playing puppeteer. That is quite funny. I'm pretty sure the moon landing is a conspiracy theory that floats among crazy Americans as well... It was addressed during an episode of Mythbusters... HIV/AIDS is also a conspiracy that floats that it was created by the CIA to wipe out blacks and gays. The scientific community thinks it jumped from monkeys to humans in the 1930s. The polio vaccine one has me scratching my head... What's that about? Americans don't engineer financial crises. It's all about the invisible hand of the market. Seriously, no way the government is involved, it'd be the private sector (which crosses international waters and they don't want to watch the profits decline). Sad to say but I would have to say most Americans don't even know what's going on in Ukraine and if they do it's limited knowledge. The government is so partisan it can't come to an agreement on anything, so it it masterminded that O.O. Americans forgot about that plane lol. I think that almost zero Americans believe that 9/11 was an inside job, but we did look on it as an epic failure of our government.
I think they are giving the federal government way too much credit. Our state governments are much more effective than the federal government ever is. Then you keep breaking it down when city's implement laws that differ from the state's.
I don't believe in conspiracy theories either- eating organic, using no "chemicals", etc. I consider myself jaded.
Posted by: Sagely | 21 June 2014 at 07:12