People are People Around the World

Old Square in Lyon, France.

I recently had the pleasure of travelling last week to Europe on a business trip. Though it was a whirlwind tour of France and Germany over the course of a week to obtain new distributors for one of the products we manufacture (made in the USA!) I had a chance to take notice of several things.

One thing is the powerful influence of the American culture in France and Germany. Both in the cities of Lyon, France and Stuttgart Germany I noticed that American music has a strong influence outside the borders of the USA. For some reason, they really like our music. Maybe because it is really good.

Also I noticed a very large influence of  ”global” company products such as Twix, Skittles, Milky Way candy bars and even a New Yorker store in Stuttgart in one of the plazas as well as an American Apparel store there (American Apparel is one of the apparel decorating industry’s leading all USA made clothing manufacturers here at home located in Los Angeles).

And when abroad you can always feel at home with McDonalds (right across from my hotel in Lyon) and Subway shops were easily accessible to those who had a craving for home.

But the people are what struck me as the most interesting. At a business dinner the one night at a small restaurant in Lyon I got a cultural course on dinner discussions. What you talked about were food, wine, and sex. What you didn’t talk about was how much you made, money or politics.  Being in the gastro-intestinal capital of the world, as Lyon is noted for with over 800 restaurants in the city, we ate and had polite dinner discussions. It was interesting to note that in France the family is much the center of their lives and that’s where the real political talk is promoted. Not so much as in the public sector.

A market platz in Stuttgart, Germany.

Why I bring this up is that while I was out walking down one of the incredibly wide and beautiful old city plazas I ran into a young man who was working with Aide et Action. This organization is France’s leading sponsorship organization for education development in third world countries around the world. It would be similar to World Vision but without a religious element.

As he started to ask me in French something (and I spoke NO French really before I went to Europe) I blankly stared at him as if he were from another world (which he was to me). When I asked if he spoke English he was excited to practice his English. What ensued led me to the title of this article.

I started off by asking him what the French people thought about America. His response surprised me a little bit. He replied that the French people have no problem with the American people – they actually love us. The French’s problem is with the US Government. He mentioned that under Bush 43 it was bad, but under the Obama administration it is getting much worse. The French public opinion of America is degrading more swiftly as time goes by. All the good America has done during the times of war to help our friend and ally is quickly being eroded by insane monetary policies and political games.

One interesting note, and what really surprised me the most was of the similarities between the American people and the French people. The French politicians are also very fed up with their politicians ignoring the will of their people (sound familiar?). Doing as they please because they are in the political power group. The “social elite”. This young man stated that over the past several years it has gotten worse, and is gaining more speed in the direction opposite of what the people are wanting.

One of the biggest differences between France and America was that our ingrained and God given rights for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness Americans are much more outspoken. We don’t hesitate to talk about these things more openly – especially the past 18 months. Through the political shenanigans of our current political parties (both sides of the aisle) and the inept deafness to the reality of what the people want a political firestorm began brewing with the Tea Parties of 2009. We have just begun to see the fire started to be kindled. Once the kindling is started, prepare for the heat to be thrown from what is burnt away.

I thank God that the American people are strong, resilient, industrious, and motived. We are just seeing the beginning of massive change and hope in America that is not what the assumed leaders of this country thought that hope and change would be.

It is my prayer that we could once again be the light to the world and bring hope to the people of other countries like this young man I met in France. We can show them that through the power of the people and bringing about like minded individuals and groups we can change our political systems without violence or insurrections. We need to be the leaders that show the people of other countries that we are not that much different from themselves. The languages and cultures might not be the same, but that yearning for life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and the desire of their governments to do the people’s will are I believe universal in human desires.

People are people no matter where they live around the world. And once they are given a taste of the realization of the power they hold en mass – then may the governments of the world beware their time is limited unless they themselves bend and change to the peoples will.