My greatest fears are / Mes plus grandes craintes sont
Alejandro - 11:58pm Oct 21, 2004
I first classified all of the responses into two categories: personal fears and global fears. Personal fears included fear of dying, of being alone, of not succeeding in life, of not finding love, of losing a loved one, etc. Both sides shared most of the personal fears.
The global fears were represented more strongly on the French side, including several mentions of la guerre, l'extremisme, les attentats, les racailles, la maladie, and Ussama Ben Laden. It showed the French are much more concerned about the dangers the world community faces. The Americans only included corporate domination, xenophobic rednecks with assault rifles, and Bush getting reelected. Those were isolated comments, so I concluded Americans are much more worried about themselves than about the community. This reinforces the idea we've mentioned before that Americans think often as individuals, and the French often as a community.
Angela - 01:08am Oct 22, 2004
Alejandro - agreed; the Americans and the French shared a similar set of personal fears, but the French were much more likely to include concerns outside of themselves. This does reinforce what we have been talking about in regards to the conception of the individual v. society.
When I was responding to this question, my first thought was actually the death of my boyfriend in a terrorist attack. (He worked in the center of London in a government office this summer right next to parliament and that always bothered me a bit). But then I rejected that because I didn't want to have my fears be from the outside, beyond my control - I don't want terrorism to be a source of fear in my life. I think this is for two reasons - first, it is outside my control. But second, it almost trivializes my fears - saying that terrorists or Bush have such a large influence on my fears and the meaning of my life seems to me to be a cop-out. It is not my challenge to replace Bush, but it is my challenge to take my life down the correct path. So, I replaced "terrorists" and the like with fears that are closer to me.
It seems that this could definitely reflect the concept of individualism: I felt that the only source of meaning for my fears could be derived from myself, and I also felt that I wanted to have some control over them - the greatest challenges and greatest rewards come from within myself, and they are the largest source of fear.
Perhaps the individualism=egoism characterization is correct?
a - 10:40am Oct 22, 2004
Que ce soient les américains ou Les français, nous pensons davantage à notre avenir professionnel, nous avons peur de ne pas réussir. La seconde plus grande peur est en rapport avec notre vie sentimentale : perdre l'amour de sa vie ou ne pas le trouver. Nous pensons également à la famille, le fait de perdre un proche à cause de certaines maladies par exemple. La santé occupe une place importante pour tous. De nombreux termes reviennent également comme la guerre et plus particulièrement pour les français. Nos peurs sont donc similaires d'un pays à un autre, le seule différence est peut être pour les français en pensant davantage à la guerre, pourquoi ?
Henri - 10:53am Oct 22, 2004
Personnellement, je pense que le monde d'aujourd'hui est dans une situation de tension permanente. Les gens s'entretuent et les erreurs du passé ne sont pas retenues. La religion est censée être le symbole d'une paix intérieure et spirituelle et au lieu de cela elle fait partie de la violence. Pour moi la religion doit amener à un bien être, une paix intérieure. Les discriminations s'accentuent et les fossés se creusent entre les différentes communautés. Voici le monde d'aujourd'hui.
Adil - 10:54am Oct 22, 2004
Je m'appelle Adil Barakat et je suis musulman pratiquant. Je suis originaire du Maroc où vient une grande partie des terroristes internationaux. Ma plus grande crainte est qu'on fasse l'amalgame. J'ai peur qu'on voit tous les musulmans comme des terroristes potentiels et l'Islam comme une religion dangereuse. Aujourd'hui, les gens disent que l'Islam est contre la démocratie. Bien sur, c'est faux. Nous avons étudié et traduit les textes grecs qui défendaient la démocratie bien avant la mise en place des démocraties dans les pays occidentaux. J'ai peur qu'on voit mes soeurs musulmanes comme des êtres inférieurs car elles portent le voile. Bien sur, c'est faux. Ici, dans ma propre école, un certain nombre d'étudiant (pas beaucoups, heureusement!!!) font l'amalgame. Je ne serais un bon français que le jour où je m'appelerai "Jean-Eduard" et que je serais un bon chrétien. Chez vous, est-ce que vous laissez entrer les arabes en boite de nuit ? Car, ici,les arabes n'ont pas le droit de danser. Ca peut paraître drôle mais c'est la vérité! J'espère que de votre coté, vous êtes plus intelligent et tolérant.
Pablo - 11:55am Oct 22, 2004
Bonjour à tous ! je pense que nous nous sommes tous exprimés de manière trés globale dans les réponses (je suis d'accord avec Ale). Je crois également que les deux cotês de l'atltantique, les étudiants se sont exprimés sur ces peurs les plus bannales.
Mais si je reviens sur ce qu'on a écris avant moi sur le forum, je trouve qu'ils on été beaucoup plus sincères et touchants.
Bravo de ne pas avoir peur des choses bannales et d'apprendre à dissocier nos vrais peurs, des ces peurs que veulent nous vendre les medias.
pierrehokayem - 12:33pm Oct 24, 2004
je pense d'aprés de ce que je viens de lire ,que les grandes craintes sont la mort ,la perte de quelqu'un qu'on l'aime beucoup ,une frande peur de l'avenir et de ce qui nous cache. la crainte est une chose tres normale ,nous sommes tous des etres humains ,nous avons un coeur et des sentiments. on a vu dans l'histoire que les grandes personnalités qui ont laissés des traces apres leur disparition comme le seigneur JESUS christ a eu peur de la mort le moment ou il a été crucifié par les juifs. de ce qu'il vient nous dire mon collègue ADIL est tres normal,et je le comprend bien car nous vivons une periode tres difficile surtout au niveau de la guerre contre les musulmans et les sortes de discriminations qui apparaissent quasement dans tout le monde.
Alejandro - 09:01pm Oct 24, 2004
After thinking about it more, I think another reason the French are so scared of war and we are not is that the French had to endure relatively recently the two world wars, while there hasn't been a war fought on US soil since the civil war, back in 1865! In other words, the Americans don't remember how much it sucks to have a war in your homeland.
With respect to the Muslims, I don't think they are lesser human beings. But I do fear a few of them, as much as I fear those crazy Christian sects that we have in the US. Althought I haven't read it myself, based on what I've heard, I think the problem with the Coran is that it can be interpreted in many different ways, just like the Bible is interpreted in different ways for each Christian sect there is. So one interpretation might say "make peace with the world", and I actually believe most Muslims are peaceful, but then another interpretation says "kill the infidels" and that's where terrorists come from. So from my point of view there's at least two types of Muslims, and most of the world refuses to acknowledge this and just classifies everybody as evildoers. Both kinds of Muslims are as different as they can get.
Frances - 09:27pm Oct 24, 2004
I think that I found that more MIT students had failure as one of their greatest fears. I agree with other people who noted that MIT students tended to list more personal fears, compared to the French students who had a combination of personal fears and fears that were more global (fear of war, the future of France, etc.). Both sides indicated fears of sickness for themselves or loved ones.
For me personally, I think my greatest fears tend to be related to things I feel I could do something about. Reading through the two lists, it seems that many of the MIT responses could fall into this category also. The French responses are often things outside one's control.
Xiaojie - 11:19pm Oct 24, 2004
It is strange that Americans did not put "war" under there fears column. I believe that Americans are afraid of war, in the sense of war being an attack on our country. A question for the French students, why do you fear war? What aspect of war do you fear? Do you fear war because it means that your homeland will be attacked and your loved ones may die? Or do you fear the general idea of war because it shows the horrid evilness of human nature? I think most people will be motivated by personal reasons.
Some may accuse me of spreading "liberal propoganda," but if Americans do not fear war, in the sense of an attack on the country, then why is Bush so popular? Even after it is made publicly known that Iraq was not a threat to the U.S., Bush's popularity ratings remain high. I hypothesize this is because Americans fear an attack on their country.
So, perhaps it is not that the Americans and French have different concerns or fears, but that our mutual fears are manifested in different actions. Americans believe they need to fight wars in order to prevent an attack on our home. The French see pacifism as the way to protect their home. Thoughts?
Esther - 11:21pm Oct 24, 2004
I agree with Omeleye. I noted that many of the responses of the French involved things outside of their own control, whereas many of the MIT responses had to do with things within their control. I wonder why this may be the case.
Angela - 12:45am Oct 25, 2004
Xiaojie - One thing to take into consideration is the sample. We have asked a bunch of MIT students what their greatest fears are, and we are a group of high-achievers and are generally liberal. Is it really a surprise that our attitudes differ from what you might expect out of the general electorate, who is more afraid of terrorist attack? I would be extremely hesitant to make broad generalizations from this sample, and this is something to keep in mind throughout all these discussions. However, I don't think that this means we can't learn things from these word associations - we can, but they always need to be taken in light of the context.
Megan - 11:09am Oct 25, 2004
Angela -- while you are probably right that the average MIT students' opinions do not represent America as a whole, I would still venture that people in France would fear war more than the average American -- in America we seem to like to think that we're in control -- if terrorism is a problem, we decide that we'll wage a war on terrorism in the world, so we don't fear it as much -- also, considering that as of late we are the initiators in war, it makes sense that the French would fear war because we're creating wars they're opposed to -- if it were France that was taking aggressive action, perhaps Americans would fear war more.
Edgar - 09:54pm Oct 25, 2004
This is in response to a previous post by Adil. Your fear is a legitimate fear. I have several Muslim friends in school and back home in New York. And although Americans like to give themselves credit for allowing "freedom of religion," that does not necessarily mean that they agree (or in some cases, that they like) someone else's religion.
After the attacks on September 11, Americans have made a stronger link between "terrorism" and "Islam." And it is sad because it has twisted people's views of Muslims, and it also doesn't help that is a Christian country as well. So, Adil, I'm afraid that to some extent, your fear has a bit of ground here in the United States (or at least in New York).
I will do research and back up these statements with actual numbers.
Megan - 11:11pm Oct 25, 2004
As far as discrimination of many types in America, it seems that it is very dependent on location in the country so sometimes it's hard to make a generalization. As far as other religions in France, though, it seems that there is less discrimination now -- in a 2000 poll in France, 45% of the French thought that Jews in France had too much economic power, whereas in 2002, 22% of young people responded this way.
Jorge - 01:08am Oct 26, 2004
To add to Megan's comment, maybe this fact is tied to the fact there has been a decrease of faith in France over the years. For example, eliminating specific religions, and simply taking whether one believes in God or not, only 55% of people believe in God (survey taken in 2004) - with only about half of the people believe in God, its difficult for any religion to have an overwheling power in the economy.
Tingting - 03:57pm Oct 27, 2004
I think most MIT students are really that concerned about America being in war. The issue comes up when alarms are raised during politically active periods such as during elections. I feel like MIT students are often too busy and too engrossed in trying to survive classes to really care about broader issues that concern the rest of the nation.
Alejandro - 05:29pm Oct 27, 2004
I agree with Tingting. I feel like most of the MIT community is self-involved and isolated from USA and the world (except for the war). Most MIT students don't even read the news, daily or weekly! The only thing that's kinda obvious is that Boston is as good of a terror target as NY is. Maybe another reason we care more about war is that MIT has high population of international students, and we care about the war. The war is a statement about American diplomacy and international affairs.
Angela - 12:53am Oct 28, 2004
Adil - I would be interested in exploring the differences in attitudes among the French and Americans towards the Muslim population. I feel like France's colonial history means that relations between French-Arabs and other French must be couched in all kinds of pain and conflict from the past, as France's colonial endeavours and her attempt to really integrate the colonies into France meant that conflict for freedom was long and bloody and traumatizing for both France and the former colonies. It seems no surprise that given this context, relations between the french and immigrants from her former colonies might sometimes be strained. In the US, I think racism towards Muslims is newer.. we don't have nearly as much of a potent history. I feel like most americans don't understand muslims and thus fear them. I think it is racism in both contexts but I wonder if it is a different type of racism, and what implications this has.
For example, I don't think you'll see the American government passing laws forcing all Muslim girls to remove their headscarves in school, as much as we may fear them, disapprove of the veil, and wish that they weren't there. Part of that is our engrained idea of religious freedom, but I think that this impulse also reveals something interesting about French society. Perhaps they feel as their culture is being threatened by the culture of their immigrants? Perhaps they wanted to make the arab colonies french, and fear the opposite?
I know this is a little off topic from the "my greatest fear" responses, but I think Adil brought up an interesting aspect of fear that most people wouldn't write for other people to see- fear of people unlike yourself. Adil, i don't feel like we are "more intelligent and tolerant," - you will always have people who fear what they don't know - but i do think that we have a very different relationship with the muslim world.
GERSENDE - 10:46am Oct 29, 2004
Personnelement, ma plus grande crainte n'est pas la mort mais ce qui se passe après ! Sinon je pense comme tout le monde à mon avenir, j'espère ne pas avoir d'accident et me retrouver handicapée tte ma vie ou avoir une maladie. J'avoue que je n'y pense pas vraiment, j'ai toujours l'impression que ce qui arrive aux autres, ne m'arrivera jamais !
pierrehokayem - 11:26am Oct 29, 2004
je trouve que Alejandro a son point de vue ,et il a raison dans certains points comme la crainte de tous ce qui est extremiste qu'il soit chrétien ou musulman et dans ce cas tout le monde sera obligé pour defendre contre ses actions et surtout les extremistes musulmans qui malheureusement comprennent très mal le concept de la religion et de ce que le prophète MOHAMAD venait leur dire et leur recommender ,malheureusement ces gens là font des massacres partout et dans tout le monde en tuant les innocents . mais moi je suis contre l'idée que l'amerique prenne la decision de faire la guerre contre le terrorisme ,sa politique absurde a engendré des organisations des terroristes dans tout le monde il y ,il ne faut pas oublier que l'amerique a supporté BEN LADEN lors de la guerre contre la Russie ,bon on peut conclure que l'amerique a suporté le terrorisme un moment pour ses propres interets et maintenant elle oblige tout le monde de rentrer la guerre contre les terrorismes. j'attend une reponse honnete de Alengendro
Alejandro - 05:24pm Nov 1, 2004
I agree Pierre. Even though Osama is a murderer that deserves to die, he said in his last video something like "American will be safe when we make the Middle East safe" (I read it in the New York Times) and I agree with him. It is the US foreign policy's fault that there's terrorists in the first place. They don't attack us because they have nothing better to do, but because they strongly need to send a message to the world that they will not tolerate US interventions. The most recent attacks, including 9-11 are a response to the US's intervention in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Most countries have never been and will never be attacked by terrorists, and the reason is simple: they don't interfere with the lives of the Middle Easterns, and that's the way it should be.
I also agree in that the US is being hypocritical in making a war agains terrorism if it supported terrorism when it sided with them, not only in the case of Al Qaeda agains the Russian Communists, but also when it supported guerrillas all over South America agains socialists governments that never meant any harm to the US.
Edgar - 01:33am Nov 2, 2004
To Adil: in class, we read your first comment and we were confused by some things, so it would be nice if you can answer this question for me. With respect to Arabs not "being able to dance" at clubs, is that because their religion prevents it because it is a national (i.e. French) law that peoples of Arab descent cannot dance at a nightclub? Thanks!
ChaLing - 01:11am Nov 4, 2004
Alejandro: Be careful when you say something like " Most countries have never been and will never be attacked by terrorists, and the reason is simple: they don't interfere with the lives of the Middle Easterns, and that's the way it should be. "... don't be so quick to generalize that all terrorism stems from the middle east. I would say that most countries are attacked by terrorism, albeit of different sources with different reasons...
Alejandro - 08:54pm Nov 8, 2004
You're right ChaLing, sorry for that. I should have said that the rest of the countries "don't interfere with the lives of other countries..." I started thinking I'm not covering all of the cases because some terrorist attacks in the US have been performed by Americans, as in the case of the Oklahoma City Bombing. But the essence of what I was saying is still there, that the US should not interfere with other countries because the US might feel its consequences, which in our discussion is basically terrorist attacks.