How do you feel about coming back to France? (page 5 of 5)

Hi Agnès,

It’s a bit like flying fish 🙂. You’ll always find a few things to mention. Pinault and Bolloré—I don’t see much that’s Breton about them. Yeah, I know, Bolloré historically made paper, and I even went to the Scaër parade a couple of times as a kid. Your examples are just the trees hiding the forest, and I don’t think they’ve massively reinvested in their home country.

Michel

hi, you must really struggle daily living in a region you don’t like, where the locals reflect the disdain they read on your face back at you.

Little things like Ubisoft or Leclerc...

Honestly, Tatra, you seem completely wiped out.

You’ve got to reinvent yourself!

It’s not easy to change course after 50, but it’s now or never.

Hello, you must really be suffering daily living in a region you don’t like, where the locals reflect the disdain they read on your face toward them.

There’s no disdain at all, and if I’ve been doing the same job in close contact with the Breton population for decades—happily and successfully—it’s because no one holds it against me for thinking this way. Besides, it’s not just that the region doesn’t "please" me, but that it is what it is, very far from the romanticized image cultivated here by those who’ve only passed through or had a bowl of cider in a trendy crêperie. When you return from traveling, there’s a shock, which I’m trying to describe and explain because that’s really the topic of this thread.

Michel

Little things like Ubisoft or Leclerc... Seriously, Tatra, you seem at the end of your rope. You’ve got to reinvent yourself! It’s not easy to change course after 50 years, but it’s now or never.

I’m talking about the diaspora coming back to invest and create energy and jobs, thanks to two or three successful entrepreneurs who’ve expanded in France. How many employees does Ubisoft have in Brittany? 20? 30? 🤪 We’re not talking about the same thing.

If this conversation doesn’t suit you, just stop replying—no problem.

Michel

Trying to prove that Brittany is in sharp decline by comparing it to a French administrative region, two countries long under Soviet influence that only started in the market economy three or four decades ago, the richest autonomous community in Spain, and, the cherry on top, Ireland—which owes its current success solely to tax dumping and being in the hands of multinationals—is like comparing apples and oranges (from Léon).

I don’t see how this is incomparable, unless you’ve already decided nothing can be compared.

Beyond my initial observations, your sample also includes:

A size difference of 1 to 3 A population difference of 1 to 5 A total GDP difference of 1 to 8 A GDP per capita (PPP) difference of 1 to 4

But yes, one thing in common: they all have a coastline. 😮

Instead, tell us what led you to this selection to demonstrate Brittany’s "sharp decline."

It’s mostly that I feel like I’m repeating myself over and over...

It doesn’t have the same effect with other people who aren’t so fixated on the same topic.

If I’m not mistaken, Bretons aren’t exactly welcoming, but you don’t really grasp their nature or their character. A Breton is cold and rather reserved. But they’re people you can count on. Protest has always existed in Brittany—you can trace it back to the *papier timbré* if you want. Whether it’s good or bad, there’s no nuclear power plant, even in ’44, and protests happened there too. Because in France, people don’t protest over highway constructions, antenna installations, stores, etc. I don’t really see much of a difference.

Hi Jean-Luc,

I’m comparing two Celtic nations with similar religions and very close geographic strengths and constraints. In 1918, they had the same population—both were very rural and quite isolated until the 1960s. In a way, you could even say Brittany was more industrial than Ireland at the end of the 1950s. Result: an independent state, a hub for multinationals, a major European player, and a French-administered region that struggles, regresses, with a GDP per capita on par with Slovenia’s.

Michel

Good evening Marie-Anne,

I’d love for you to explain to me that I don’t know the Bretons, but I’ve still seen thousands of them up close—in their ideas, actions, and how they’ve evolved over time. To me, they tend to be reliable, but also very obedient, easy to manage, and control. After all, great academic results, lots of civil servants.

Anyway, the psychology of peoples is a bit of a touchy subject no matter what—intellectually and conceptually fragile. Essentializing is a risk.

Michel

This summer in Kosovo, I was reflecting: the Kosovars left their country, but wherever they went, they started businesses, teamed up, moved around, and are now returning with wads of 500 € bills.

It’s clear that Kosovars have all studied engineering—they’re shining in Silicon Valley in Palo Alto, building billion-dollar companies. Elon Musk is shaking in his boots seeing Kosovar entrepreneurs

I crossed Kosovo by train a few years ago, and it really felt like the third world in Europe. And isn’t what Attila wrote enough? There are big companies like the Bolloré Group, Ubisoft… Brittany could perfectly function on its own economically, for that matter.

In a discussion, it seems you're more skilled at acrobatics than at being thorough. But we should encourage efforts: you’ve earned a badge.

Pinault and Bolloré, I don’t see much that’s Breton.

don’t you know what a company’s market capitalization or revenue is? I think it’d be a good idea to get some basic knowledge about corporate economics.