By Alexandra Radius
It’s a sad, sad world….but apparently only for French people. Following the results of the global ‘Survey of Hope and Despair’ the French ranked as the most pessimistic nation. The BVA-Gallup survey of 53 nations unveiled the French as the world champions of scepticism, in addition to 61 per cent of respondents expressing that 2011 will be 'a year of financial complexity'.
I know that the French have a reputation for complaining about everything and anything, carrying out one strike after another, and claiming they never have enough and always wanting more, which could explain the results of the study to some extent. But I keep wondering if the results are legitimate and actually a reflection of a ‘deep depression’ which is affecting the majority of French people today. After all, France is one of the richest countries in the world, with one of the most generous social cultures.
In these first few days of January, as we continue to wish our friends and colleagues a Happy New Year while secretly believing that we will end 2011 even more miserable than we began it, why not - just this time - pretend to believe in the sentiment?
Yes, why not believe that it is possible, in this valley of tears that is France, to have some reasons to smile and even laugh. That it is possible not to constantly imagine the worst. That it is possible to be even a little bit positive and just take a break from all this darkness.
So, on that note, we wish you all a good and HAPPY New Year for 2011!
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