20h ago

French MEP says US should give back Statue of Liberty

www.lemonde.fr French MEP says US should give back Statue of Liberty

Raphaël Glucksmann, a center-left member of the European Parliament, has strongly criticized President Donald Trump's radical change of US policy on the war.

29 comments

as an american, i am fully in support of france saying 'fuck you' to the usa.

The French should demand payback for the military and financial aid given to the colonials from 1775 to 1783. Putin's Sock Puppet does not hold the cards for that one.

Ok this is the pettiness I'm here for lmao

Is that the one that says "give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"?
Yeah we're not using it.
- "Give us your water, your precious metals, your rare-earth minerals. Give us all your shit or risk invasion."

I agree. We've failed to live up the the aspirations that statue represents.
- I always wondered about how that monument in Civilisations games lets you change government type with no turns lost to riots
  I guess we get to see if that works IRL
- It was written by the French in the first place unless I misunderstood the history.
  
  Perhaps the statue should be more of a trophy, moved from nation to nation depending on how focused that nation is on creating opportunity for the least among us, how accepting they are of the poor, tired, and broken peoples of the world, how committed they are to escalating the cause of human dignity.
  
  Saying "written" suggests to me that you're referring to the sonnet, "The New Colossus", which was inspired by the statue the French made, but was written by an American poet, Emma Lazarus.

I hope we can some day reach a state of politics that aren't purely performative in nature.
Where policy is made to address an issue of the contituency, not to dunk on opponents or generate media attention.
- Very hard disagree. Hearts and minds.
  Dafuq else do you expect a random French opposition member to do? Sit there quietly and look pretty? That seems to be the leading strategy for the US Dems and also an irredeemable dereliction of duty. If you are forced into the opposition, be performative. Be loud. Be ungovernable, if necessary.
  It's nice to wish for a world where a fascist regime doesn't have full control of the USA, but unfortunately we don't live in that world so please don't denigrate the work of politicians who at least are doing the bare minimum of saying something about it.
- I agree, but at the same time politics these days are necessarily intertwined with social media and it's culture.
- Politics is just the entertainment branch of the military
- I do agree with you that politics have become mostly circus without much bread, but I'd say we should never give up on our gift of making light of the hardships.
  I mean, dunk as it may be, it's a good one. I'd even go as far as calling it a sick burn and a smart jab!
  Edit: plus populism is the playing field now, memes and smartass quips are how you win the base over. I'm not saying I agree with this particular way of going about things, but reality is undeniable nonetheless. We'd be wise to master the tools.

Where else are they going to put the huge, gilded statue of Trump?
- “Give me your rich, your wealthy,
  Your crass oligarchs yearning for tax-free status,
  The corrupt billionaires of your teeming shore.
  Send these, the non-domiciled well-to-does to me,
  I lift my lamp beside the golden toilet!”