Wednesday, April 8, 2009

He didn't fess up.

If you mess up, 'fess up. ~Author Unknown

Several years back I saw the name Jules Ferry on a map, and have seen it many times since, Rue Jules Ferry is often used as a street name.

So who was Jules?.......He was prime Minister of France twice, and helped to remove education from the strong influence of the Catholic Church, good man I thought. But on reading further I changed my mind, he formed the idea of acquiring a great colonial empire, for the sake of economic exploitation. He declared that "the superior races have a right because they have a duty: it is their duty to civilize the inferior races."


This week Segolene Royal who was the leader of the opposition in France has been stirring things up for the French President. Read more here. Segolene discombobulates the issue!

Link to Wikipedia about Jules Ferry.

Link to Jules Ferry Biography here.

I took this picture last week when I walked up Jules Ferry street in Fougeres, I am going through a door phase!

Old Door




Do you think that he, Sarkozy should say sorry for previous French governments who messed up and for the arrogant attitude of Jules and others like him?.


The French word for duty is devoir.

The French word to stir or mix is mélanger.

The word discombobulate.

11 comments:

Kitty said...

Wow... cool! I always have wondered who the heck Jules Ferry was since he seems to appear in any medium-sized or larger town here in France.
As for apologising? Nah, I think we can only really honestly apologise for our OWN mistakes, to do otherwise is frightfully arrogant, in my opinion. And how do we know Jules himself or any other past Frenchman even wants to offer a 'désolé'?
Just my two centimes' worth. :)

LadyFi said...

Jules sounds like a closet racist... and yes - I do think that countries should apologize for such attitudes. It's important to show its citizens that this kind of attitude is no longer to be tolerated.

End of rant.

Love your photo.

DAB said...

I wonder if Maggie Thatcher will ever apologise for her errors! :O

So what made you laugh at the "Horn of Plenty" Auction? TFx

claire p said...

I learn so much from your blog. I didn't know any of that before.

Blu said...

Well Belinda, I firmly believe that Jules Ferry was arrogant.

I belive that Sarkozy should apologise for their wrong doings even though they were in the past.

Yes I agree with LadyFi, the word racist springs to mind.

Blu said...

Tom Foolery......hey there were some very funny things some were rude.

The plastic croisants made me laugh!

Claire...thank you!

Unknown said...

Just a thought, and maybe playing a bit of a devils advocate here, but should I apologize for the bigotry of my father? My thoughts on the matter is that I can do everything I can to prove that I am not like him, and if I were in a public position where I was responsible to a large group of people I would consider it my responsibility to publicly denounce his views. I would change the name of the streets and ferries to recognize people more deserving, but apologize for someone else s bigotry? Never. There's no apologizing for that.

Blu said...

Thats interesting Dar, I thought that in this case Sarkozy simply made things worse.

Unknown said...

I wasn't speaking politically. I don't know enough about french politics to have an opinion, other then from the article link you gave, and I would think you are probably right. So who is Segolene Royal?

Blu said...

Segolene went head to head for the French Presidency but lost.

She then lost her leadership of the left party..but she wont go away! LOL

bindu said...

I don't think there's much weight to apologies. What is the use when the damage is done, and most affected countries are still reeling from the effects in various forms? An apology will make it feel like something has been done about it when nothing has. Action is better. Not through money given to corrupt politicians, but through real, sincere action.