Money

Argent

advancement, greed, comfort

bills, coins, wealth

buying, saving, new

capitalism, incentives, private industry, effort

Cars, Happiness, Dollars

cash, work, lunch

Dollar, Euro, economy

evil, green, greed

facilitator, object of false adoration, convenient, necessary (to some extent)

finances, taxes, cash

fun, dangerous, wealth, greed

green; complicated; bank; exchange

Mint, George Washington, Banks,

necessary, greed, economy

necessary, ugly, insufficient

necessary, wonderful, nothing

Obsession, Power, comfort

overtime
salary
hourly

power, problem, peace, necessary

Safety, strength, comfort

scarce, soles, dollars.

SEC, green, investment

shopping, price, stocks, income

shortage, greed, opportunities, crime

spend, worry, green

stress, paycheck, important

Success, Job, Materialism

taxes, paycheck, shopping

things, capitalism, wealth

affaires, luxe, aider

bijoux, billets, l'euro

Bill Gates; besoin; euro

Billet, achats

billet, banque, riche,

bonheur, succès, richesse.

bourse, rareté, l'euro

emploi, portefeuille, carte de crédit

Euro, Porte-feuille, Pouvoir d'achat, Pièces, Billet

euros, billets, banque.

euros, bonheur, travail

euros, dollars, aimer

femmes, luxe, affaires

futur;

magasins, chéquier, bijou

Monaie; billets; pièces; riche

nécessaire au développement

Nécessité aujourd'hui

outil de fonctionnement du commerce

précieux. jamais assez. magasins. courses.

riche banque salaire

riche, dépenses, euros

richesse, partage, travail

Shopping. Euros.

travail, euros, consommation

Travail/Economie/Maison/Jeux

Discussion

After reviewing the answers to the questionnaire for the word "money," I noticed that French are mostly neutral to it, whereas a lot of the Americans view it negatively.  They use words like "euro", "credit card", "salary" and the general idea is that they consider money as a facilitator to their lives. They use it to travel, to shop and for other similar activities. Whereas the Americans consider it necessary and they think that they are more powerful if they have more money and, in addition, they indicate the connection between greediness and money.

 

Michalis Rossides

Sep 28

According to the word association, it appears that Americans have four stances on money: they find it negative, they find i necessary, they hear economics and finance, and they associate it with wealth. Many Americans used the words "greed" or "greedy," "obsession," "crime," "object of false adoration," etc. Even words like "green" and "taxes" might not in and of themselves be negative, but can be interpreted as negative. For instance, the color of the US dollar is green, but green is also associated with envy. Even though I'm sure the person did not mean it in that way, it is still worth noticing. Taxes is more simple; people don't like it when the government takes their money from them. Furthermore, there is a necessity linked with money. Necessity is a very vague concept. For example do people mean necessary for life, society, business, etc. Do people mean all three, two of the three, or just one? People also associate it with the economy. Any word associated with work, "hourly," "salary," "paycheck," "job," etc., finances, "finances, "stocks," "income," "SEC," and the economy, "economy," "incentives," "capitalism," etc. are all fairly neutral. Taxes and capitalism can be seen as negative, but they are not innately negative. Americans also associate wealth with money. "Wealth" in it of itself doesn't indicate positive or negative. Not very often is "happiness" on the list, so wealth = money is more like a fact than an opinion of good or bad. Other positive associations include "advancement" and "success," but these words are few and far between. 

The French on the other hand associate money with currency, necessity, and wealth. The link with currency is noticeable with words like "billet," "euro," "dollars," etc. which show that many consider money as a medium of exchange. The French also frequently use "nécesité" or "outil de fonctionnement du commerce." Again the it is fairly vague but the second usage links to currency comment. Lastly, the French also associate it with wealth. The words "luxe" and "richesse" are used frequently. The difference lies in the fact that the French treat money more as an object. The French are not controlled by money like Americans because words like "power" and "greed" do not appear on the French side. Instead the French use "bijoux," "consommation," "magasin," "cours," etc. to demonstrate that money is used for purchases and nothing else. If money did control people's emotions, then it would be positive because "bonheur" and "aimer" appear with more frequency on the French side. 

~Raymond Ochoa September 28, 2009  

Mes amis, bonjour

 

Vos remarques sont assez drôles car comme vous l'avez peut être lu sur le forum concernant l'individualisme, nous faisions remarquer justement que les français se situent plutôt politiquement a gauche ( socialisme ) alors que les américains sont souvent dits capitalistes ( de droite, donc ).

Or dans vos remarques, nous voyons que les Américains voient davantage la monnaie comme objet d'obsession alors que les Français la pensent indispensable.

 

Nous pouvons soulever ici une interrogation : Les Français sont-ils socialistes en théorie mais capitalistes en pratique ? Assument-ils leurs idées ( politiques, morales ) jusqu'au bout ?

I have only hear that the France operated under socialism. I do not know how much this holds because i have never studied French policy, but I recognize that if it is, it's probably not going to be perfect. After all, the USA is has regulation and other things that capitalism claims to not need. I also do not how people feel about socialism and how it guides their lives, but it is apparent through the words that the invisible hand of Adam Smith guides Americans' attitudes. 

 salut,ce que raymond achoa a écrit sur l'argent est très intéressant je n'avais pas vu tout ces aspects de la question et  aussi la couleur verte associée au dollars interessant....

Je pense que l'obsession des américains pour la monnaie vient de leur système de retraite.En effet ils touchent des salaires bien plus élevés qu'en France mais ils doivent économiser par leur propres moyens alors que pour nous Français les cotisations font que nous nous en préocupons pas ou moins en tout cas.Nous ne voyons pas que l'argent nous ai retiré.Quand on reçoit notre salaire net il est entièrement dédié à la consomation et en partie à l'épargne mais dans une moindre mesure que vous.

Maxime, I like your question regarding socialism in theory and practice - it tries to go beyond the cliché view of "Americans are capitalists, French are socialists and thus we can explain everything".

In fact, it seems reasonable that just appreciating the idea of socialism (the theory) allows one to have a much more relaxed and positive attitude towards money, acting more like a capitalist in consequence. Conversely, following the idea of capitalism may make one more aware of its negative aspects, prompting the need to alleviate some of its consequences, for instance via private donations to charities. Surely, it is not coincidental that the US as the most capitalist country (in theory) is also the world leader in this field.