Dans les deux on peut remarquer les différences de pensées entre élèves. On peut remarquer qu’à la fois pour les étudiants du MIT et de l’Enseirb certain réclament un nouveau président, cela souligne que l’on a des problèmes en commun, tel que le racisme. Beaucoup de nos réponses tournent autour de la politique alors que pour les étudiants américains c’est un peu plus général. Il n’y a pas non plus énormément de différence entre les réponses.

Les réponses sont finalement similaires. Beaucoup de réponses font référence à des valeurs qui sont partagés par un grand nombre de personnes. Egalité, solidarité, respect etc. D’autres font référence à des émotions. Compassion, amour, empathie, compréhension etc. Encore d’autres font référence à des mesures politiques, parfois liés au président (pas étonnant, je pense), meilleure répartition des richesses, meilleure éducation (culture), meilleures services publiques. Cela pourrait être intéressant de développer un peu plus, qu’on essaie d’imaginer dans quelle monde on voudrait vivre demain et de comparer les points de vues des français et des américains.
Je m’étonne aussi de ne pas voir “plus de liberté” dans les propositions, la plupart des commentaires voulant “plus d’égalité”.

As François mentioned, students from both sides want a better president and some political change. These responses show the discontent about current presidents and governments. It’s interesting to see that the MIT students talked about education a lot whereas ENSEIRB students not so much. I wonder if this is because they think that French are pretty educated or that education is not the most important need today. Also, it’s is not surprising to see referrals to racism on both sides, keeping in mind the news about the Mexico-US wall and refugee problems.

Like Sule, I noticed that many students wanted to see political change, but I thought the MIT students spoke more specifically about issues with the current government – they mentioned leadership, polarization, the influence of corporations, heterogeneity of state laws, military spending, and healthcare. ENSEIRB students mentioned the president, economic policy, and unspecified reforms. Are there more specific changes ENSEIRB students would like to see? Are the more general responses because ENSEIRB students don’t see as many ways the government should change, or because ENSEIRB students see too many ways the government should change to list concisely?

I agree with Sule and Emma that there are subtle differences between the two responses. I noticed that MIT students focus more on unity. For instance, we the use phrases: people working together, unity, solidarity, less polarization, understanding… There is currently a great divide in Americans’ views, and it shows in these responses that it is a concern for many students. It seems that the divide in France is deepening, especially after the last presidential election. Do ENSEIRB students agree?

I would agree that the overall sentiments were very similar however there were differences. I think see the differences mentioned above about the specificity of the comments. I think this would make sense in that the specifics of what the US might need are not as relevent to those living in France rather than the MIT students who live here and it might be a more talked about issue.

The French side seemed to focus more on problems of outlook and issues that run deep in French society. While the MIT side seems to focus on current situations and handling issues that have come up recently. However, both sides seem to be quite pessimistic and concur on the fact that there are serious issues wrong with their respective countries.

It is surprising to me how little equity is mentioned on both sides. While it is mentioned once or twice, or equity in a specific area is mentioned, overall equity is not very prevalent. I wonder what people outside of these schools/the everyday person might say, or if these ideas are universal to everyone.

I agree with Jessica that it is interesting that many people mentioned things that concern equality while surpassing freedom altogether, and I think that is due to the fact that both groups here are from countries where one feels very free-whether they are truly free is a question each person can contemplate-but where inequality is more obvious, and even staggeringly so in the case of the United States.

I agree that the US politics is becoming more and more polarizing in today’s society. The electoral system in the US naturally gives rise to two major political parties, and therefore, it may be contributing to the polarizing, party politics in the US. So in contrast, how do French people align themselves in political ideologies? I am not at all familiar with the political structure of France, and I thought it would be interesting to see how political parties are organized in France and what the general view is from the perspective of the common people.

I agree with sule - it’s interesting to see how both sides focused on politics, but the American students focused on education much more than French students, who did not mention education. American schools have been criticized for being extremely unequal, with many areas having very good public schools, while other areas have very poor schooling systems. I wonder if French schools are the same way? Are the French content with their educational system, or do they feel like there are simply larger problems to focus on?

Tu as raison Jasmin, depuis l’élection du président, les avis sont beaucoup plus polarisés, surtout depuis la crise des gilets jaunes. Cependant, aucun autre parti français ne parait être une alternative sérieuse au parti présidentiel. Et pour répondre à Yoshihiro, en France, le président a une grande importance et l’élection présidentielle est l’élection la plus médiatisée. A la différence des États-Unis, il y a bien plus de partis en France, même si avant l’élection de Macron, il y avait deux partis principaux, le parti socialiste et les républicains. Depuis l’élection de Macron, la situation a changé et plusieurs partis bataillent pour les élections (les quatre principaux sont En marche, la France insoumise, les républicains et le rassemblement national). C’est un peu difficile de définir les partis principaux en ce moment, puisque la politique française est en crise.

Il est difficile de te répondre Yoshihiro car depuis la dernière élection présidentielle, les anciens principaux partis se sont effondrés sur eux-mêmes. On peut tout de même en trouver aujourd’hui quatre principaux : la France insoumise (à l’extrême gauche), La république en marche(centre droit, parti de l’actuel président), Les Républicains(droite de moins en moins modérée) et Le rassemblement Nationale (Extrême droite).
Pour te répondre Wendy, je pense qu’il existe aussi en France des écoles qui sont meilleures que les autres, mais elles sont peu nombreuses et la plupart des étudiants reçoivent un enseignement d’une qualité presque égale, du moins avant l’université. De plus, il me parait qu’aujourd’hui en France, les principaux problèmes ne viennent pas de l’enseignement (bien qu’il y en ait), mais beaucoup plus d’une mauvaise répartition des richesses et des taxes qui entretiennent un mécontentement des plus pauvres. Je pense que c’est la raison pour laquelle l’éducation n’a pas été mentionnée par les étudiants de l’ENSEIRB, il y a plus importants comme problème en France actuellement.

I was curious about how taxes are distributed in France for education. In the US, each public school district has its own taxes and usually that can act to keep poorer people out of better schools, leading to a large disparity between rich people and poor people. It acts as a cycle in a sense, by not allowing poorer people (and in turn a good amount of black and latinx people) to receive a good education in order to try to find opportunities elsewhere, and giving those with wealth a better education. An example of that is where I live. I am privileged to have been able to go to a public high school with a 99% graduation rate in predominantly white neighborhood with high taxes. Just 15 minutes away from me is a more urban public school that has a 48% graduation rate and is located in predominantly poorer black and latinx neighborhoods. How is the funding for school in France done?