- 04:12am
Oct 11, 2001

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Pour beaucoup, la réussite reste liée à la réussite professionelle et à l'argent. Je voulais savoir si vous êtiez prêts à sacrifier votre vie familiale pour votre réussite professionelle? Je trouve que d'avoir de l'argent est une chose, certes. Mais à quoi sert cette argent si vous vivez seul, sans enfants, sans amour?

- 11:30pm Oct
11, 2001

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Notice that the word "happiness" appeared quite a lot as well. That can be anything - a successful carrer is just one way to this "Rome". This reflects that the Americans like to do things for themselves - let themselves feel happy is the most important. In terms of the word "money", I think the Americans are quite practical, lots of money can enable one to do lots of things that makes one happy. In most cases, one can earn lots of money from a success career. It seems to me that the frenches relate the success with their jobs. I was wondering if the french people care more about what others think than the Amercians in general.

- 11:59pm Oct
11, 2001

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Actually, while our responses were overwhelmingly money+power combination (beside happiness), people from INT often mentioned not only professional accomplishment, but also personal, familial... It seems to me that they value balance in life more, in all its aspects, while in American competitive environment it is more about standing out in one way or another, about excelling in a material and palpable way...
I don't know if this is at the expense of family life, though; I think family is still very important here. It is probably just adapted to the more active/busier lifestyles.

- 01:26am Oct
12, 2001

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Family is important here in America, but people feel the need to provide for their families in the most comprehensive way possible, which frequently means working long hours. It's hardly possible here anymore to achieve fiscal solvency when only one of two parents works, unless the family agrees to a lower standard of living. And it's so tempting just to work the extra hours if it means being a better provider, that sometimes Americans forget how important work-life balance is to success.

- 11:01am Oct
14, 2001

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I think that Americans sometimes think that money and success are closely related. But things like family and love are even more important. However, we assume that there is a better chance of getting love and a good family life if we are successful (have money) because of the security it provides and the problems it alleviates.
Is it easy to survive in France with little money? Are people not competitive? Do they not care about driving the nice cars and owning the big homes?

- 04:05pm
Oct 14, 2001

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Bien sure, tout le monde aimerait avoir une belle maison et une grosse voiture mais ce n'est pas une fin en soi. La plupart des Français ne sont pas prêts à travailler comme des fous pour pouvoir se l'offrir. Est-ce que vous savez que la durée légale de travail est maintenant de 35heures par semaine? Bien sure ce n'est pas applicable à toutes les professions mais cette mesure concerne quand même pas mal de personnes. Je pense qu'un ouvrier où un employé travail beaucoup plus que ça aux Etats-Unis.

- 04:07pm Oct
14, 2001

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L'argent reste encore un sujet assez tabou en France, connoté négativement. Nous disons que l'argent ne fait pas le bonheur mais y contribue. C'est pourquoi nous ne le mettons pas en premier pour la réussite. Mais cela ne signifie pas pour autant que nous ne le considerons pas comme une necessite. Par contre je ne pense pas que le fait d'avoir une belle maison ou un super voiture soient constitutifs du bonheur ou de la reussite dans la vie. Mais je peux me tromper...

- 05:14pm Oct
14, 2001

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I agree with Leah that financial and familial success are usually not considered disparate in the U.S. It is a statistical fact that the average American works longer hours than his/her counterpart in almost any other industrialized nation. However, I haven't seen correspondingly high incidences of broken marriages, neglected children etc. Maybe I'm wrong? Also, I think the culture places a tremendous importance on quality of life. I think people are already being proactive about optimizing what time they do have away from work- closer parent-teacher relationships, more involvement with extended families, acceptance of counseling services etc.

- 12:36am Oct
16, 2001

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Given that success is something everyone strives to achieve , it seems that the idea of how to reach it is different here than in France.

So how do you see yourselves in the future, or what would you like to have/do/become?

It would be interesting to compare the answers...

- 01:19am Oct
16, 2001

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I agree that overall the Americans differ from the French when assessing one's success. Americans seems to associate success purely with money, while the French take more heavily into account the successes of one's family, one's business, and one's self being. I definitely believe that America's obsession with money has entirely to due with our culture and basic mentality. For many people, success is achieved when one can be considered "rich." On the other hand, it appears to be more likely to find a french person who would consider themselves successful based solely on the fact that he or she is married and has three heathly beautiful children, but no money. I am aware that America has an incredibly high divorce rate, but now I'm curious to know how that number compares to the divorce rate in France? Could there actually be substantial evidence proving that the French do not go to the extreme efforts that the Americans do in pursuit of obtaining prized possessions, but instead, aim more towards achieving success in love, self-being, and the familial aspects of life? ~Shirley

- 03:18pm
Oct 19, 2001

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Tu sais, en France le taux de divorce est également très important. D'ailleurs, je ne pensais pas que c'était aussi le cas aux Etats-Unis. Mais c'est peut-être aussi parce que nous voyons beaucoup de familles séparées que nous avons envie d'en construire une unie.

- 03:44pm Oct 21,
2001

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Il faut savoir aussi qu'en France le taux d'impôt sur la salaire est très élevé, particulierement pour ceux qui gagnent beaucoup. Donc peut-être les gens ont tendance de mettre leur énergie dans la famille que sur le travail?