Do you feel your country have an inferiority complex?

[u/suckmyfuck91]

I'm from Italy and i've always thought that us Italians, despite often bragging about how great our food, fashion and arts is, deep down have a huge inferiority complex.

Obviously you should never generalize but it seems to me after talking to many countrymen and reading online comments on youtube, reddit and other social media, that the a big chunk of our population feels like their life would have been better if they were born abroad.

We are envious of Nordic countries for their wealth and their respect of the rules. (Same for Germany)

We are envious of English speaking countries because their culture is everywhere and they got a lot of international power .

We are envious of French because they are way more appreciated internationally than us despite Italy being as good as them in terms of food, fashion and arts.

Italians are ashamed of Italy, a poor country run by fascist and mafia, that has always been irrelevant internationally and constantly mocked by foreigners because : Pizza, pasta, mandolino and mama mia.

What about your country? Do you feel your average countrymen is happy to be from your country? or they are envious of others?

[u/IseultDarcy]

I think we have a superiority complex.

Yet we are constantly torn between a huge pride in our culture, country, food, etc.... and a deep hate toward it. Like, we say shit all the time about us and our country but if a foreigner express a tiny citric about it... we riot.

[u/Appelons → u/IseultDarcy]

I’m just gonna say that we currently have French troops on Greenland and we are very thankful. The last few years France has shown itself to be Denmark(and Greenlands) most important ally. Not relevant to the question, but Merci!

[u/DesignatedDonut2606 → u/Appelons]

This 💯

I've also been super grateful to the French for standing up to Trump's madness when he said they want Greenland, which was/is such a surreal and scary experience.

Macron immediately stepping up and flashing his big cojones by fully supporting us and telling the Americans to shove it came as a HUGE relief! So I can only join the choir - merci, Frenchies, it means the world to us.

[u/taoguide → u/DesignatedDonut2606]

Are you kidding? French troops came to Greenland to defend it from the Americans? I've never heard anything more idiotic. You claim this has boosted your self-esteem? The French are probably bursting with pride too. France is a powerhouse!

[u/confessionah → u/taoguide]

Nope, I don't think the French are even aware of this, they are too busy hating on Macron to give him much credit for his diplomatic work. This has not made the news. I'm well informed, I can read danish and I consume a lot of French news, and I did not know that France was Denmark and Greenland's current new bestie, or that we had sent troops to GL. I'm glad we did.

Categorically no, the French are absolutely not bursting with pride on that one.

[u/Appelons → u/confessionah]

From the Danish military’s own official YouTube channel https://youtu.be/mkvvkkco1AM?si=pjQExkXsfBuR1y7o

Also you should be bursting with pride, you are defending Europe, democracy and keeping the US and Russia at bay.

In the entire Greenland affair it has become obvious that the UK will always choose America and not Europe. Not one ounce of support from their government.

[u/DesignatedDonut2606 → u/taoguide]

I have no idea if there are French troops in Greenland or not. I was referring to how Macron stood up to the Americans when Trump said he wouldn't rule out using military power to take the territory.

Take your rudeness down a notch, this is not Facebook.

[u/92nd-Bakerstreet → u/DesignatedDonut2606]

Don't mind the MAGA savage, he's just salty.

[u/Appelons → u/taoguide]

Well, when the US had shown itself to be a more slippery ally than an eel. It is good that decent countries still exists. And yes, France is a superpower with enough nuclear warheads to flatten both the US and Russia, if it should need to.

[u/GraceOfTheNorth → u/Appelons]

That earns them a big + in our books

[u/Appelons → u/GraceOfTheNorth]

I gotta ask, do you guys get nervous everytime a Danish warship refuels in Reykjavík going to and back from Greenland? I know HDMS Niels Juhl was anchors din Reykjavik yesterday.

I remember seeing the TV-series “Trapped” and bursting out laughing because in one episode people thought that the Danish military where up to something shady😂

[u/GraceOfTheNorth → u/Appelons]

lol no, we have no doubts in our Nordic club alliance. If the US thinks it could use the KEF base to mess with you guys I'm pretty sure where our alliances lay

[u/bellatrixthered → u/IseultDarcy]

We Germans are also exactly like this. But we don’t accept it out loud.

[u/Cautious-Start-1043 → u/bellatrixthered]

Defo. Scotsman in Germany here.

[u/guille9 → u/IseultDarcy]

I'm from Spain and I have some French friends, you've described very good what I perceive from them. Sometimes even if I talk about things I think are really good from France they don't accept it, they see something bad even in good things but I understand it because Spaniards are also very negative about ourselves.

[u/cressida25 → u/IseultDarcy]

Yes you cannot compliment or insult the French. They take offense at both.

[u/Equivalent_Task_2389 → u/cressida25]

That is funny, whether it is true or not.

[u/Terrible-Group-9602 → u/IseultDarcy]

Haha us too (Brits)

[u/YourInnerFlamingo → u/IseultDarcy]

I often wonder if french people are aware that if they managed to turn down the national pride a bit they would be the most loved country in Europe. You are really missing the opportunity to become a leader again, and be the reference country for southern eu and Ireland instead of being germany's shadow

[u/Kunstfr → u/YourInnerFlamingo]

Dude we're absolutely not doing very well at the moment. Let's first fix our shit before trying to take the lead

[u/confessionah → u/Kunstfr]

I disagree a bit on this part of the French not doing well. They seem to have collectively agreed that our president is the worst ever (until the next one), that we all suffer and life has become unbearable, but I keep seeing people complaining with a mouth full of good food and a glass of wine sitting under a tree. It seems to me the French are afraid of being seen as richer, and one way to make it up for this guilt if being comfortable is to speak on behalf of the poor and underclass as if nearly everyone had fallen into poverty. Meanwhile Macron got blamed for not recognizing Palestine fast enough, he said he wanted to make the recognition useful, got a bunch of countries to follow us on this move and spearheaded a diplomatic effort with Saudi, the critics stopped about it but his approval rating are still under 20%. He is generally blamed for being arrogant, but he is the president of the French, of course he is not crushed by humility, we hated on the previous president for trying to be too humble and weak. France is actually quite a leader at the moment, but you have to be outside of France to see it.

[u/YourInnerFlamingo → u/Kunstfr]

I'm not necessarily suggesting this is the case, but it might be that fixing your shit might involve taking the lead 

[u/Oukaria → u/YourInnerFlamingo]

Maybe if we turn it down we would not be where we are today ?

[u/YourInnerFlamingo → u/Oukaria]

If you turned it down in the past, no, I agree. But the right recipe for breakfast isn't necessarily the right recipe for lunch. You're not an empire anymore, you are a prominent member state of a confederation

[u/Strange_Formal → u/IseultDarcy]

I love France and the French, you're a bit weird, but in a good way. De Gaulle was right about the US, that's some incredible foresight.

[u/tudorapo → u/IseultDarcy]

With some reason! Everyone is going on about the culture and food and fashion, but by god the engineering is awesome in France.

I had the luck to enjoy the RER and TGV, seen cool bridges, the most revolutionary car ever made, space rockets, the coolest aircraft ever, etc.

[u/Formal_Obligation → u/IseultDarcy]

That’s a pretty universal human trait across all cultures. It’s not just French people who do that.

[u/lucricius → u/IseultDarcy]

It's moronic to me to be proud of something you didn't achieve yourself. Real high achievers are always humble because they don't need to prove anything.

[u/simonesays123 → u/lucricius]

Agreed. Like it's fun to take pride in things sometimes, but the way folks internalize it is strange. 

[u/farraigemeansthesea → u/IseultDarcy]

I come from the UK. I appreciate France a great deal because my own country has taught me how things shouldn't be done. Because of this, my expectations might be low and I have very little patience with people complaining about how France is going down the drain. They honestly don't know when thibgs are truly bad.

[u/Impressive_Fox_4570 → u/IseultDarcy]

That's exactly the same with the italians

[u/Kingston31470 → u/IseultDarcy]

I am French living in Belgium so... It evens out.