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Why boycott ?
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| LiquidX |
Obviously obtained from Foxnews.com
| quote: | NEW YORK — Jokes about France are plentiful lately, but many Americans aren't laughing at the European country's resistance to using force with Iraq -- and are fighting back by closing their wallets.
In fact, beaucoup d'Americans have decided to boycott French products such as wine and cheese, in an effort to hurt the country's economy.
Fromage.com, a French cheese distributor, reported that its sales to the United States have gone down 15 percent in the past two weeks. Some U.S. eateries are no longer offering French wines. And a restaurant in North Carolina has even changed the name of its fries.
Neal Rowland, who owns Cubbie's restaurant in Beaufort, N.C., said he decided to put stickers that say "Freedom" over the word "French" on all his menus after he watched France back away from support for war in Iraq.
"Since the French are backing down, French fries and French everything needs to be banned," he told Foxnews.com in a telephone interview. "Fry sales have really gone up. People who eat them now say, 'Freedom never tasted so good.'"
Rowland cooked up the freedom fry idea last week after a conversation with a customer about World War I days, when anti-German sentiment prompted Americans to rename familiar German foods. Sauerkraut and frankfurters became liberty cabbage and hot dogs.
And Rowland said patrons have been in full support of the fry renaming.
"I had a gentleman come in today, who works at the court house, and he was crying, his son is serving in Afghanistan and he said he was so glad someone is taking a stand," said Rowland. "He was proud to see the support in the community for the troops."
If the backlash is strong enough, it could impact the French economy -- American trade with France tops $30 billion a year.
But some French aren't amused by, or afraid of, the boycott.
"Well, if they prefer to eat American food, it is entirely their problem," Guillaume Parmentier, the head of the French Centre on the United States, told the Canadian new service CBC.ca. "But seriously. This never works. Boycotts work when there are grave human rights violations or something like that."
U.S. lawmakers are also eager to remind the French that Americans bailed them out in both World Wars, at a cost of tens of thousands of lives. Some in Congress are even pursuing possible trade restrictions.
Rep. H. James Saxton, a New Jersey Republican, has drafted a resolution that calls for a U.S. boycott of the Paris Air Show this spring.
"If [the Chirac government] fails to find a way to cooperate, we'll urge U.S. citizens, companies and the military to forego participation," Saxton told WorldNetDaily.com.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert said he'd like to target bottled French mineral water and wine. He has instructed Republican colleagues to determine whether Congress should pass laws that would impose new health standards on bottles of Evian and other French waters.
According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, France is the leading exporter of water to the United States and sold 65 million gallons last year.
It's not the first time Americans have boycotted French products. Back in 1985 when the French would not allow U.S. military planes to fly over their airspace on their way to bomb Libya, U.S. consumers boycotted industries, including fashion, food and wine. And a similar boycott happened in 1995 and 1996 when France refused to stop testing nuclear weapons in the South Pacific.
But Boris Marchand-Tonnel of the French-U.S. chamber of commerce in Paris played down the threat.
"Maybe in a few New York restaurants, a few clients will refuse to order French wine," he told The Guardian. "But it's peanuts against the overall picture, it's really just symbolic."
Whether the boycott impacts the French economy or not, Americans from Congress to Cubbie's are saying the French can "faux-get" our future support and money.
Rowland said one freedom fry eater told him: "On Sept. 11 if a plane had slammed into the Eiffel Tower I guarantee the French would've been on the phone to the Americans saying, 'Please, we need help.' It's time for them to step up to the plate and help us." |
Ok, I think its rediculous to boycott a country whose opinions differ from the US. Right here, by the action that some congress mans want to take, show clearly how the US will act against countries that dont want to help the US with the war they want to go into. And by changing the name of French Fries to Freedom Fries ? ? and Wines and Cheese ?? I mean come on, its politics, why should we get politics involved with the rest of our normal daily lifes ? .. If the whole world then starts boycotting against the US in means of ANTI-WAR then, then the US will be in an even worst economic problem. In my OPINION, its rediculous to boycott for this .. |
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| Izzy |
| i just want to point out the in numerous occasions the french have boycotted american products. there was a big deal a few years ago where there was a large movement to boycott McDonalds and other american chains because it was hurting their local economy. i also remember the french farmers boycotting american items because america was selling cheaper grains, and raw food to france then what there own people could produce |
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| LiquidX |
| quote: | Originally posted by Izzy
i just want to point out the in numerous occasions the french have boycotted american products. there was a big deal a few years ago where there was a large movement to boycott McDonalds and other american chains because it was hurting their local economy. i also remember the french farmers boycotting american items because america was selling cheaper grains, and raw food to france then what there own people could produce |
Good point, but thats like in more of other topic, in means of american products hurting the FRENCH economy.. but in a situation like this, is it right to ? ? .. oh well . |
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| IronDragon |
| Calling for some mass boycott of French products is ridiculous. Obviously individuals (*cough* neo-conservatives) can boycott French, German, Belgian products if they so desire but to attempt to deprive anyone just because they don't agree with American foreign policy (albeit in an unfortunately bellicose and sometimes unreasonable way) is simply ridiculous. |
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| Izzy |
| right now none of this boycott is state sponsered or state endorsed, thus its the indivuals desicion on whether to boycott or not. even though i may not agree with his desicion i have no right in telling him what he can and can not do. |
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| IronDragon |
| quote: | Originally posted by Izzy
right now none of this boycott is state sponsered or state endorsed, thus its the indivuals desicion on whether to boycott or not. even though i may not agree with his desicion i have no right in telling him what he can and can not do. |
No one's asking you to be didactic, I just want to know your opinion. As probably the most hawkish and neo-conservative person I see here I would *assume* I know where you stand but I would really like to know. |
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| Izzy |
| honestly, no i wouldnt boycott french items because realisticly i dont think it will have any effect on the issue, neither will a mass boycott by the public. it'll probably just pull both sides to greater and opposite extremes which means we'll be worse off then where we are now. |
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| occrider |
| I agree ... it's absurd to boycott french goods over their stance on this issue. Oh well what can you do ... there are a lot of ignorant people on this planet. |
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| PhaseFour |
| well, people can do whatever they want w/ their cash. i doubt its gonna be a BIG problem to the french economy anyway. but imo, sure beats the hell outta the human shields thing haha :) |
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| JM |
i buy cheddar cheese made in Tillamook, Oregon.
i buy red wine made in NoCal, or Yakima Valley, Washington.
I WILL REFUSE TO BUY FRENCH PRODUCTS!!!!!
The other day, my sister wanted to buy some nice little thing, and when her husband turned it around and read "Made In France" he asked her not to buy it, and gave reasons. She agreed - DID NOT BUY:)
yes, if there are enough people boycotting FRENCH products, France's economy will be hurt a bit, no?
I myself will boycott French products....i dont like their policies, reminds me of communism.
and to show my support i will write in big yellow bold letters "BOYCOTT FRENCH PRODUCTS - SUPPORT OUR TROOPS FOR JUSTICE"
HEH. Well see if that has some impact. And i will post sooo much that my sig will be seen by many on TA, maybe it will have some impact...
>JM< |
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| Arbiter |
| France makes products? News to me. |
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| occrider |
| quote: | Originally posted by JM
i buy cheddar cheese made in Tillamook, Oregon.
i buy red wine made in NoCal, or Yakima Valley, Washington.
I WILL REFUSE TO BUY FRENCH PRODUCTS!!!!!
The other day, my sister wanted to buy some nice little thing, and when her husband turned it around and read "Made In France" he asked her not to buy it, and gave reasons. She agreed - DID NOT BUY:)
yes, if there are enough people boycotting FRENCH products, France's economy will be hurt a bit, no?
I myself will boycott French products....i dont like their policies, reminds me of communism.
and to show my support i will write in big yellow bold letters "BOYCOTT FRENCH PRODUCTS - SUPPORT OUR TROOPS FOR JUSTICE"
HEH. Well see if that has some impact. And i will post sooo much that my sig will be seen by many on TA, maybe it will have some impact...
>JM< |
Out of curiosity, how does boycotting french products support our troops overceas? It's not like french products or the french government has a detrimental impact on our troops. The French only have an impact on our foreign policy. In this case we are not necessarily better off (and in fact we would be worse off) if we went to war. And if you think a war would be good for the US, think about the exoribant costs it would take to not only wage the war but to base significant amounts of troops to occupy Iraq following the conflict. Hmmm kinda ironic how I think we should invade Iraq yet I'm arguing against it in this particular instance. At any rate, if you think that boycotting french products is making a political statement I can assure you it will have no impact. If anything it would hurt the US economy in the long run much like a tarrif or a similar trade barrier. Showing support for Bush and voicing disapproval over France is commendable, but boycotting french goods is just plain silly. |
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