Honestly, what nonsense. More like, the reason why the French obesity rate is 17%, compared to 23% in the UK, and 34% in the US. These are some of the factors which maintain health - to do exercise as part of your daily routine, and to be able to buy good quality food and cook it yourself. Then, to have enough time to spend with friends and family, and to have access when necessary to good quality healthcare.

It is valuable to have a culture which makes these fundamental requirements accessible and normal. There is no point in squeezing out every short term marginal improvement in economic efficiency regardless of the health of the people who are supposed to be reaping the economic rewards.

Your "good quality food" obviously excludes things that are heavy, bulky, and frozen. That pretty much means dried food.

(potatos are heavy, and potato chips/crisps are bulky, so you'll have to settle for instant mashed potato powder)

There is no "time to spend with friends and family" if you have to make numerous trips to get your food.

To be fair, what's wrong with valuing community over economic growth? If the country has enough to support a high quality of life, why sacrifice principles and values for more?

Economic growth is not the be all end all of human existence.

There are many different ways to be "a force". France is still very much an active force in military terms, well above "rising tigers" like India or China in terms of deployment abroad and engagement in crisis scenarios. Their economy might be slightly stagnant, but they are still very, very rich in aggregate.

Just because they don't agree with English-speaking media and their vision of the world, it does not mean they are not hungry for change. They are so hungry for change, in fact, that they've been rioting for weeks. What they are not hungry for, probably, is the obsession for worldly riches and conservative consumption-driven lifestyle that Asian and American interests keep pushing. That might not be a bad thing.

Good summary. I feel Europe has has a culture of dominance until 19th century, then we changed for a culture of balance. US and Asia still have this culture of dominance.

France is one of perhaps four countries in the world capable of projecting power (i.e. blowing things up and running around shooting at people) globally for a sustained operational period. The ability to deliver violence is still what buys you a seat at the top table, and France is in the top five.

Not everybody wants to live in a consumer plantation with ever-widening income inequality and corporate domination of their political system.