>They don't need culture

Everybody needs culture, and few people « need » programming beyond those with a a natural disposition for that sort of activity. And I don't know how that's a point relevant at all the subject of the thread.

> Everybody needs culture

And therefore, all the cinemas, concerts, theatres, museums etc. are closed. For more than a year. Uhm.

I downvoted your comment until I read it more charitably, as "the most pressing need for young people is meaningful employment, and the government would be better off focusing on that". It kinda reads like you think culture itself is a waste of time and people should just get to work.

No inspiration, only work!

Appreciated :)

To clarify your point, with which I agree - without a good work environment which promotes excellence and the development of the country through industry and technology, there will be no one to support the art in a few years. Having a passion for art and culture is not enough if you don't have the means to promote, consume and sponsor it yourself.

Why would this program prohibit these 18 year olds from excelling in the areas of industry and technology?

No one said this measure prevents them. What I'm saying is that the work climate in France, which the government could influence, doesn't allow for excellence. A proof of this is the obvious lack of high tech companies from France. There is also no startup scene, there are no FAANGs, no unicorns that were sold for billions of dollars/euros, nothing like that. On the other hand there are a lot of french engineers outside France doing wonderful work.

There is no FAANGs in France because France is part the EU, and the anti-trust laws try to protect competition between smaller actors spread in 27 countries.

It can be argued whether it's good or bad (people keep asking for 'the Airbus of X' while the Commission plays its part and prevent such actors from emerging.)

However, as usual, don't placate US expectations on other parts of the world. You would not say that Michigan needs to create a culture of education, because all the FAANGs are in California.

Also, the financing culture (and maybe structure ?) seems to prevent the pretendo-valuations of "unicorns". I guess companies here have to go to such extremes as "making products that earn money". Yuck.

I'm curious what would qualify as a "startup-scene" for you, though ? I'm living in a tech-hub in France, so I can tell you there are startups, but what is your threshold for a "scene" ? Number of employee ? Size of campuses ? Number of meetups ?

FAANGs are FAANGs because of the possibilities of immense profit margins and cash flow due to computing power and automation offering near zero marginal costs.

There are a lot more people with money that speak English than French, so it’s almost inevitable that best strategy is to start with the English speaking markets. Once you hit it big there, there’s no stopping you worldwide. Except China, who also has a ton of rich people.

I agree for some of the faangs (google who has to deal with contents in multiple language, Facebook maybe ?) ; However I'm not sure a french customer is costing that much more to Amazon because of i18n. Regulations, that petty thing about "paying taxes", etc... are probably stronger factor.

Thanks, I don’t know a lot about the situation for young people in France, I do meet a lot of French people in Germany who have moved for work, I’ve even heard of French startups and tech companies opening offices in Berlin purely to hire.

There's a sort of never ending hysteria (I've heard it for decades) about brain-brain supposedly caused by taxes, administration, « backwards French culture » and basically any other liberal fever dream stuff you can pin on a country.

But in reality French people more or less emigrate the least in Europe.

Lots of smart French folks from the Polytechniques (Paris and Montreal) and ENS here in the valley.