Saturday, August 25, 2007

French on Jogging and Western Civilization

You have to love this one. It is a bit old, but just wonderful.
“Is jogging right wing?” wondered Libération, the left-wing newspaper. Alain Finkelkraut, a celebrated philosopher, begged Mr Sarkozy on France 2, the main state television channel, to abandon his “undignified” pursuit. He should take up walking, like Socrates, Arthur Rimbaud, the poet, and other great men, said Mr Finkelkraut.

“Western civilisation, in its best sense, was born with the promenade. Walking is a sensitive, spiritual act. Jogging is management of the body. The jogger says I am in control. It has nothing to do with meditation.”
I love the french using Socrates, from the culture of the marathon and the Olympics, as an example of jogging being outside the realm of western civilization activities.

1 comment:

BobG said...

Most of the joggers I know are liberals. The ones that aren't wearing funny shorts and riding bicycles, that is.