My Students Hate the Environment!! ;)

This is the classroom situation every language teacher dreams of, I thought, as I corrected the occasional “Ze people is…” and “Everybody are…” It was a class of eight sixteen-year-old girls, led by a very young, much loved English teacher. The students were meant to talk about a Vegetarian Society ad, which portrayed a puppy sitting on a plate with the caption “Why not? You eat other animals, don’t you?” Originally, the students expressed their opinions about the ad. All of them thought it was different levels of ridiculous. (This doesn’t surprise me one bit, based on the fact that they’re French, and the French love their meat!) The wonderful part was when the girls started to dig deeper into the context of vegetarianism, and this simple exercise spun into a spontaneous debate about the environmental movement, in English.

One very outspoken student claimed that the Environmental movement is just a fad. She thinks recycling is overrated and that life before all of this talk about sustainable living was much easier. At first, the teacher was miffed. She brought up global warming and pointed out that, living in Martinique, we are more susceptible to global climate change than anyone else! The weather has already become erratic here. (As I write this, it is pouring rain, in what should be the hot, dry season on the island!) And the rising sea levels are already encroaching upon the beaches. The girls sat back in their chairs, arms crossed, lips pursed to the side. Then another student tried to support the first. She brought up the idea that companies just say their products are eco-friendly in order to charge higher prices. Now even the teacher was sympathetic. She explained to me that it’s true that the government has started adding “environmental taxes” to product after product, like refrigerators, gas, etc. Now it was the teacher who began to back down. She sat back in her chair, crossed her own arms, and admitted that she can see where her students are coming from. She, too, feels like she is being taken advantage of by both the public and private sector in the name of “the environment”.

Now I am beginning to see where a lot of this Martiniquan conservativism comes from. It is true that religion plays a part. (It always plays a part.) But in the end, it comes down to the fact that life in France is expensive. And life in Martinique is even more expensive. Martiniquans pay French taxes, which go toward taking care of the French people to an astounding extent. Even the most conservative party in France believes in the value of universal health care. To the French, it’s the equivalent of the state providing free public education, or any other basic service. However, the French are taxed for much more than that! I know state employees for whom the state pays half of their rent and also gives them books full of certificates worth 6 Euros each to spend at grocery stores and the like. The state pays higher salaries to unemployed people than these unemployed people can sometimes get at entry-level jobs. And the state pays me. French tax payers pay for language assistants like me to come supplement the foreign language teaching efforts of teachers in their public schools. Could you imagine the US tax payers paying French and Spanish people full salaries to help language teachers do their jobs all over America? I mean, it's a good set-up for me! (Thank you, France!) I can see how the paying forty percent more for everything, and the extra environmental taxes, and the recycling (which requires the French to sort their recyclables into three separate bins) would add up. It causes people to be frustrated. And when people are frustrated with the state, a conservative dialogue holds sway. (::cough::Tea Party::cough::)

Shockingly Conservative

Martinique – land of palm trees and wild beaches, of swaying sugarcane fields, of rolling hills blanketed in banana trees, and of winding hiking trails through luscious jungles. Martinique – born from a rich history of cultural mélange, struggle, freedom, and, after all is said and done, neocolonialism. One would think that this island paradise, with its mix of cultures, its history of slavery, and its gorgeous natural environment, would produce progressive, environmentally conscious citizens. One would think.

My living arrangements have given me an intimate look at the full range of Martiniquan attitudes about life, the universe, and everything. (Martiniquans have no idea that the simple solution to all of their problems is 42.) Sylvie, or Madame Bécrit, is basically like my host mother. She lives upstairs with her 15-year-old son, Corentin. Corentin is extremely involved in and knowledgeable about politics, and has recently started meeting representatives of the socialist party and organizing events. It’s not surprising that he is so left wing. His mother, who lived in France until about 15 years ago, raised him. Sylvie doesn’t speak with a Martiniquan accent, or share hardly any of their conservative, religious values. On the other hand, downstairs I live with Laureen, and for the last few months, her ex, Jean-Marc as well (it’s complicated… I don’t fully understand it either). Laureen is 28 and Jean-Marc is 29. They are my windows into the world of young Martiniquan life. Both of them are very articulate and are able to back up their opinions with appropriate, well-informed arguments. So, aside from helping me get quickly accustomed to the accent here, and teaching me the basics of Creole, Laureen and Jean-Marc have taught me an incredible amount about how many young Martiniquan people view the economy, partying, ethnic relations, France, religion, sports, relationships, and politics.

[For those of you who aren’t up to date on French politics, here’s a quick run-down:

François Hollande = Socialist Party candidate attempting to take on current President de la République, Nicolas Sarkozy. (Socialism in France is not the extreme left. The Communist Party represents the extreme left. Commies!?! Gasp!!)

Nicolas Sarkozy = conservative president, equivalent to President Bush in that he polarized the country and opened the way for mockery of the person holding the office of the presidency.

 

Marine Le Pen = ultra-conservative candidate, daughter of Marie Le Pen who is known for his outspoken bigoted views. Represents the Front National (FN) Party, which would be the equivalent to our Tea Party if our Tea Party were openly racist.]

 

Last night, as I was mopping up the kitchen floor (some silly américaine may or may not have let an enormous quantity of mushy rice run down the drain, clogging the pipe and requiring handyman Jean-Marc to take apart the “plumbing” under the sink, flooding the place with oily, mushy-rice water… I’m not going to name names), I asked Jean-Marc whom he and Laureen supported in the upcoming French election. “Marine Le Pen.” QUOI ?!? WHAT?!? I knew that they were conservative. Laureen had expressed to me that it irks her to see female athletes limping around with ice packs on their legs because their muscles are sore from playing sports. She tells me, “I leave the sports to the men. I think that’s how it should be.” She’s also argued that the French state is unfair in giving aid to abused women and children because, “Men have problems, too.” OK, she’s traditional. But LE PEN? I didn’t think it was even possible for Martiniquans to support the FN. “But, isn’t she racist?” I asked, innocently, as if I’d only heard rumors. “Non, she’s not racist. Her father was racist, but she’s not. Her political discourse makes the most sense,” he says. That’s the first time I’ve heard the words “Le Pen” and “makes sense” in the same sentence. I was speechless. OK. To each her own! ;)

(More to come about my students and their views on the environmental movement...)