It’s easy to make the mistake of thinking that France is a left-wing country. I live in Paris on the marching route of the regular demonstrations – manifestations, known affectionately as manifs. On the radio on Saturday mornings, people wish each other “Bonne manif!”. The socialist Fran?ois Hollande, favourite to win this spring’s presidential elections, says, “My adversary is finance.” He’s calling for a tax rate of 75 per cent on anyone (except possibly footballers) earning over €1m.
人們很容易誤以為法國是一個左翼國家。巴黎街頭時常發生示威抗議(示威游行的法語說法是“manifesations”,又被親切地簡稱為“manifs”),我就住在游行的必經之路上。在周六早上的廣播中,人們會互相祝愿“示威快樂!”(Bonne manif!)。有望在今年春天贏得總統大選的熱門人選、社會黨人弗朗索瓦?奧朗德(Fran?ois Hollande)說:“我的仇敵是金融界。”他呼吁對所有年收入超過100萬歐元的人征稅75%(足球運動員可能除外)。