Some people here and on X have expressed outrage at parts of the opening ceremony of the Olympics in France.

As someone who is both natively French and a "global citizen" (lived on four continents, visited 50 countries, expat for nearly 20 years), I wanted to share my dual perspective. My goal is not to pass judgment on Friday's performance, but rather set the cultural context in which it was delivered. So, don't shoot the messenger. Also, references are annotated in brackets like this: [i] for further reading at the end.

The TL;DR is that the French brand of secularism (laïcité) is unique, highly idiosyncratic, and part of the core identity of the French republic; it's understandable that it does not translate well to an international audience.

Now, onto the 🧵: 1/9

PhD in aviation ∩ climate science | Aviator, diver, ETH maxi, nexialist | Host of /diving /ethfinance /eth-staker /geopolitics /science /singapore /thomas

Great thread, full of common sense and knowledge of culture. I see nothing but facts :) In decades to come this ceremony will be seen as a daring artistic experiment and a snapshot of contemporary society, rather than a by the numbers arrangement or 'show of strength' type ceremony that we have seen for years. You're also really kind to take the effort to explain  things with references. Hopefully people will learn to do their own research.

Design, art, nature and tech | cyrus.website | Growing /plantbased  /webtree 🍄