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

Thanks for taking the time to explain. I'm sure the people who are outraged about it will find a way to still be outraged, though. 😀 

1688 $DEGEN

Thank you very much much!

Also, people on X be like:

Artist from the future.

NFTs since 1998.

Bitcoin since 1985.

Your second favorite artist's second favorite artist.

curate.page/t/tomato