To the Editor:

Re “New Leaders Say Pensive French Think Too Much” (front page, July 22):

You report that Christine Lagarde, the new French finance minister, wants the French to be more thoughtless.

And President Nicolas Sarkozy, who likes to be seen as a nonintellectual and whose mantra is “work more to earn more,” is pictured jogging.

Europeans enjoy thinking, so they go on hikes, walks and outings with friends and family on weekends and stroll through old graveyards, pedestrian zones and parks on workdays. All ages—from grandparents to babies—talk, sing, explore and exchange ideas as they enjoy the fresh air.

Jogging with iPods keeps one isolated and unable to hear the birds singing or a train coming. Perhaps it also leads us to suffer an administration that prefers we not think.

Europeans, heed our horrible example!

Jean Kathleen Ranallo
Englewood, Fla., July 22, 2007

Note from KBJ: I feel sorry for this woman. She is stuck in a country she doesn’t like. Perhaps writing bitchy letters to The New York Times helps her cope with her unhappiness.

Note 2 from KBJ: Did you notice the rhetorical sleight of hand? The letter writer says that the new finance minister “wants the French to be more thoughtless.” That’s not what she said. She said (according to the Times story) that the French should think less and act more, i.e., do less theorizing and more productive work. (This is the ancient Greek distinction between contemplation and action.) The word “thoughtless” has a very different (and negative) connotation. Compare:

You should do less thinking and more acting.

with

You should be thoughtless.

Big difference! The letter writer didn’t just put the worst spin on what was said; she distorted it to serve her own purposes.