I don’t normally post in French, and many of you won’t be able to read this. For those who don’t do the French thing, rest assured: It’s just a joke, albeit a really funny one. Okay okay, I’ll include an English translation below. The original French version is being posted primarily for the benefit of my friend Michelle, who would like to improve her French, and for my husband Stuart, who’s as bilingual as I am, but with an annoying Parisian accent*.
Un enfant demande à son papa : “Explique moi ce qu’est la politique.” Le papa répond : “C’est très simple. Je vais te donner un exemple : notre famille.
C’est moi qui rapporte de l’argent, je suis donc le capitaliste. Ta maman gère cet argent, elle est donc le gouvernement. Grand père vérifie si tout se passe bien : il est donc le parlement. La bonne est la classe ouvrière. Nous n’avons qu’un seul but : ton bien être, tu es donc le peuple. Ton petit frère encore dans le berceau nous dirons qu’il est l’avenir.”
L’enfant a bien écouté! La nuit tombe chacun s’en va au lit. L’enfant dans le sommeil entend son petit frère qui pleure. Il se lève et va voir. En fait, le petit frère a fait caca dans son lange ! Que faire, il va dans la chambre de ses parents et s’aperçoit que la maman est seule au lit et dort. Ne voulant pas la réveiller, il va à la chambre de la bonne et là il trouve son papa dans le lit de la jeune fille. Il voit le grand-père qui regarde par la fenêtre. Ayant peur, il va se recoucher et s’endort.
Le lendemain le papa demande: “alors mon fils tu as réfléchi et compris?” Le garçon répond “oui papa, ta définition est claire: le capitalisme profite de la classe ouvrière pendant que le gouvernement dort et le parlement regarde sans rien dire. On s’en fout de ce que pense le peuple et l’avenir est dans la merde.”
A child asks his dad: “Explain to me what politics are.” The dad answers: “It’s very simple. I will give you an example: our family. I’m the one who earns the money, I am thus the capitalist. Your mom manages this money, therefore she is the government. Grandfather checks if all is going well: he is thus the Parliament. The nanny is the working class. We have one goal: your wellbeing, you are therefore the people. Your little brother who is still in the cradle is the future.”
The child listened well! Night fell and everyone went to bed. Late that night, the child is woken by the sounds of his crying baby brother. He rises to see what the issue is. In fact, the little brother dirtied his diapers! The boy goes into his parents’ room to tell them and sees that his mom is alone in the bed, asleep. Not wanting to awaken her, he goes to the nanny’s room and there finds his father in bed with the young girl. He sees his grandfather watching through the window and, frightened, returns to his bed and goes back to sleep.
The following day the dad asks: “Well my son, did you reflect and understand my parable?” The boy answers “yes dad, your definition is clear: capitalism benefits from the working class while the government sleeps and the Parliament looks without anything to say. Nobody cares what the people think and the future’s in deep shit.”
* Okay, so maybe it’s my twangy Northern Ontario/Québec accent that’s irritating. But since we are in Ontario, I call trumps. There’s more of us than there is of you, in this part of the world at least. So there :)
