“American society used to be segregationist before it moved to a multiculturalist model, which is essentially about coexistence of different ethnicities and religions next to one another.”
“Our model is universalist, not multiculturalist,” he said, outlining France’s longstanding insistence that its citizens not be categorized by identity. “In our society, I don’t care whether someone is Black, yellow or white, whether they are Catholic or Muslim, a person is first and foremost a citizen.”
Ben Smith, The President vs. the American Media, N.Y. Times (Nov. 16, 2020).
That is because France still believes in the state. America has never had that problem.
America’s joy today at the success of SpaceX — a private firm — in sending four astronauts on their way to the space station, something the state has been powerless to do for nearly a decade, illustrates this rather nicely.