I wonder if there’s a name for the phenomenon of things getting renamed with more exciting and dramatic names over time, because the original name is simply too dull to go viral or get people upset. Calling what they do in France “austerity” is similar to calling what they do in Israel “apartheid” or what’s happening to whites in America “genocide”.
And don’t kid yourselves about the yellow vests. These people consider themselves the “real French”, just like Sarah Palin’s “real Americans.” They are not leftists. Like miners in Kentucky, they want more benefits for themselves, but less for others.
It’s ridiculous. France is a generous state with great social services. Very different from the UK, among others. Yes, unemployment is high, in large part because it is so hard to fire someone. I worked in France for three months (contractor, so not the same thing; one reason they like contractors is to avoid firing), so I have a small experience there. But try to change that, watch the riots happen. It is a real thing that for some people, once they get the job, they know perfectly well they can kick back and do very little… if they want to.
Not that there isn’t a lot of truth to the phenomenon of top-down decision making without regard to consequences. That’s true, and they’d be smart to change that. That’s been in the culture since well before Louis XIV.
