Posted by
voice_of_reason on Monday, May 14, 2007 7:36:31 AM
.. the prospect of Islamic terror raised the temperature a tad too fast!
You know the urban legend: "The boiling frog story states that a frog can be boiled alive if the water is heated slowly enough — it is said that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out, but if it is placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it will never jump out."
Socialist leaders know exactly how to play this game. By 'giving' unearned benefits to the electorate while raising taxes to pay for their generosity, they raise the temperature of the water gradually.
As long as it gets them re-elected, Socialists don't really worry about the effects of their policy. When faced with a failing economy and a loss of competitiveness in Global terms, French politicians reduced the mandated work week, raised the minimum wage and passed legislation that 'protects' workers from ever being fired. Deluded French voters kept re-electing leaders who 'gave' them such benefits, despite the fact that they were leading France towards lower economic standards. Does any of this sound familiar?
So, what happened? Why couldn't the Socialists keep their shell game going forever?
In Chirac-istan, the combination of a weak immigration policy and a 'strong' welfare state attracted the worst kind of immigrants. Bewildered, left-leaning Frenchmen watched the demographic tide that had swept up on their shores. They could catch a glimpse, a sneak preview, of the dismal future that their Leftist politicians had brought upon them.
When the prospect of a violent, un-assimilated, un-employable Islamic underclass was added to the mix - the 'temperature' of the water rose abruptly, and the Frog jumped.
Irrational exuberance, n'est-ce pas?
Despite my joy in seeing the French electorate lean (somewhat) to the Right, my optimism is tempered by the fact that the French have been indoctrinated for so long in the 'goodness' of welfare-statism that their changes are likely to be incremental, not structural. After decades of damage it would take several quantum leaps for them to realize any significant benefits.
Lacking the huevos to opt for quantum changes, they are likely to enact some feeble 'reforms' which will be trumpeted as "American style Capitalism, with a dash of French flavor". Those reforms will inevitably cause some pain among the indolent, who are used to being hand-fed. Their answer will then be - Capitalism doesn't work mon ami, let's go marching back to the glory days of socialism while the band plays "La Marseillaise" triumphantly in the background.
Parallels may be found in our own society. Public Education - which should have been anathema in 'free-enterprise' America - is here to stay. We may see some incremental changes (e.g. vouchers) that are touted as great steps towards a free market. But those limited, short-lived experiments will never generate broad based results and we will continue to slouch leftwards.