Let's Be Like France! Yeah, right.

I'm often told by leftists that everything is better in France and Europe in general than in the U.S. Judge for yourself. We would want this? The left is often arrogant and more often wrong.

Hope for France?

Resistance to reform has been cemented in many Western European countries as a consequence of the political rhetoric for decades. If people have been listening to the same thing over and over again, they will start to believe it: "The European Social Model is superior both when it comes to economic efficiency and social justice," is the ruling mantra. Recent campaigns on that theme - and against others such as the US - make the problem even worse.

The model perpetuates itself. Government agencies that have been created to centrally plan parts of society and people's lives will do all they can to show they are still necessary. And when a majority of the adult population - the voters - are dependent on the state for their income and welfare, they will act to preserve the system. The insiders will try to protect what they believe is a privileged position.