In France on Monday President Macron tried to get control over the civil unrest that is engulfing parts of the country. He attempted to bribe the citizenry by raising the minimum wage, exempting overtime pay from taxation and promising not to raise taxes on pensioners receiving less than 2,000 euro/month.
Is Macron trying to take France down Venezuela’s path? Maduro did similar things and we all know how well that has worked out. How many struggling small businesses will be forced to shutter due to Macron’s “generosity”? Macron has indicated he will use the full weight of the police and military as needed to quell anti-government protests. Some 89,000 police were mobilized last weekend against the uprisings.
The biggest problem after the Orwellian regulations that people in France must endure is the incredibly high rate of taxation. France is the #1 country in the developed world with taxes currently representing over 48% of France’s GDP. By comparison America clocks in at around 27%.
What is really amazing is how the French government doesn’t see the problem. They seem to think that the fuel tax was the source of the unrest. They thought that by deferring the increase that people would back down. That didn’t happen and now they are floundering around trying to put out the fire they started.
Of course, we have our own versions of this here in this country. Governments are constantly looking to broaden their tax sources. California is proposing now to tax every text message you send on your phone. California already has the highest state income tax at 13%. In Chicago they have put a 9% tax on any amusementlike Netflix or PlayStation. At least in this country people can get up and move somewhere else which is happening with greater frequency in places like California and Chicago.
Will the problems in France turn into a full-scale revolt? One can be sure that other countries in Europe are getting nervous about what is happening in France. Many have seen various signs of unrest in their citizens in the form of populist movements. Will Italians follow the French? What about the unrest over the Brexit plan proposed by Theresa May?
70% of Britons being polled saying the major political parties do not represent them. Nigel Farage is attempting to push through to completion Brexit according to the referendum voted by the people and torpedoed by PM May. Will “yellow vests” unrest show up there if May and her cronies continue down the path they have chosen?
Some would say that the French are displaying some antipathy toward Socialism. However, I think what the French really hate is its results. If they get rid of Macron, they will probably still try to solve the problems caused by too much government with still more government. They don’t understand that too much government is the problem.
This was the future that Bernie Sanders had in mind for us. Europeans had unelected bureaucrats ran their lives for decades. “Look at how cool, hip, smart, and green Europe is. America is stupid for not wanting to be like all them.” This was Bernie’s message.
Maybe we dodged a bullet when the Democrats fixed the primaries so that Hillary would win. Bernie might have won.