France, Now Officially A Socialist State

The French have historically been quite in tune with reality, politically and militarily. When it came time in the 30's to fund the remainder of the Maginot Line in front of the Ardennes, the French body politic argued that 'Les Bosch" could simply never make their way through such an entanglement of vegetation and the money would be better spent providing wine to the winos in exchange for their votes. When the Germans finally made their move in Poland and the French Army Reserves were called up, the Government noticed that the wine harvest would not occur due to the lack of manpower, so the Army reserves were put to work harvesting grapes instead of preparing for a German assault. When the German assault finally came, it was mostly over and done with in seven days, but all was not lost, the French still had their wine. These ladies in the photo at the link all look like they're prepared to host DSK or maybe even his successor, Mssr Hollande. Just gotta love them Socialists. 75 per cent income taxes and no balanced budget for five years.

Weasel Zippers » Blog Archive » France Now Officially a Socialist State, Sweeping Election Victory Gives Them Absolute Majority In Parliament Along With Presidency…

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Is there a source for that nonsense, or did you author it yourself?
 
[...] Just gotta love them Socialists. 75 per cent income taxes and no balanced budget for five years.
I think you do not really know the French political system my friend. Do not listen to what your media says, because it's wrong if they say that!

The 75% tax, is a proposal by the communist candidate, proposed by Jean-Luc Melenchon, a member of the "Left Front" (Front de Gauche), or what we call "extreme-left". This candidate received 11.1% of the votes, and it is in the fourth position. after Francois Hollande (left), Nicolas Sarkozy (right), and Marine Le-Pen (extreme-right)

So no, there is no 75% tax in France! except in your immagination !

The second (important) thing is :

What we call "socialist" is not that is socialist in your mind (this is definitely not a reference to "national socialism" during the war like you say, that is just a "Godwin point"), but it's more like your bipolarization (Democrat vs. Republican). Although there are some differences, it is the same principle here.

So, little lesson for "beginners of French policy", we have :

the "Parti Socialiste" (or Left) which is :
"claim an equal progress organized by the state"
their values :
- equality
- solidarity
- progress
- insubordination
- justice

And the "UMP" (or Right) which is :
"defense of an effective order respecting the authority and ownership"
their values :
- order
- security
- conservatism
- tradition
- individualism

and we have the other party (extreme left or extreme-right) that are beginning to up in voting intentions (they are stronger at each new elections)

- The extreme-left, which is : revolutionary, pro-european, anti-capitalist, anti-liberal.
- The extreme-right, which is : anti-european, control of borders, nationalist, patriotic, religious tradition.

postscript : I do not understand why you say "wine", "hitler" or "the WWII" every time someone speaks of France (especially when talking about politics), it's really strange way as to . This is something I really do not understand because this has no relation !!!
 
[...] Just gotta love them Socialists. 75 per cent income taxes and no balanced budget for five years.
I think you do not really know the French political system my friend. Do not listen to what your media says, because it's wrong if they say that!

The 75% tax, is a proposal by the communist candidate, proposed by Jean-Luc Melenchon, a member of the "Left Front" (Front de Gauche), or what we call "extreme-left". This candidate received 11.1% of the votes, and it is in the fourth position. after Francois Hollande (left), Nicolas Sarkozy (right), and Marine Le-Pen (extreme-right)

So no, there is no 75% tax in France! except in your immagination !

The second (important) thing is :

What we call "socialist" is not that is socialist in your mind (this is definitely not a reference to "national socialism" during the war like you say, that is just a "Godwin point"), but it's more like your bipolarization (Democrat vs. Republican). Although there are some differences, it is the same principle here.

So, little lesson for "beginners of French policy", we have :

the "Parti Socialiste" (or Left) which is :
"claim an equal progress organized by the state"
their values :
- equality
- solidarity
- progress
- insubordination
- justice

And the "UMP" (or Right) which is :
"defense of an effective order respecting the authority and ownership"
their values :
- order
- security
- conservatism
- tradition
- individualism

and we have the other party (extreme left or extreme-right) that are beginning to up in voting intentions (they are stronger at each new elections)

- The extreme-left, which is : revolutionary, pro-european, anti-capitalist, anti-liberal.
- The extreme-right, which is : anti-european, control of borders, nationalist, patriotic, religious tradition.

postscript : I do not understand why you say "wine", "hitler" or "the WWII" every time someone speaks of France (especially when talking about politics), it's really strange way as to . This is something I really do not understand because this has no relation !!!

A lot of posters on this board know very little about Europe. In fact they know little about any country outside the US.

The information they do have is gleaned from foreign news reports (coverage of foreign affairs is much shallower in the US than in other countries). Because they are not familiar with the political leanings of the foreign news media, they are often unable to distinguish between what is actual news reporting and what is politically motivated opinion. Hence they see a story that appeals to their own predisposed views about a country, and post it as an example of how their views about that country are right on the money and how this is just further evidence of how screwed up that country is. They don't review multiple sources to see whether it is just one outlet running the story, or whether it is a genuine national story. Plus of course they don't understand the culture or the language so checking for additional background information can be difficult.

Frequently, the links posted are not to news services at all, they are to politically motivated blogs. This actually happens in America as well. A large number amount of "evidence" is provided by sources that have a primary purpose of attacking either the left or right. It's all a bit silly.

As to the references to WWII, Hitler and wine, these are simply illustrations of how little most Americans know about France. They are used in a disparaging manner (in much the same way that comments about "The Queen", "1776", and "WWII" are used about Britain) to sublimate the writer's feeling of his own country's (and in that way his own) superiority over every other country on earth. Quite frequently posters will post a link to a story about one European country and extrapolate it into an example of how "Europe is fucked up". C'est fou, non?

This is not solely an American trait. I know many Europeans who harbor feelings of superiority about the US. These feelings are often expressed using words like "late arrival" (WWII reference) and "throwaway society with no culture". In addition, a lot of Europeans tend to judge the US based on who is President at that particular moment.

However, since this message board has a heavy American bias in terms of user base, you'll tend to see more of one sort of foolishness than the other.

It's not all posters. But it is a significant number.
 
Thanks you very much for this awnser ! Really !

This is not solely an American trait. I know many Europeans who harbor feelings of superiority about the US. These feelings are often expressed using words like "late arrival" (WWII reference) and "throwaway society with no culture". In addition, a lot of Europeans tend to judge the US based on who is President at that particular moment.
Just to answer on this point, and I will be the most sincere and honest as possible.

1) I never heard the expression "late arrival" in the mouth of a French, in my all life !
Having lived this war (not me, I mean the French in general), we talked about this period a LOT, and now it's over, it is only our history (proof: our strongest ally in Europe is germany. and we often hear in the media the word : "Franco-German")

I think it's one of your fantasies, not ours! We do not make much reference to the war in our discussions when talking about the United States (or any other country), but I feel for you Americans, "war" is something important in your culture. (you have the right to have guns, incredible thing for a European for exemple)

2) on the other hand, I often heard "throwaway society with no culture", because you are a young country compared to what everyone calls "old europe" (but its not "with no culture", it's more "with young culture", and its different)

3) In fact, the only "stereotype" that persists for United States of America here, is that Americans are "fat". But some say that the French do not wash, as we take 1-3 showers a day, I immagine it's not totally true for you too.
 
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