The French were always out “industrialized”‘ by the Americans, the  British,  and the Germans because the work ethic in those three counties was far superior to the one in France. As Obama tries to turn America into a larger version of Norway, we should face up to the  realities of the economic and social realities of the joie de vivre type of lifestyle. Eventually you will have a nation of high unemployment, massive debt and a population which lacks ambition.Cafe society is fun for a week or two on vacation but  does not lead to building an economically  competitive nation.

by Jeffrey Folks

The American left embraces a romantic myth of the superiority of French socialism, to impress upon mushy minds that the corporatist state envisioned by Obama would be a good thing.

At one point in the 1995 remake of the classic film Sabrina, the title character (played by a very French-looking Julia Ormond) lectures Linus Larrabee (Harrison Ford) on the virtues of French work habits. “They work as hard as we do,” she says. “They just know when to quit.” The film goes on to dramatize these points as Linus is transformed from a miserably neurotic, soulless American businessman into a pleasure-seeking, Moroccan food-loving lapsed capitalist and Wall Street dropout. By the end of the film, Linus has become a “complete” human being: an American male in the prime of his work-life who has traded American capitalism and work itself for the more relaxed attitudes of French society. He can now devote his most productive years to counting the bridges of Paris, lounging in cafés, and doodling in his journal.

The American left has always cherished a similar myth: the myth of the superiority of European socialism. John Kerry and Barack Obama, and their many supporters, have spent decades attempting to reshape America in the image of France. Now, with the passage of Obamacare and increased federal control of the financial, automotive, and energy sectors of the economy, they are close to succeeding. With the passage of just a few more pieces of legislation — cap-and-trade and the nationalization of 401(k) accounts among them — the transformation of America into a European-style welfare state will be all but complete.

[..]

If the French wish to live under the thumb of a corporatist state dominated by federal bureaucracies and powerful national unions, that is their business. The result of French corporatism will be continued high unemployment, rising national debt, and declining purchasing power. Most Americans, however, do not want French-style corporatism, and it should not be imposed on them by the small cadre of political elitists temporarily in charge in Washington.

Read the rest: Sugarcoating Socialism the French Way.