France Needs a Real Maggie Thatcher, Not Sarkozy

"France is pathetic... and Sarkozy is not going to change anything," said an opinionated companion at Friday's dinner.

"They need a real Maggie Thatcher. But Sarkozy isn't going to do anything. I've been following him. He's just another hack who wants to hold onto power at all cost, financed by one of the big commercial interests in France.

"He might even want to introduce real reforms. But he can't. There are too many people, too satisfied. And I can tell you this - I live in McLean, Virginia... I'm an American... and America is going the same way. A bigger and bigger percentage of the voters rely on some form of government handout. They're not really going to allow reform. They've got too good a deal going.

"And you know something else? The richer we get, the harder it is to introduce reforms. More and more people get more and more money from the system. That's why George Bush set up that new drug program. I think it's the most expensive new legislation in history. But it buys a lot of votes. And that's what counts. You can't really go against the will of the majority. So, you have to keep giving them things. And the richer the society, the more you can give them. And the more you give them, the less anyone will want to support reform.

"The only reason Maggie Thatcher got away with her reforms was that the country was broke. The miners went on strike and people were running out of power. You've got to sink pretty low before you can pull off real reforms. It's too bad Segolene didn't win."

Bill Bonner
The Daily Reckoning Australia

P.S. to get The Daily Reckoning direct to your inbox sign up to our free e-mail newsletter or if you prefer to use RSS, subscribe to the Daily Reckoning RSS feed.

Related Articles:

• None Found