Testimony, by the French right's presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, has just been translated into English. This manifesto is a fascinating insight into the mind of the man who wishes to run France. His brutal assesment of the state of France will please neither Francophobe nor Francophone, as he paints a picture of a country in dire straits, stuck in the past, unwilling to grasp the realities of modern life, whether it be its growing Muslim problem or its relationships with rest of the world.
He makes it clear that he believes that France has lost as many of its youngest and brightest to emigration, a similar toll to that inflicted by the devasting First World War. Its brightest leave France for better opportunities, whether it be for education, career advancement or starting a new business. Of course, the number of these young adults is falling anyway, as the country has a negative birth rate. As with most of Europe, its population is getting older and there are not enough of the young to pay for the entitlements promised to the old. Those that are young suffer as high as 20% unemployment in some parts of France.
London has become the seventh largest French city. She ceaselessly sucks in thousands of young French people, who set up there - including my own daughter, as it was easier to suceed there than at home. Or worse, to suceeed here has become so shameful that a young person wanting to get on is obliged to leave.
He laments that France has borrowed the worst bits of the Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon (ie UK/US) way of doing things, succeeding in nothing except decline against its competitors. He writes that his goal in running for president is to put France on the right track, one that is looking to its future, not holding on to its past for dear life.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States. Nice work!
2 - Philip Huang
I wonder if he regards democratic pluralism as "the worst" of American culture, as evidenced his outbursts during the Charlie Rose interview yesterday:
"If you come to France and you wear a veil, if you go to one of the administrative buildings, then that's not acceptable. If you don't want your wife to be examined by a male doctor, then you're not welcome here. France is a country that's open."
3 - Bliffle
Sarkozy's displays of conceit and doctrinaire ideology on "Charlie Rose" today finally convinced me that he's NOT the great hope of France.
If he were at all original and took an honest look at reality he'd see that todays problems in France come not from a socialized government that promises healthcare to citizens, but from a sovietized business oligopoly that promises eternal prominence to sunset French businesses. Superannuated french businesses are kept operative by the very high barriers to entry businesses, whether in the form of punitive business license fees, required bonding for employee benefits or outright hostility.