"Socialist" Hypocrites
Social revolutionaries always appear to come from privileged backgrounds. They are those in under-privileged societies who have had the benefit of higher education, exposure to cosmopolitan interchanges, a knowledge of the international community, and above all, birth within proverbial silver-spoon enclaves of wealth and privilege, whose parents have social and political entrees.Whatever the reason, call it conscience or a driven curiosity that compels them to attempt to alter what they feel to be injustices in the society in which they live, they feel called to represent the poor, the under-privileged, the downtrodden. Two famous/infamous names exemplify this human/social phenomenon: Che Guevara and Osama bin Laden, although the field is by no means restricted to or monopolized by those with their politics.
In a much lesser sense, those who enter politics espousing a socially-advanced philosophy do represent those whose backgrounds enabled them to live expansively, to travel, to attain a superior education, and to hone the skills of politics and social engineering. In Europe recently, on the heels of a number of EU countries experiencing a downturn in their economic stability, the voting public has opted for the political left.
In France, voters rejected conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, not only because of his characteristic penchant for expressing himself less than elegantly, with a penchant for the gauche, and his celebration of wealth, but because his insistence, along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that austerity was the ticket out of looming financial failure for the country.
Along came Francois Hollande whose common-law wife and mother of his children had lost a previous presidential bid in an election where Nicolas Sarkozy won out. Although Mr. Hollande had long since left Segolene Royal for another woman, one might construct this new reversal to just dues. The French electorate has chosen to reject conservatism and welcome back socialism.
They want political sobriety, not the "bling bling" of President Sarkozy. The new President of France has an expressed low opinion of the wealthy: "I don't like the rich", he famously stated. And it is his intention to begin to tax them at a rather eye-popping rate, as though their wealth is responsible for the financial straits France now finds itself in.
Good thing for President Hollande that the new and improved wealth tax is applicable to assets in excess of $1.7 million. That should be sufficient protection for him to continue enjoying his own assets worth $1.5 million, estimated to be tied up in three Riviera properties.
Labels: Economy, France, Political Realities
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, May 12, 2012
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