[onyx]

How in the heck in this day and age of ecomonic devastation do idiots elect socialists, if not for their own stupidity and greed?

France is Greece.

“Don’t take my government bennies from me!”

[hinckley buzzard]

How in the heck in this day and age of ecomonic devastation do idiots elect socialists, if not for their own stupidity and greed?

I believe your question answered itself.

[The Old Commander]

Because they are delusional. They believe they can keep the party going forever just by borrowing and/or printing money. It is over. Lock and load.

[aquila48]

“How in the heck in this day and age of ecomonic devastation do idiots elect socialists, if not for their own stupidity and greed?”

It’s rather simple....

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.”
- Alexis de Tocqueville