What do these countries do with ALL that money they take off the backs of their people? They don’t have huge defense budgets, so they’re obviously not using it to protect the citizens.
Ask not what France can do for you, but how many months out of each year you can work in her service until you can take home income.
Taxation is service to the common good. When does service become servitude? 50%? When is it slavery? 100%?
I didn’t even look what the tax burden is like in France. But people always seem to have a limit.
This is a good article and you also make good points about the current French crisis. I agree with you the current crisis is almost soley taxation and socialism reaching their inevitable limits. The author is correct in that it is somewhat similar to Ancien Regime France. However, there is one huge difference. In 1789 - 1790s there was famine in France. Starvation shook French civic norms and public morality to its core.
Imo this is very similar to the 1968 French crisis which precipitated the resignation of DeGaulle’s government.
“La réforme oui, la chienlit non”
What typically happens in this situation with a European country and hefty tax revenue buckets...money is spent. I’ll give a few German-type of expenditures.
The Opera House in Hamburg was designed re-use of port space with around 241-million Euro set for the cost factor. Two years into the project...massive delays were occurring because of unforeseen problems with the original buildings (they had to be re-used, not torn down). So the price went to 450-million Euro. The roof ended up with a massive re-design, with another 100-million thrown into the delay and it’s issues. The customized windows? They failed the wind and stress test, more delays occurred. The final structure came to 789-million.
The Berlin Airport? Same type of deal. They were actually going to build it as a private airport deal, with two bids on the table, and a minimum amount of public money to be spent. Problems occurred with the bidding. The second bid ended with the two competitors (there were only two in the first attempt)...agreeing to one single bid (jointly). The city dumped the bid and went to a public situation....paying for it out of their pocket. The project was supposed to be started in 2006, and end in spring 2011. The project was announced as done, but the city had to admit massive failures in the design (it was a fire and safety hazard). At this point, it is 7 years late, and still non-operational. It was originally supposed to be done for around 2-billion Euro. Presently, they’ve spent 7.3-billion Euro. There was a rumor it’d open in 2019 but no one will sign their name to it, and speculation is leaning toward 2021. The planning folks for the region? They now admit that it needs another runway to handle the air traffic expected....and that the two major airports which were supposed to absolutely close when this opens...well, at least one will have to stay and get major funding to handle more traffic.
There are literally dozens of projects around the country like this....all in failure of planning and budgets.
I should add that’s just at the bulk of big spending. Cities, towns and villages have literally billions being spent on oddball things. There’s a village which spent 6,000 Euro to erect a steel tower of six feet...on a small hillside...to view the valley below. Yes, you were already above the landscape, but they felt you needed a 6 ft ‘lift’ to see more.
On the Rhine, some town took a 100,000 Euro funding vehicle to have a 10-ft deck which stretched out into the river. You already had a full view while standing on the shore, but the the steel deck was to have you out (barely) over the water.
Paved bike trails (often called bicycle autobahns) are being built from Frankfurt going south to Darmstadt. You could actually drive the 25-mile route at a high racing bike speed in about an hour. They figure when completed....near 3-million Euro as a minimum will have been spent.
Every penny collected on high taxes....is spent. There’s no doubt about that question.
....it’s just endless social programs.
We don’t hire in France anyone. You can’t close an office or fire anyone without a massive, costly, effort. They don’t realize it hurts them.