I will admit to being a bit hyperbolic in my title, mainly to gain a little steam for the traffic (I am prone to do so, if you haven't figured that out
), but my feelings about socialism still fit in even if they shouldn't be the main focus of this particular thread. Also, France insn't a truly socialist nation, as you know, but they have adopted many socialist constructs.
In my observation socialism or socialist constructs cause people to be dependent on the government for their livelihood (in a general sense), whether it be a welfare system, healthcare and so on and so forth. As we we all know, you can't depend on the government to run anything right, so if you have to depend on it, it will fail you.
A lot of my feelings on the unemployement rates of France, Germany and others don't come from the article I posted, but of my belief that socialism breeds abuse by leaders and apathy by constituents. Most people want to work for a living, but there are also a good amount that will not do a damn thing if you don't make it necessary for them to do so.
A people become dependent on the government, the government fails them and the people get angry that they aren't being taken care of the way the government promised.
P.S. - I am actually a very big fan of Marx... as a social and political critic. The observations in his books were revolutionary (pun unintended but I'll still take it
) and
very accurate. His solutions, though, were misguided to say the least and have been misinterpreted to the point that literally millions have died.