Saturday, June 11, 2005
Villepin and “Creating Jobs”…Out of Thin Air
The newly appointed French Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin, has vowed to, “wage war on unemployment” and to “create” jobs. Of course we’ve heard the same nonsense from politicians everywhere throughout time.
Here’s a radical suggestion to all politicians (this isn’t just a French thing);
Let businesses and common citizens create, buy, sell, and bargain freely. Let them determine what they want, how much they’re willing to buy or sell of a given product or service, and allow them to decide among themselves where they wish to work, how many hours they wish to work, or how many jobs they’re willing to do to attain the things they want from life.
Under such circumstances, I suspect that many businesses will want to make things, provide services, and sell people stuff, and here’s the amazing part, they’ll hire people to do this – just a guess.
France regularly has an unemployment rate that is twice that of the U.S. (and the U.S. rate is probably overstated to begin with). I don’t know about France’s methods of tabulating such statistics but in America, a recently graduated college kid from a rich family is considered “unemployed” (and, "in poverty") when he or she loses a job and decides to go back-packing in South America for the summer. Although the allusion is always attempted, "unemployed" in the U.S. doesn't always equal "poor." It doesn't even necessarily mean that one wants to be employed. America also has a huge underground economy (bless them for waving their middle fingers at the state). I've worked with waitresses who vacationed regularly around the world. "On paper" they were among America's "poor."
An influx of immigrants is sometimes held up as a reason for French unemployment – a lame and phony excuse. America is obviously no stranger to the concept of immigration (yes, people are still dying to become citizens of the evil hegemon with its "vast inequalities").
French unemployment is not somehow more tolerable than the American variety -- another weak claim -- because “America lacks a safety net.” America’s “safety nets” are every bit as pervasive, cumbersome, inefficient, and constricting as anything the Euro-elite can impose one their citizens. The leftist media campaigning along with philosophical trash bins like Michael Moore have successfully convinced many Europeans that Americans have no unemployment insurance and no social programs when in fact billions are spent annually by federal, state, and local governments on such contrivances.
The problem of so significant a discrepancy between France and American’s unemployment conditions can be attributed somewhat to less regulation and micro-management in America. Union’s hind ends are kissed considerably less also, which means that the dreaded businessman can often stay in business and maintain a staff of – employed – employees. I think another issue -- one that doesn’t fit so well into economic theories -- is the fact that Americans in general just aren’t good at obeying stupid rules.
Any self-respecting and ambitious businessperson or worker in America will find whatever loophole is necessary to extricate themselves from the pathetic roadblocks of state. Whether rich, poor, or in transit between classes, we want to pretty much do what we want. If some pathetic politician and team of bureau-leeches commanded that we only work 35 hours a week or less, many of us would laugh and find a way to continue pursuing the goals we sought -- and work the jobs and hours needed to attain them.
A government can’t “create” jobs, they happen as a natural product of free people’s interactions. Oh, you can occasionally demand that a bridge or road be built in some politician’s district, hire a few people to do it and say you “created jobs.” The problem is, you created something the market (free people) didn’t really ask for, and the taxed money ultimately spent is something that would have been spent elsewhere, on what individuals had actually freely chosen, if indeed allowed to choose -- always a more productive and honest state of affairs.
I've read that Mr. Villepin writes good poetry. I have no doubt he probably appreciates fine wine as well. He possesses a noted dashing refinement of manner, but, can he "create" jobs? Perhaps he can begin by sitting in a cafe' and writing a poem?
Dominique de Villepin (ya gotta love that name) of France will continue the well-worn submissions to his country’s diverse begging factions, at the expense of common sense and prosperity. He and many of his countrymen will continue to look on in puzzlement at the American economic engine and the prosperous middle-class society it has produced. On his own turf, he’ll continue a “war” on unemployment, a peace with bureaucrats and "safety nets" and…an unemployment rate typically double that of the U.S.
Will these guys ever get a clue? My guess is, no.
Addendum
I need to clarify some points -- following my usual sarcasm -- regarding the French in general (as opposed to the dominant leftists among them). I actually like France, and I've met more than a few really nice people from there. French Art, Music, and Literature has offered lavish enrichment to the West's and the world's cultural heritage.
At some point in the past (I'd start with Rousseau and his Jacobin spawn) many French citizens began to buy into the socialist worldview, and where has it got them beyond a Reign of Terror that has symbolically, in some form, lasted to this day?
Socialism and Islam are about to devour the land of Victor Hugo, Debussy, and Monet. Some think the solution is to complain about McDonald's, Hollywood, and the removing of an Iraqi dictator.
France needs to learn who their real friends are -- in spite of those friends’s taste for fast food, action films, and the spreading of democracy in the Middle East.
...Oh yes, as cultural icons, Louis Pasteur and Gabriel Faure' beat Sartre and Derrida hands down.
Here’s a radical suggestion to all politicians (this isn’t just a French thing);
Let businesses and common citizens create, buy, sell, and bargain freely. Let them determine what they want, how much they’re willing to buy or sell of a given product or service, and allow them to decide among themselves where they wish to work, how many hours they wish to work, or how many jobs they’re willing to do to attain the things they want from life.
Under such circumstances, I suspect that many businesses will want to make things, provide services, and sell people stuff, and here’s the amazing part, they’ll hire people to do this – just a guess.
France regularly has an unemployment rate that is twice that of the U.S. (and the U.S. rate is probably overstated to begin with). I don’t know about France’s methods of tabulating such statistics but in America, a recently graduated college kid from a rich family is considered “unemployed” (and, "in poverty") when he or she loses a job and decides to go back-packing in South America for the summer. Although the allusion is always attempted, "unemployed" in the U.S. doesn't always equal "poor." It doesn't even necessarily mean that one wants to be employed. America also has a huge underground economy (bless them for waving their middle fingers at the state). I've worked with waitresses who vacationed regularly around the world. "On paper" they were among America's "poor."
An influx of immigrants is sometimes held up as a reason for French unemployment – a lame and phony excuse. America is obviously no stranger to the concept of immigration (yes, people are still dying to become citizens of the evil hegemon with its "vast inequalities").
French unemployment is not somehow more tolerable than the American variety -- another weak claim -- because “America lacks a safety net.” America’s “safety nets” are every bit as pervasive, cumbersome, inefficient, and constricting as anything the Euro-elite can impose one their citizens. The leftist media campaigning along with philosophical trash bins like Michael Moore have successfully convinced many Europeans that Americans have no unemployment insurance and no social programs when in fact billions are spent annually by federal, state, and local governments on such contrivances.
The problem of so significant a discrepancy between France and American’s unemployment conditions can be attributed somewhat to less regulation and micro-management in America. Union’s hind ends are kissed considerably less also, which means that the dreaded businessman can often stay in business and maintain a staff of – employed – employees. I think another issue -- one that doesn’t fit so well into economic theories -- is the fact that Americans in general just aren’t good at obeying stupid rules.
Any self-respecting and ambitious businessperson or worker in America will find whatever loophole is necessary to extricate themselves from the pathetic roadblocks of state. Whether rich, poor, or in transit between classes, we want to pretty much do what we want. If some pathetic politician and team of bureau-leeches commanded that we only work 35 hours a week or less, many of us would laugh and find a way to continue pursuing the goals we sought -- and work the jobs and hours needed to attain them.
A government can’t “create” jobs, they happen as a natural product of free people’s interactions. Oh, you can occasionally demand that a bridge or road be built in some politician’s district, hire a few people to do it and say you “created jobs.” The problem is, you created something the market (free people) didn’t really ask for, and the taxed money ultimately spent is something that would have been spent elsewhere, on what individuals had actually freely chosen, if indeed allowed to choose -- always a more productive and honest state of affairs.
I've read that Mr. Villepin writes good poetry. I have no doubt he probably appreciates fine wine as well. He possesses a noted dashing refinement of manner, but, can he "create" jobs? Perhaps he can begin by sitting in a cafe' and writing a poem?
Dominique de Villepin (ya gotta love that name) of France will continue the well-worn submissions to his country’s diverse begging factions, at the expense of common sense and prosperity. He and many of his countrymen will continue to look on in puzzlement at the American economic engine and the prosperous middle-class society it has produced. On his own turf, he’ll continue a “war” on unemployment, a peace with bureaucrats and "safety nets" and…an unemployment rate typically double that of the U.S.
Will these guys ever get a clue? My guess is, no.
Addendum
I need to clarify some points -- following my usual sarcasm -- regarding the French in general (as opposed to the dominant leftists among them). I actually like France, and I've met more than a few really nice people from there. French Art, Music, and Literature has offered lavish enrichment to the West's and the world's cultural heritage.
At some point in the past (I'd start with Rousseau and his Jacobin spawn) many French citizens began to buy into the socialist worldview, and where has it got them beyond a Reign of Terror that has symbolically, in some form, lasted to this day?
Socialism and Islam are about to devour the land of Victor Hugo, Debussy, and Monet. Some think the solution is to complain about McDonald's, Hollywood, and the removing of an Iraqi dictator.
France needs to learn who their real friends are -- in spite of those friends’s taste for fast food, action films, and the spreading of democracy in the Middle East.
...Oh yes, as cultural icons, Louis Pasteur and Gabriel Faure' beat Sartre and Derrida hands down.
