The degradation of French debt, revealing of decadence

The French debt is a major issue today. It is possible to say that the French has underestimated during years this issue and have figured out that it was not necessary to tackle this problem. It looks that this increasing debt reveals the fact that France today is in a very decadent stage. The state of the debt is in fact very worrying and it is the reason why it is necessary to have an insight of what it can bring.

First it is possible to say that the debt is revealing decades of increasing corruption. “Keynesian” approaches are usually calculated risks. On the contrary it is possible to say that the debt issue is very complicated to deal with today, as it results of decades of an cynical policies. It is the reflect, as the state of the school today, of the decadence we live in.

Building in the long run was more promoted by former politicians like de Gaulle who was talking about the “plan”. This vision was an idea to put in place long term plans and it is necessary to have this approach to build a society that is a long run building. However it looks that in France this approach is not present. Moreover it can be said that this debt issue is revealing of the society of decadence we live in. No focus on education which is falling apart, no ability or real intention to assure security. The fact other countries in the world will “assist” France to ensure the security of the Olympic Games is a terrible sign of the credibility we have towards the foreigners.

Those aspect reveal a lot the state France is living in. To this extend it is possible to say that our country is declining on many ways. For instance the rise of the extreme right in the European elections reveal very well how politicians are perceived. If no one should accept the rise of an extreme, the political elite doesn’t realize how it is perceived by the rest of the population. The contrast with countries like Germany, for instance, is absolutely revealing. That is the reason why it can be said that France has major issues to be concerned with to this extend.

Important reforms should be made, but the lack of will is most important that the lack of ability. It is difficult to trust politicians who tend to do clientelism for decades concerning debt. It was under the last “septennat” of François Mitterrand that this habit begun, and it amplified after, year after year. For instance the debt exploded during the 2008 crisis, when France created important measures to save banks. These policies were mostly not enough followed by relevant sanctions for the abuses made by these banks. Anyway it is possible to say that these cynical habits, which are creating a more and more declining situation, don’t look to go a better way.

It looks that, reading the “greatness and decadence of Romans” of Montesquieu, that the age of the Republicans, with a cult of hard work, austerity, contributed to make Rome a great empire. And decadence was more about prodigality, unsounded expenses… In the Modern times Protestantism restaured, to many extend, the cult of hard work as a priest, or the importance of education and knowledge. It looks from this viewpoint that our period in France is very decadent, and the promotion of mediocrity in many stages, from schools to the control of the debt, is not reassuring, on the contrary.