So that's why they are such assholes!
France was the economic juggernaut of Europe (read the world) during the time preceding King Louis XIV. Until around 1800 France was the most populous country in all of Europe, they were accustomed to a lifestyle filled with what at the time were considered luxuries. This meant France, who had a dearth of natural resources, was forced to import much of the raw materials. In pre-colonial era that meant importing a lot. Since France also maintained much of Europe’s largest banking institutions they were aware of the toll their deficit spending was taking on their economy. So the King’s economic advisor ordered that the economy would be a national priority, industry would be developed to free France of the burden of imports and make the economic leader of the world. This decree established an economic policy that would span 300 years, one that continues to drive France’s foreign and domestic policies today.
Due to a lack of natural resources this led France to begin expanding by colonizing much of Africa. 125 years later, 40 years after the last of the colonies were “freed”; France continues to pillage African natural resources. Supporting the faction that promises them the most spoils for their effort. The French Foreign Legion is alive and well and supporting “freedom fighters” or fighting “rebels” depending on the value of that government’s trade agreement.
Other modern events have pitted France against the US solely based upon money. France opposed the Iraq war because they had agreements for TOTAL, the state run oil company, to expand and modernize some of Iraq’s oil production facilities. In the meantime they were happy to be one of the largest purchaser of legal Iraqi oil through the Food-For-Oil program, a/k/a the Koffi Annan retirement fund, while at the same time purchasing illegal embargoed oil through Syria.
Since the 1960’s France has engaged in state supported industrial espionage. The DGSE, France’s secret service, has a department called Service Seven, which is their industrial espionage branch. France claims to be laissez faire when it comes to business but they are most definitely not. The information collected by the DGSE is shared not only among the fully or partially state owned corporations but also with other key privately owned industries.
France, of course, was the driving force behind the European Economic Union. The reasons behind it, trade between member states, traveling though Europe without visas and border stops, common currency, and others based around the premise it was designed to create increased trade. The truth is the EU was formed behind France and Germany to create an “economy” that surpassed the US. France, a country slightly smaller than Texas, has an obsession with being superior to the US and having a larger economy. So against the common good of the Union they allowed the last group of impoverished eastern European countries to join, although (besides Poland) they have nothing to offer the rest of the EU. Except of course the population needed to surpass the US and the GDPs that when added to the rest of the EU surpass the US. (Added benefit: they are so poor and have such high unemployment rates it takes the heat off France where the average income is shrinking due to resorting to 35 hour work weeks in order to create jobs to obscure the 10.5% unemployment rate.
“Why,” I can hear you asking yourselves, “do you hate France so much?”
I don’t hate France. As a matter of fact, once you understand that every decision made by France has to do with their economy it puts their irrational jealousy of the US and 125 years of atrocities in Africa into perspective.
Take for example the 2003 heat wave. 15,000 deaths were officially attached to the heat wave (another 10,000 deaths were termed “incidental” and not related). Some people would be outraged that 25,000 people perished, almost exclusively the elderly, with many of those deaths occurring in hospitals and nursing homes. But think about it, that is 25,000 fewer pensions the cash-strapped government has to pay, and 25,000 of those most likely to need public medicine around to use it. When you look at it in those terms the loss of a mere one-tenth of a percent of the population resulted in an economic windfall, with the added bonus that since most of the deaths were pensioners who weren’t earning wages the average income of the country went up with each death.
Viva le France!
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