The French are so clever but ...

In English, the word 'clever' is not quite a compliment in the way that, say, 'intelligent' is.  One can understand and even sympathise with the determination of France after WWII to cuddle the Germans into an all-embracing hug given that the Germans had spent the first half of the 20th century ripping the guts out of France.  In such circumstances the words "Never Again!" have an understandable resonance.  Of course, in retrospect, the French might have done better to cuddle the Americans, or even the detested rosbifs, but that was never going to happen under the haughty rule of Gen. de Gaulle.  In addition, of course, the French are always in thrall to their intellectual class and a whole coterie of them had swallowed the 'New United Europe' dream whole.

The problem with dreams, however, is that eventually you wake up, and you do so to a harsh reality.  Thus it is with France today - according to A E-P in The Telegraph.  According to him, whole swathes of French society, from the Left to the Right, are beginning to see the truth behind the words of the late, laconic Nicholas Ridley, "This is all a German racket designed to take over the whole of Europe."  This "racket" might have worked if the philosophy and policies of the late, great Ludwig Erhard had been continued but, like all human efforts, eventually the 'little people' destroyed them.  Today, in keeping with German tradition, the country - and therefore Europe - is led by a loony, in this case, a madwoman rather than a madman.

In France, according to A E-P, the truth is slowly dawning but alas it is giving licence to even greater lunacies which will lead - well, who knows where?  The Hungarian dwarf, Sarkozy, has suddenly been reborn as an extreme Rightist in the hope, presumably, of thwarting Mde. Marine le Pen whose far Right party has recently made great gains.  On the Left, some new Leftie called Arnaud Montebourg wants to rebel against most European edicts but just short of Frexit, much as the Poles and the Hungarians are doing.  In other words, do what they want to do and ignore the rest.

Hitherto, I have been relying on Italy to bring down this delusional house of cards because they are, to all intents and purposes, broke!  However, given that the French are holding elections next year, who knows?

Comments

[Whitewall]

The Italians are so broke they can't pay attention! An ItalExit...sorry, best I can come up with, would be abject chaos. Britain can pull off a bit of chaos and look good doing it. With Italy, watch 'dem banks.

[TheBigHenry]

Ah, the Fwench. What a bunch of ingrates they are.

After rescuing them from the Nazis, and subsequently granting them (along with the rest of Western Europe) the Marshall Plan, arguably the greatest bit of largesse in history, they chose a pompous prick like de Gaulle to flatter themselves as the vainglorious Fifth Republic.

[JK]

Careful there TheBigHenry. Our David's abit tetchy where the Plan is concerned. Something about interest payments, food parcels, and Piers Morgan.

[David Duff]

No, JK, I am not "tetchy" about the plan, I am only keen to point out that everything the cousins 'gave' us had to be paid back and with a substantial 'vig' as well!

[TheBigHenry]

Well, I was not privy to the details of the Plan arrangements and agreements. Nevertheless, am I right in assuming this loan was not forced upon Britain? At the time of the Marshall Plan, the United States was not exactly overflowing with ready cash either (other than an army of printers working overtime).

[AussieD]

The phrase "Never Again" is attributed to the Jewish Defence League and arises from the resolve never to again allow a repeat of the holocaust. I doubt the French now have the resolve of the Israelis to live up to such a motto.

[TheBigHenry]

AussieD,

You are correct in your attribution for "Never Again". It is also the resolve of Israeli Jews (and other Jews, such as myself, who survived the Holocaust and who support Israel's resolve). If I end up being marched to the gas chambers, I will find a way to take some motherfuckers with me.

[David Duff]

Henry, I confess my lack of detailed knowledge concerning the Marshall Plan which I may be confusing with direct loans and sale of war materials to Britain during the war which had to be paid for. Nothing wrong in that but it is frequently forgotten by many of the 'cousins'. In fact, I seem to recall that the final repayment of American war loans was made only a year or so ago.

Also, it is interesting that the likes of Erhard and other 'Austrian School' economists were very critical of the Marshall Plan which they maintained only led to more state control.

A complex subject and I must try and dig deeper.

[AussieD]

TBH it would seem we share a faith.

Kol tuv

[TheBigHenry]

AussieD,

All the best to you, too.

[TheBigHenry]

David,

I am by no means an expert on the very complex economic characteristics of the Marshall Plan, which BTW was enacted after WWII ended (in 1948), so it was not part of any "direct loans and sale of war materials to Britain during the war which had to be paid for." As Wikipedia describes it, the Plan was "an American initiative to aid Western Europe, in which the United States gave over $12 billion (approximately $120 billion in current dollar value as of June 2016) in economic support to help rebuild Western European economies after the end of World War II."

I was a 6-year-old refugee, living with my parents in various Displaced Persons Camps of the American Occupation Zone in West Germany at the time of the Plan's enactment (1948). We were waiting our turn to emigrate to the United States, which blessed event occurred in 1949. As you can surmise, I hold a very favorable opinion of the United States (we became naturalized citizens in 1955). America is a nation of good guys, as opposed to some nations of swine, such as Nazi Germany.

[David Duff]

Don't tell me I have a Jewish cabal forming on this blog - mein Gott, what will the Fuehrer say?!

[TheBigHenry]

David,

Stalin's minions brought Hitler's jawbone to the Kremlin, where it remained in Stalin's trophy case. I doubt the Fuehrer will be saying anything at this point in time.

And we are not a cabal -- just a couple of guys enjoying the chitchat at Duff & Nonsense.