More Anti-Gallic Bile

Predictably, The Australian editorial today ran the line that France is a country badly in need of neo-liberal 'reform'. The recent vote saw a large turn-out of voters, without about 84% casting a ballot, far more than the numbers at any recent American election.

Nonetheless, French-style democracy does not appear to be to The Australian's liking, for, despite the huge turn-out of voters:

What France needs is not just for voters to turn out at the polls, but to
recognise that the country's low economic growth and high unemployment are the
result of the governments they have chosen.

Comprendez? Although voters don't want US-style 'free' trade, and working conditions slaughtered at the altar of 'economic growth', their elected leaders should have what The Australian calls 'the courage' to impose these 'reforms' anyway.

Of course, Anti-French sentiment became prominent in the Anglophone media around the same time that the French government declared its reservations about the Iraq war. Hardly a coincidence. The likes of right-wing piss stain Mark Steyn (I won't link to him) regularly and eagerly prophesy a French apocalypse at the hands of Islamic hordes.

There is no doubt that France is a country with its share of problems. Still, compared to that bastion of democracy just north of Mexico, it does seem to have a few advantages, like quality of life, fairer distribution of resources, and better healthcare. Oh, and fewer shootings.