America and France

The French unions are on strike today - marching in all the large French cities against the gonvernment's new retirement law. The law moves retirement age from 60 to 67 in gradual steps over ten years. And, French workers will now have to pay into their form of social security for an extra year-and-a-half before being eligible for a full retirement.
I can hear you shouting "SIXTY !!!" - they must be mad. But, the French were given this cushy retirement plan in the 1980s by the only socialist president France has ever had, Francois Mitterrand. And, as we all know, once something is doled out by the government, it's very hard to take it away.
So, the French are out on the streets, as they love to be when the government does something they don't like. Most of the time, it results in a rollback of the new law or a compromise. Someone once said that France is the only country in the world where citizens strike first and negotiate later.
But, this time, it's Nicolas Sarkozy who's president. He was elected by the French, most of whom are still very conservative fiscally, to help pull the country out of its continuing economic decline. Now, Sarkozy is a tough cookie, if I may be so informal, and he's not about to change anything, because he believes, as do most experts, that if France doesn't change its national social security plan soon (as the rest of Europe is already doing), it'll be too late and the French will finish with no pension at all. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but you get the point.
That brings me to the mid-term American elections. Have you noticed the difference? Americans are not out in the streets, they are at election rallies and on TV. The average American is just as angry with his government as the French are, but in America it ends in political battles, not national walkouts.
The other difference is that this year Americans are asking the government to do less, not more. That would be a novel idea in France, where the government is expected to do everything. Just one example - Mr. Sarkozy has just announced that he's eliminating the Wedding Gift. You heard it right. Every French couple get a huge tax break in the year they marry to help them get settled. Can you imagine the uproar if President Obama suggested a Wedding Gift tax benefit for Americans?
So, we'll see what happens in November, but you can bet that Americans will vote, not strike, and they'll vote for less, not more, government. Maybe Americans aren't as stupid as the world likes to make them out to be.