The Chiselers Are Rewarded

This is an excerpt from the 3/22/2010 Agora Financial Daily Reckoning.  The story is from a foreign country but it does not bode well for us here in our country as I see us falling into this same mess.


A4Driver

"I couldn't believe it. I've worked hard all my life. I didn't have a choice. But also I thought it was the right thing to do. I can't imagine not working..."

On Saturday, Damien had come up to help your editor cut down some trees in Normandy. From sun-up to sundown we revved up the chainsaws and watched the wood chips fly. Damien never saw a tree he didn't want to cut down and never stops to take a break. But at lunchtime he gave us a report from the family farm in Poitou, France.

"You know Jerome...that young guy who rents the apartment from you down on the farm. Well, I saw him with his girlfriend the other day. And his girlfriend is very pregnant. I think she's going to have a baby pretty soon.

"So, I said to Jerome... 'I guess you'll have to find another job...now that you have a wife and a family to support.' You know, he works only half time at the riding center. And he's just a laborer. He doesn't really have any training or a career. So he doesn't earn very much. Still, he's a young guy and I figured he'd have to get serious now. But do you know what he said?

"He said he didn't want to work any more than he does now. Because now that his girlfriend is having a baby they can live off the government. As an unmarried, single mother, she'll be entitled to as much as 1,400 euros per month. And they'll get a subsidy for an apartment, too. And, of course, they get other subsides for this and for that.

"They're going to end up getting as much as I get working 10 hours a day for the last 35 years. I started working when I was 15. I've been working ever since.

"But these young people have a whole different idea. They're taking advantage of us all. They see nothing strange or unnatural about living off of government aid. They think they have a right to it..."

Saturday night, we had a drink with a friend. He put Damien's comments in perspective:

"We're f**ked. Between the people on the bottom living at our expense...and the bankers and politicians ripping us off at the top...there's no way this is going to turn out well. Here in France, you can divide the population into three parts. One third works hard and earns money. Another third is on the government payroll...mostly trying to prevent people from earning money...or stealing it from them once they do. And the other third are on welfare. But the balance is getting worse and worse. People come here from Africa... They get right on the welfare rolls...and begin having babies. That's been going on in the [welfare projects around Paris] for a long time. And now, it's even going on in the countryside... The French themselves have gotten the idea that they can live without working too.

"Of course, we can't afford to support all these people, so the government borrows more and more money so more and more people can be supported by the government. Which means, there are fewer people left working.

"And if you've got a business, you sure don't want to hire anyone anyway... Because they'll take advantage of you. They don't work. So you fire them. And they drag you to court...charging you with unlawful dismissal. Of course they win the case...because the courts are made up of socialist labor activists. Who else would want to serve on a labor tribunal?

"The system rewards the chiselers. So what do we get? More and more chiselers."