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Is France Really Necessary? John L. PerrySpeaking globally – even intra-continentally – does Luxembourg, Gabon, Bangladesh or Paraguay amount to a hill of beans? To be quite honest, neither does France, not anymore. To pick a few countries at random off the atlas, none of those five has an army that presents a threat to anyone, except possibly itself. Nor could any of their armies or air forces seriously defend against aggression upon their own boundaries, let alone their neighbors' territory. No one gives their navies, those that have one, a second thought. Story Continues Below So, they all depend on some other country or alliance of countries to save their bacon. Economically, they are all fortunate if they can manage to feed and clothe their own populations, and that's about it. The economies of some, like those of Gabon and Bangladesh, never did take off. That of France is steadfastly heading its socialist way down the toilette. Name One Loyal natives may demur, but what truly great cultural, scientific or philosophical monuments are attached in the world public's mind to any of them? Ah, ha! you say. There's France. Yes, there is France. Or, rather, there was France. At one time in its history it did make substantive contributions to world civilization. That was then. This is now – and it's been now for more than half a century. Be candid. When since before World War I has France produced a cotton-pickin' thing worth writing home about? And don't say Concorde or Airbus, because those magnificent aircraft were not exclusive French accomplishments. Name one nation on Earth that has quaked in its boots lately when confronted with French military might. For decades after decades, when was the last time anyone – outside the United Nations dovecote – took the French seriously about anything they said or did? Care to Move There? No, a country doesn't have to be a serious player on the world stage to be a lovely place to live and work and play and raise a family. Of the five aforementioned, Luxembourg is probably the only one to qualify in that regard. Anyone reading this want seriously to remove the family lock, stock and mortgage to France, with its soaring unemployment, eye-popping taxation, gathering inflation, scary socialized medicine and rampaging immigration? The oxymoron known as the European Union, with or without its own printed money, was France's last faint hope of being taken seriously. And now its own citizens, along with the Dutch, have horse-laughed the hysterically comical EU constitution off the stage. Where is France with its pompous, arrogant, Marxist "leaders" going to find a parade ground in which to strut now? There's no compelling reason for France, as a sovereign nation, to be sticking around any longer. Its politicians have made careers out of advocating the surrender of sovereignty, so that shouldn't bother them much. Any Takers? Maybe France's neighbors would agree to take in bits and pieces of what France has become, sort of like making a place on the back porch for the homeless. That's not likely, considering how the French have made an art out of sneering down their nose at the folks next door. No one is going to want to adopt France, and it will simply have to go on rotting on the grape vines. Put as kindly as possible, there's not much point to France anymore. It's simply no longer needed. Adieu, Kind Friends, Adieu So, it's all over for the French. It will take them at least another century, if then, to stumble back into polite society. The muddled masscomm of both the Old Europe and the New World have yet to tumble to what's happened with the France they have held up so haughtily to the bumpkin Americans as a model to emulate. When they get around to waking up, they'll blame it all on the United States of course. It won't be true, but wouldn't it be sweet if it were? John L. Perry, a prize-winning newspaper editor and writer who served on White House staffs of two presidents, is a regular columnist for NewsMax.com. Read John Perry's columns here.
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