12-18-2016, 11:55 AM
What I find ironic and kind of funny here in France is this pervasive notion that the complacency of the French in general bred by their welfare state is just part of French life and the way the culture 'just is', and it's frankly not entirely true. France only became that way due to Mitterand who became president in, alas, 1981, following the Trente Glorieuses. So many of the social stagnation issues plaguing French society today find their origin in Mitterand's presidency I think.