I hope you do realise that life is so easy because we are always complaining and not in spite of it. Worker rights and social safety nets did not magically appear out of thin air.

Sure, but what we're seeing here is people complaining the other way: "We pay too much taxes", "there are too many regulations", &c.

This rings true to me, people complain they pay too much taxes, but then go on to rely widely on what the state provides and of course will cry in horror if anything is to be taken away. For instance (and I don't necessarily approve these policies, just stating recent examples) the 5 euro/month decrease in APL subsidy for students, or the cancellation of the CSG exemption for retirees.

Fair enough, in that sense yes I agree that a lot of people don't have a good understanding of the inner workings of their government.

I agree with some of that. But we can only live like that in the short term. We're currently China-sponsored: just look at the size of our debt! The 2021 budget is half funded by debt! One day will come when we'll have to make aggressive cuts in our way of life because France won't produce anything anymore.

A state does not work as a company or a home. It is a tad more complicated than that. First the debt is acquired at near 0% interest. Second, most of it is own to Europe not China. Finally, it will very probably be quietly defaulted in a few year and nobody will notice.

Isn't it the same for most countries though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_external_...