Objective gaze on the strengths of the country

Enough of pessimism! Enough of decline! Enough national gloom! The time has come for the optimistic burst. Objective gaze on the strengths of the country. Of the project. Confidence. Jean-Hervé Lorenzi, the founder and President of the circle of economists, just write a book which trumpeted this burst as it has developed an Internet Tousoptimistes site. His approach to meeting other (1). A time of pessimism rises in France. Lorenzi summarizes: "Eloignons programmed this inevitable that it would be impossible in subtract us the fate of failure."

For a columnist whose recent editions was titrated "The poor state of the France" (2), the offensive is disturbing. Try to do both things.

Optimists are right to point out that the France retains substantial assets. Jean-Hervé Lorenzi list several. The first birth which calls into question, in the heart and stomach, the décliniste speech. Despite the financial crisis, births continue to grow. Fertility indicator reached 2.00 children per woman, a level never reached since the end of the baby boom, more than thirty-five years ago. Then, "a thirst for knowledge" coupled with "a thirst for work". "The taste of the work is real but it hides behind ideological screen, a myth, that is to say that the France is a country of assisted." The simple truth is a "straitjacket Labour Code" that discourages. Immigration "requires us to question our model of society, but" that reactivates the values to which we believe Leisure taste very developed by our RTT but in which it "an appetite for happiness, harmonising professional life, family life and sharing", autonomy and collective commitment. The French say as subjects of a "life style" which is their own. The desire for social justice, finally, which remains a value very shared. This is undeniable very positive aspects of the French exception.

If add one fundamental argument of another type: generational. The décliniste speech is required, said the optimist, by a generation of 60s which trustent positions and titles and not cede nothing on the pretext that after them come the end of the France, the end of the culture, the end of Europe, the end of the values and the end of the beans. They handle against the world as it comes in a defensive reflex of conservative justification. The pessimistic speech autoconsolident around "a France inactive, sclerotic and outdated" and prohibit the emergence of "a France active, young and innovative." They break "confidence" in the egg. For "believe" the France have the inverse of optimism on a project. "Edges" are: social cohesion, a single contract, a very lean labour taxation, an investment of 150 billion euros in the growth sectors of jobs and the return of the taste of the risk.

At the end of the book, it adheres to the thesis. Yes, the depressed France must give the stub at the bottom of the pool which the will go back to the open air. This heel is first psychological, it must come from the speech of the elites. But is it so easy The President of the circle of economists does not, strangely but voluntarily, the macroeconomic reasons (competitiveness, deficits) the concern of the pessimists. There is much to say because the fundamentals of the France are alarming. But remain in the field of mentalities chosen by the author.

The idea of the book is that the French model is not threatened except by the loss of faith in him. This is all played, because it is true in depth: the France will remain a country of social justice strong. But what is demolished by globalization, are tools of backup of this model. Solidarity is killed by a dual market of labour with the in and the out (the young). Republican elitism is killed by a school in failure. Innovation is killed by the egalitarianism of the researchers. The middle class is killed by atrophy of the industry. The renewed confidence in the future through the urgent renovation and complete these tools of the welfare state. The distraught condition of the French comes from confusion between the goal and the means. It is maintained by the speeches of clerics but by those, obscure and hypocritical, policies.