Quote of the Day: On the French Demonstrations

In a nutshell?  Here it is:

The French have the habit of deploying the revolutionary gesture in the service of the reactionary cause of stopping change.

The latest round of strikes and social unrest in the face of even modest attempts at reforming an utterly unsustainable system is all of a piece.  Nothing makes people more selfish than socialism in the style of the French and the Greeks, or more cavalierly callous about the future, or more inflexible and unable to deal with a changing world.  What I always find bemusing is the spectacle of university students out there protesting the idea of retiring at 62 instead of 60.  I mean, seriously? These "kids" haven't even really entered the labor market yet.  But by golly they want the guarantee of a cushy retirement.