It's not "damaging" to France to say that the country is run by dishonest incompetents. France is a wonderful, beautiful country - any visitor can see that it in a few hours. But if a government is lowering people's incomes and increasing unemployment, we have a right as rational people to say as much as we can about it.
How is 'socialist' used in meaningless ways? Socialist in 2012 means someone who believes that wealth should be distributed from wealth-creators to the public sector, with the result that the country as whole grows more slowly than it should. Maybe you are thinking about what "socialism" originally meant, or what it "should" mean. Socialism has been defined by history.
I don't want to have a political discussion on HN. But the original claim that France is "one of the most socialist country of the planet" is ridiculous (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism)
There are problems in France (As there are in other countries). But just saying it's because France is socialist will not help to solve them.
