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历史上的富兰克林热潮

The courtiers at Versailles loved Franklin because he was a pseud, like they were,

they dressed up as shepherdesses, he dressed up as a fur trapper.

When Benjamin Franklin arrived in France, he was an absolute celebrity.

There was a real sort of frenzy, really, a Franklin-mania almost,

as everybody wants to be seen with the great man. The war may have been successful,

but it was costing more every year that it dragged on. Finance Minister Necker had already

borrowed up to the hilt, and was now struggling to get a grip on royal spending.

War is increasingly expensive and the French political system

is not set up to impose taxes on the people who are best able to pay them.

So the fundamental problem of the French state is, " How do you tax the rich? "

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