Is France serious?

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What do you expect from a bunch of retreating coward frogs?

Oct 19 2010 10:46AM

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je_mapelle

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Pro

france is ALWAYS serious

Oct 19 2010 10:47AM

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fujarome

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Crazy Fool

[gasp!] you mean other country's workers arent the same as the US?

you do also realize that it's common practice in france to close for an hour everyday for lunch, right?

They get their shit done, they just don't do it in the same manners as the US. Most europeans believe americans work far too much anyway.

Oct 19 2010 11:37AM

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StevenR

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Insane

A lot of countries are like that. I wish we had a similar way of doing things in the states but oh well.

Oct 19 2010 11:44AM

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Most people in many parts of the world think Americans work too much

thats why there is a growing push towards a 4 day work week in america...but who knows what that will mean for productivity

it certainly would help lower stress levels tho..

Oct 19 2010 11:44AM

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skiierman

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@th1337

fuck that, it'll never happen. if we are going to dump billions into kicking other countries' asses then we need to keep all that government money going towards that and not helping some pussy try to get an extra day off to complain about how "hard" they work. go to college, win the lottery or shut the fuck up.

Oct 19 2010 11:55AM

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Ridiculous

I do realize that we have one of the worst employment systems in world, that's something that no one can over look. I am in no way saying that they should do things are way but is 2 years really that much of a killer for them? I am going to work until i'm 70 at this point in order to retire with some sort of nest-egg and be out of my 100K of student debt.

We are over worked, under paid and raped of benefits left and right as our economy continues to falter even though we are "out of the recession" as of last June. BTW I don't know if you have worked in a corporate setting but most companies are also closed from 12-1 or 1-2 for lunch, or employees get a choice/optioned for either one. I personally take a lunch from 12-1 but half the time I work through it, but that's besides the point.

Oct 19 2010 11:55AM

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fillup

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Their lifestyle is totally different. "Oh they are so whiny, cant wait 2 years" fucking ignorance.

Oct 19 2010 11:55AM

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Ridiculous

Agreed, America will never go to a 4 day work week. Companies will never pay employees to take a day off, most of them don't even pay sick days or holidays after 20 days.

If you want to work a 4 day week then drop out of high school now, go down to your favorite fast food joint and fill out an application and sit back and wait for those $200 checks...booyah baby.

Oct 19 2010 11:59AM

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I agree we don't need people bitching about working too much..but a 4 day work week is not really extra time off..it just means you work 4x10hrs instead of the typical 5x8 hrs...same amount of time just allocated differently

Oct 19 2010 12:06PM

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Crazy Fool

LOL @ socialism

LOL @ french pussies

LOL @ government labor unions

you should read more, there is worry that the whole country will pretty much shut down. no fuel at the gas stations, everything.

Oct 19 2010 12:13PM

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COskier

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Insane

Somebody sort of already said this but tell Americans that you are only going to pay part of Social Security benefits and see how stoked people are.

Oct 19 2010 12:34PM

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Rosbif

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I say go the Frenchies, they (and the companies that employ them) pay an insane amount of taxes/social security contributions. Just because other countries work differently, it doesn't mean they should have to lower their quality of life if they don't want to. That said, the piles of rubbish growing in Marseilles do look pretty nasty.

Oct 19 2010 12:41PM

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Crazy Fool

this already the case, no one cares, we just get high on drugs or fast food and forget about it

Oct 19 2010 12:42PM

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neutralzombie

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the over worked has nothing to do with working 5 days a week at 8hrs. it's about unpaid over time, something a lot of unions are doing. i know we're canadian, but when my mom works over time, she gets paid in days off not money. but it got to a point last year, where they owed her 3 weeks off and she had no time to take it because it would compromise her work load. on top of not getting paid over time, a lot less american and canadian companies give benefits. there's not a lot of perks in jobs these days, and it's hard to find lenience.

i heard toronto wanted to increase their weeks to 50 or 60 hours a week. that's ridiculous.

a lot of people who work in corporate settings, also don't always get their hour of lunch off, and end up working over time as well. so imagine, you're not paid for your lunch hour, and you work two extra hours at night that you're not paid for, because you're on an annual salary contract. add a boss who doesn't think you have the right to complain, then you have a problem. what i was taught in school about certain industries, is that sometimes, they simply don't care, and they're going to exploit you. but so good on france and companies or even people who still won't back down from their principals. you have a right to your time off.

Oct 19 2010 12:48PM

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KLovelace

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don't whine cause you are jealous.

besides.. it is the french way to protest. they are in constant need of a reason to blow things up

Oct 19 2010 12:49PM

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Crazy Fool

does anyone else think Atlas Shrugged is happening right before our very eyes?

Oct 19 2010 12:52PM

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tjski

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if this was facebook i would like this post. so thumbs up

Oct 19 2010 12:52PM

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Ridiculous

i just happened to see the story in our lobby on my way into work but I've been on news sites all day checking out the bull shit that has been happening and it makes me think that the French might know how to riot, and it's impressive. If only they could work on their compelling urge to surrender at a whim.....

Oct 19 2010 12:56PM

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Ridiculous

hahaha well only if it means they are angry at their own country....god forbid another nation pisses them off and they just curl up in a ball and tell them to stop it or they'll tattle on them to the UN.

Oct 19 2010 1:01PM

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bakedpow

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dude that is just what the french do.

Oct 19 2010 1:03PM

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TijmenDal

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This is pretty much the first and only time I do agree with Sarkozy...

Oct 19 2010 1:09PM

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bakedpow

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coming from someone whose grandmother and mother were both born and raised in France i think that the french are stuck in their ways and don't like to get out of them EVER

Oct 19 2010 1:18PM

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Mr.Panda

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That is all.

Oct 19 2010 1:25PM

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MitchPee

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Unfortunately you can't lol at any of these without loling at our own system. You can lol at France's drastic reaches in domestic markets which has indeed hampered their ability to export. That is one of the huge drawbacks of their system. You can also laugh at Sarcozy's incompetence on economical and social issues.

The problem is mostly cultural for France. This is just a recent surface tension. The truth is that country has a lot of social problems it needs to fix. Ie overt racism against blacks and muslims still existing within it's citizenry.

Regardless of right or wrong justified or not, they recognize their benefits are being cut. We as Americans don't. Instead of a government dictating it, the system does. Basically after our most prosperous period (60's 70's) We had to get more fierce to match global competition. Thus, profit became the most wildly sought after indicator of a company on the stock market. This is where the cutthroat Gordon Gecko's began running companies. No longer did a CEO know his employees and know that Mrs. Johnson was having a kid and to cut health benefits would ruin her life. After we cut benefits, a few months go by and when the company is strapped for cash a downgrade in health benefits seems correct (this doesn't go for all, just most). Insurance companies offer more of a premium and less of coverage and ultimately grow right along side. All this growth contributes where? Well in a free market system it is supposed to be re invested and help the butcher help the people. Yet since that time we have seen a decline in the real wage, income disparity, and overall middle class America. Wages don't match the ever increasing inflation.

So who feels these effects? What it all boils down to is a disproportion of worldwide wealth. This wealth is being dragged out of the US in forms of capital mostly. Although I use capital loosely, because it is an extremely simplistic world for an extremely complicated system of expired labor. It is causing a drastic reduction in lifestyle that we replace with bubbles and debt. That's the reason we have an all time high personal debt.

So unless you are a high end bureaucrat, CEO, high end fortune 500 manager, or just plain lucky YOU are paying the most for the misallocated bailouts, uneducated investments, lack of benefits, etc

Oct 19 2010 1:30PM

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pomme-de-terre

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i almost logged in as my alias to say this, but i sorta agree with jenifa here.

this will probably never happen again.

Oct 19 2010 1:31PM

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dbstar

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Maybe people in France don't want to become like Americans who for some very strange reason still think they, and their economic system, is the envy of every country in the world, which of course it isn't, in fact I would say that you Americans are close to being the laughing stock of the world in issues ranging from their economy to creationist vice presidential candidates, to tea party activists, disgusting amounts of fat people, qu'ran burning rednecks, anti mexican laws, gun toting second amendment douchebags telling muslims they cant build a community center, anti gay congressmen... well i could do this for hours. Before americans go and criticize everything in the world, like they so often do, i recommend they sort out their own problems which amount to it being one of the most dysfunctional countries in the world.

Oct 19 2010 1:33PM

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Crazy Fool

"4k out of 13k gas stations in need of re-supply"

-CNN

Oct 19 2010 1:44PM

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Ridiculous

Well I was reading along hoping you were form Europe and I could agree to disagree with you but then I read you are in fact from Quebec.....and then I thought of this picture and stopped reading your post that you definitely managed to put together by jumping onto the anti-american bandwagon that much of Canada is a part of. Truth is, your country relies on the US just as much as any other developed, modern nation; and we have our dependencies on you at times as well. Please, hush.

Oct 19 2010 1:48PM

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exile_ch

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Ridiculous

this is so true.

Oct 19 2010 1:50PM

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Gnarshred

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This thread makes me depressed.

Oct 19 2010 1:54PM

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I agree with most of what you said and the position your mom is in happens to a lot of people especially when companies put caps on the amount of days off/vacation time you can acrrue..youre either forced to take the day off (which like you said can be impossible with a heavy work load) or you lose those days entirely...wicked shitty choice

but youre wrong about the overworked having nothing to do with 5 day work weeks

when you factor in commuting time/waking up early/time taken away from family and personal issue all because you need to put in a 5day 8 hr instead of a 4day 10hr work week it definitely adds to the feeling of being over worked

Oct 19 2010 2:02PM

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toe_drag

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Lame

ppl need to stop posting this picture. its fucking stupid.

Oct 19 2010 2:08PM

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@th1337

The fear is based on a slipping slope situation... they fear that this year its 62... next time around its 65... then 70... then its gone.

When all is said and done though... France will be just fine no matter what, and still in a good economic position.

Whats the big deal anyway? Least they are bitching over something with serious merit... people in the USA are so bored that they make shit up to complain about... ZOMG THE PRESIDENT IS A BLACK HUSSAIN OSAMA MUSLIM! he wants to give us all OBAMACARE like HITLER AND STALIN! and TAKE AWAY OUR GUNS AND BIBLES AND FREEDOM!

Least France isn't full of a bunch of silly bitches...

Oct 19 2010 2:12PM

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Mr.Panda

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Whine more you fucking bitch.

Oct 19 2010 2:14PM

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@th1337

not to mention... most companies dont want to keep people onboard, and would rather force them into retirement than pay them for their experience. They'd rather deal with some young jackass who thinks he knows everything.

age discrimination is ricockulous these days...

Oct 19 2010 2:16PM

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toe_drag

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Lame

wow you're acting so tough all of a sudden, im scared

Oct 19 2010 2:20PM

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Crazy Fool

aaaaannnnnnd the riots in the streets, partial shut down of an economy, and general lawlessness are all happening where?

besides, your slippery slope argument gives everyone in america just cause to riot as well. Obama care turning into what? the constitution being shat on turning into what?

Oct 19 2010 2:21PM

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Crazy Fool

who cares, if you have to rely on a government regulated social retirement program I hope you work till you're dead.

Oct 19 2010 2:26PM

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Crazy Fool

WIN

Oct 19 2010 2:27PM

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Mike-O

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What are you implying with this? That everyone should just save save save up until retirement instead of having a retirement plan?

Oct 19 2010 2:30PM

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Crazy Fool

instead of? that is the retirement plan

Oct 19 2010 2:31PM

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StevenR

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Insane

This. to reiterate, saving up IS a retirement plan...

Oct 19 2010 2:33PM

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Crazy Fool

I think where he may be going is. Government workers, much like many private sector workers. should have defined contribution plans. not defined benefits packages.

IE govt matches 401k contributions. etc etc.

NOT give workers pensions for life.

Oct 19 2010 2:33PM

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Mike-O

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Shitload of companies here hire you, and then on the last day of the trial period (4 months) they give you the sack. No explanations needed during trial, and then another hook, line and sinker to go.

Oct 19 2010 2:33PM

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@th1337

I know it may seem a little bizarre to the average American, but Riots are how shit gets DONE in France. Protests and strikes, and flipping cars over like a 3 year old, throwing tempers and making the news are how you tell the 5th republic what the fuck you think about their policies. It's the culture. It's weird as fuck to us, but this shit happens over there... and in today's media driven culture, its being covered much closer than riots over there have been covered in the past. (Just like how people always expect there to be Riots in Oakland and South Central LA when shit goes south... but there never really are... they just say there are...)

And we DO have all the cause to riot over here... our government is full of a bunch of wankers who want to screw everyone else over for their general benefit, or for their big business friends who helped get them elected's benefit, or sometimes even just their party's benefit... People dont care about the general populace when they have power in this country... they put it on in a plastic interview on meet the press... but overall, most people in power just treat it as a dog eat dog world, and fuck everyone else over. Thats how we get shit done here... or dont get shit done I suppose.

If you ask me... France isn't the one full of pussies... we are... because there are plenty of things we could be rioting about in this country... (ahem... like the banks screwing us out of all our money, and homes, and then refusing to loan any of it out) but we don't... because nobody wants to be the one to say 'I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore - FOOD FIGHT!!!"

Oct 19 2010 2:36PM

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Crazy Fool

no, it's not limited to government employees, everyone pays into social security. Because most of the population is too stupid to plan for the future the government forces us to use their retirement program. I would like to invest my SS money in another way, but I cannot because of the safety net for those who cannot control their spending.

Oct 19 2010 2:36PM

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@th1337

Lol. If you don't have one to rely on you WILL work till you're dead.

Oct 19 2010 2:38PM

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Mike-O

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Okay, well we have contribution plans at least. From the age of 20 upwards, a certain percentage of your earnings up to 63 years when you retire is calculated as your monthly pension. It is government regulated, but mostly handled by private pension investment companies.

On top of that, many start up a retirement savings account. I really don't know what to do myself, I don't think I'll need crazy amounts of cash when I'm over 60.

Oct 19 2010 2:39PM

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