Nationwide French protest over right to retire at age 60

Quote from my7tvette:

Maybe we should revisit the Industrial Revolution era, where the masses were working 16 hour days/7 day a week for a subsistence wage...Oh damn, I guess we ARE heading back that way, thanks to globalization opening up labor markets around the world, where billions of people are more than happy to work twice as hard as we are, for a fraction of the $$.


Thats going to change in the next 20 years, right now these developing worlds that do produce goods are experiencing the industrial revolution that the US went through in the 18th and 19th century. Once their society comes to realization of how much better they can do for themselves you wont have billions of people in India and China producing sneakers for 25 cents a day or computers for a few dollars a week. This is going to change as their economies rapidly change over the next few decades.
 
Quote from Scataphagos:


Despite Capitalism's "unequal sharing of the wealth" (EARNED, of course)... IT STILL PROVIDES THE HIGHEST STANDARD OF LIVING FOR THE MOST PEOPLE... (bitching "it's not fair that somebody makes more than me" notwithstanding)..

You obviously did not get the memo. America's standard of living is not the top in the world. Additionally, you missed the follow-up memo that USA is not a capitalist state, it is a welfare state, and has been for decades. It is actually shifting toward corporate feudalism.

When USA was a capitalist state, it was not exactly pretty. Hate to break it to you, but capitalism at its core is just a pyramid scheme.
 
Quote from Scataphagos:

I beg to differ. In America, education can be accessed by EVERYONE who qualifies. That is, "everyone who makes the effort". We have lots of kids who either don't go to school or don't do their homework. Education is shoved in front of their faces, but they don't take advantage.

This is simply not true. Education that matters in USA, that is being college & grad school costs serious money. Prior to subsidized education it was actually inaccessible by those not privileged, unless they were selected for an academic or athletic scholarship.

Nowadays you have student loans, but the costs of college have shot through the roof to the point that even students that qualify cannot get enough government loans to cover their education. That is even if they qualify for government loans.

Regardless, the Ivy League system is where the top employers look for their top candidates and it is no secret that getting into Ivy League is far from a pure meritocracy. Even if you get in, paying for it is a whole other mountain to climb.
Now while socialist & communist establishments had & have their fair share of nepotism when it comes to being accepted into prestigious scholastic programs, aside from that small minority, it was a pure meritocracy from that point on. Staying in those programs was even harder, while in the US Ivy League system it would take a tremendous effort to actually not pass.
 
Quote from my7tvette:

Maybe we should revisit the Industrial Revolution era, where the masses were working 16 hour days/7 day a week for a subsistence wage...Oh damn, I guess we ARE heading back that way, thanks to globalization opening up labor markets around the world, where billions of people are more than happy to work twice as hard as we are, for a fraction of the $$.

Sounds like you're sarcastically saying this "tongue in cheek". Unfortunately, it's reality.... Globalization has HOSED "the American dream".

And... there ain't SHIT we an do about it... At least nothing which is constructive for the majority of Americans.

This "creating inflation by the Fed", and "debasing the $USD" is going HARM most Americans... all in order to make the GDP appear favorable and the Odumba Administration appear to have done something favorable... America needs to RID ITSELF OF ODUMBA... The sooner, the better.!!

:mad: :mad:
 
Quote from Hydroblunt:

This is simply not true. Education that matters in USA, that is being college & grad school costs serious money. Prior to subsidized education it was actually inaccessible by those not privileged, unless they were selected for an academic or athletic scholarship.

Nowadays you have student loans, but the costs of college have shot through the roof to the point that even students that qualify cannot get enough government loans to cover their education. That is even if they qualify for government loans.

Regardless, the Ivy League system is where the top employers look for their top candidates and it is no secret that getting into Ivy League is far from a pure meritocracy. Even if you get in, paying for it is a whole other mountain to climb.
Now while socialist & communist establishments had & have their fair share of nepotism when it comes to being accepted into prestigious scholastic programs, aside from that small minority, it was a pure meritocracy from that point on. Staying in those programs was even harder, while in the US Ivy League system it would take a tremendous effort to actually not pass.

expenses at harvard universityare very transparent and are waived for low income families.
http://milwaukeecourieronline.com/i...announcement-no-tuition-and-no-student-loans/
and do not exceed 10% for middle income families up to $180,000 of income.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/11/e...scp=1&sq=harvard tution waived $60,000&st=cse

where is the mountain?
 
Quote from Scataphagos:

Sounds like you're sarcastically saying this "tongue in cheek". Unfortunately, it's reality.... Globalization has HOSED "the American dream".

And... there ain't SHIT we an do about it... At least nothing which is constructive for the majority of Americans.

This "creating inflation by the Fed", and "debasing the $USD" is going HARM most Americans... all in order to make the GDP appear favorable and the Odumba Administration appear to have done something favorable... America needs to RID ITSELF OF ODUMBA... The sooner, the better.!!

:mad: :mad:

As much as I am against the globalists they have a point. There is too many humans, as you have previously stated, for too few jobs. Tech just gets better and the third world continues to have more kids. Some remember the bigot known as Pabst, but he had a damn good economic point. Jobs will stop outsourcing when wages come up in the third world as the come down in the first world and meet up.
 
Quote from Scataphagos:

Sounds like you're sarcastically saying this "tongue in cheek". Unfortunately, it's reality.... Globalization has HOSED "the American dream".

:mad: :mad:

I was being sarcastic, and yes, I believe it IS a reality. Look at how many US industries have been gutted over the last 30 years. But there is plenty of cheap stuff to buy at Walmart!
 
Quote from Scataphagos:

.. America needs to RID ITSELF OF ODUMBA... The sooner, the better.!!

:mad: :mad:

You are stuck with him for 3 1/2 more years - tough
Unless he is caught "doing a Nixon"

Anyways getting back to the OP's point the French Unions have been feather-bedding their positions for decades and will soon pay the price as jobs slip away to Asia.

I don't know what age you retire at in USA but here in the UK it's 65 for men and they are raising it to 66. Why the pathetic French are quibbling about a mere 60 years beats me !
The mere mention of " Le travail" sends them into a cold sweat !!

ooooooooooooh laaaaaaaaaaaaaa laaaaaaaaaaa
and sacre bleu
 
Quote from Humpy:

You are stuck with him for 3 1/2 more years - tough
Unless he is caught "doing a Nixon"

Anyways getting back to the OP's point the French Unions have been feather-bedding their positions for decades and will soon pay the price as jobs slip away to Asia.

I don't know what age you retire at in USA but here in the UK it's 65 for men and they are raising it to 66. Why the pathetic French are quibbling about a mere 60 years beats me !
The mere mention of " Le travail" sends them into a cold sweat !!

ooooooooooooh laaaaaaaaaaaaaa laaaaaaaaaaa
and sacre bleu

If Americans and Brits work so much harder, why doesnt it shows up in the numbers?

Name every economic criteria and the French outperform both be it the deficit, savingsrate, productivity...

Unless ofcourse hours working....

That is true I guess.
 
Quote from Humpy:

Why the pathetic French are quibbling about a mere 60 years beats me !
The mere mention of " Le travail" sends them into a cold sweat !!

Why? well, let's put it this way, when you have this in your country, let's be real you don't want to spend all day in the office.:cool:

Rainy, foggy Brits are lucky not to have this dilemma :p

bonifacio.jpg
 
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