Braverman Stymied by Paris Protests
In a show of solidarity with French strikers protesting the raising of the national retirement age from 60 to 62, I won't be posting today on WSO. Not my solidarity with them, mind you, but that of my already piss poor Internet Service Provider (Numericable, for those interested). I feel like I'm back in high school writing a term paper on a Commodore 64 with 8kbps dial-up.
I can sympathize with the French workers, however. I mean, you have to draw a line in the sand somewhere. If you let them get away with raising what is already the developed world's lowest retirement age, what's next? A 40-hour work week? The expectation of punctuality? Restrictions against selling cigarettes to kids under 10? Daily bathing requirements? (okay, now I'm getting a little out of hand)
I'm reminded of all the times I've screwed with the Socialists and Communists around town who set up little kiosks to hand out their propaganda. You can tell by the look of them that they're spoiled rich kids whose grandparents were probably collaborators back in the day. When they approach me to hand me their flyers and explain their nonsensical beliefs, I just look at them and say in my sweetest most polite voice, "Non, merci. Je suis un Fasciste." My wife gets pissed, but it's fun to watch the color drain out of their faces.
Power to the people!





Comments
It really is insanity. The
It really is insanity. The french don't know how good they have it. Every other week is a damn bank holiday.
CompBanker
This is funny. But the irony
This is funny. But the irony is that Paris still runs far more efficiently than London. We don't have strikes, just congenital idleness in the public sector....
From the ghetto....
I'm really glad you decided
I'm really glad you decided to write about this. Listening to radio on the way in today and this was all they were talking about. I can't imagine how impossibly frustrating it is to be so inconvenienced by people bitching about what is essentially catching up with the rest of the developed world. You can't retire until 62? Gee, I sure can't think of anything better to be upset about right now.
If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
tier2sta has it right. at
tier2sta has it right. at least stuff appears to work sometimes in Paris. London is a joke with regards to all infrastructure/services/utilities/and transportation. It its really dragging down the first world with regards to these things. When tube workers arent on strike, the tube is closed for "planned" maintenance. As if that makes it better that the inability to get from point a-b in a city where cabs require a mortgage is acceptable because its planned. When I moved to london it took BT 5weeks to turn on my internet...yeah 5 weeks without the internet, just like the Congo.
Also, not sure what taxes are like in France, but the UK really kicks you in the nuts. I'm 24 my income wouldn't raise any eyebrows amongst this crowd, yet already I am paying 68.5% on the last £'s I earn. Sound high? Yeah, sounds high to me too. In reality I only lose about 51% of my last £ earned when it hits my bank account...but as soon as I try to do my part and stimulate the economy by buying something I am mushroom-printed with the sky high 17.5 VAT.
Then again...someone has to pay for the free health-care/subsidized education/museums/and mandatory cosmetic surgery for the female population at birth. All of these things are nice to see my tax £ go toward. However, Pareto would almost certainly be pulling his hair out nonetheless.
Also, not really complaining about the 25days vacation.....now if only I could make it to the airport.
USA > EUROPE BRAZIL > USA
USA > EUROPE
BRAZIL > USA
I need a crib, a big estate, I need a boat and that need a lake, I need some salmon that need a plate, that need a chef so I feed my safe
From trading equities to slanging wine in Latin America
A ship is safe in harbor, but that is not what a ship i
Edmundo Braverman wrote:
When they approach me to hand me their flyers and explain their nonsensical beliefs, I just look at them and say in my sweetest most polite voice, "Non, merci. Je suis un Fasciste." My wife gets pissed, but it's fun to watch the color drain out of their faces.
Power to the people!
That gets a SB.
"Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, for knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."
I would love to make some
I would love to make some flippant Euro bashing statement, but this is just to ridiculous to even comment on. Do French people read newspapers? Do they think this is making them more or less competitive with the rest of the world?
The French should deploy the military to reestablish all services and anyone protesting in a violent or destructive matter should be arrested.
MSF Website
MACC Website
MSF Twitter
These people are ridiculous.
These people are ridiculous. How is it these extremists are allowed to burn and pillage with impunity?
The same people who decry "capitalist greed" show the same greed by recklessly demanding more and more government benefits. And the governments always cave just to shut them up. It's the modern-day equivalent of Bread and Circuses.
Head of Metal Website: www.headofmetal.com
https://twitter.com/headofmetal2012
I would to hear from the
I would to hear from the French citizens about their feelings on the future generation.
From reading this thread, it sounds as if the people protesting are in the age range of high school to late 20's. I would like to believe the people posting on this message board are the top flight of their generation, no matter what country they are posting from; there must be some conflicting views on how the Generation X & Y are progressing. If you wouldnt mind, I would love to hear from some posters about how they feel about the upcoming generations and where they see the country of France moving as a whole.
French government should have
French government should have pushed for 70 instead of 62. The marginal increase in violence would have been negligible, and then they would have had some room for negotiating.
looking for that pick-me-up to power through an all-nighter?
This pic says it all about
This pic says it all about the French.
The more shit like this happens, the more I think we need to abolish NATO. Europe would get it's collectivist act together pretty quickly if they had to police their own borders in the case of a serious crisis breaking out from this sort of woosy shenanigans.
Where I unload on Twits and take verbal S***s
Yeah, this is what happens
Yeah, this is what happens when you have an entitlement society. Imagine is we cut welfare payments, told people you are not going to be paid more for every kid you have and scaled back government to a more reasonable level. We would have mayhem like this garbage.
MSF Website
MACC Website
MSF Twitter
I know I joke about it, but
I know I joke about it, but it's actually pretty serious. I've heard reports that strikers have blockaded oil imports, and all but one of the oil depots have been shut down. Gas stations in Paris have started running out, and the fuel supply to Charles de Gaulle airport had to be turned on in the middle of the night by management who broke the picket line to turn the fuel flow back on.
Now the workers are saying that management didn't know what they were doing, and that the fuel CDG has been using to fill the aircraft might be contaminated. Let one of those birds fall out of the sky and this shit goes to a whole other level. (I personally don't believe the workers, so don't sweat it if you're traveling.)
French citizen here. The
French citizen here. The current situation definitely has me concerned. While this seems like the latest in a very long history of social unrest, never have the claims of the protesters been so ridiculous or their anger so unjustified. I received a letter from a Communist congresswoman, urging me to protest against these reforms as the obligation to work longer would supposedly increase youth unemployment. How anyone can actually believe such a preposterous claim is puzzling but I can think of a few different reasons people want to protest.
For the high school students, its quite easy. Not going to school and causing mayhem seems awesome for teenagers and any sign that authorities condone this is picked up by French youth with wild abandon. For the larger population though, these protests are in large part due to how weak the French left has been for the past 8 years. Ever since former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin failed to make the second round in the presidential elections of 2002, the left has been scrambling to find a charismatic leader and provide a coherent platform from a policy-perspective. That's why Segolene Royal's presidential bid was doomed for failure. French people are surprisingly literate from a political standpoint and it doesn't take much to know that someone promising a lower retirement age and lower taxes is lying through their teeth. As the Socialist party has slumbered into irrelevance, more marginal groups have token over and tend to resort to less legitimate means of being heard, such as the present protests.
France needs a strong, moderate Left. If the Socialist party were able to regroup and concede to a few basic economic realities such as the importance of free trade and the need to fund France's social safety net through a higher retirement age and looser labor laws, they were be a credible threat to Sarkozy. France needs this threat because unchecked, Sarkozy is pushing rather esoteric policies which seek to fight the symptoms of civil unrest rather than the causes (systematically harrassing Romanian refugees, etc..).
I don't think France is doomed but I'm definitely concerned. Worst case scenario, France turns into Greece, except with full-out revolts due to local culture and the police's laziness (in reply to 3Ms assertion, France is more than capable of policing itself and fending off others, they just chose to sit by and watch). However, if a party manages to move to the center and promote the integration of France's disaffected immigrants all the while liberalizing the labor market and increasing the retirement age, things might not be so bad. But I'm not counting on it.
P.S. Numericable?!? You need an Orange Livebox Edmundo. DSL in France is blazing fast.
Financial Modeling Training
Guide to Finance Interviews
Im' glad you talked about
Im' glad you talked about this Braverman. I'm french living in Paris and this strike starts to piss me off! I can't wait to finish my education and go work abroad. I can't stand lazy people who are always crying for something they do not deserve. Marre!
Silver banana, gold banana, diamond banana, you deserve them all.
seems a lot like May 1968 all
down on the upside
Financial Modeling Training
Guide to Finance Interviews
(No subject)
"If you can count your money, you don't have a billion dollars." - J. Paul Getty
Let's do a WSO revolution
I think we can all agree that
As far as trades go, I don't
Financial Modeling Training
Guide to Finance Interviews
Cool Video!, used to live
GoodBread, As always, your
In spite of the color scheme,
Financial Modeling Training
Guide to Finance Interviews
Great pictures here:
Financial Modeling Training
Guide to Finance Interviews
What's so funny is no one is
MSF Website
MACC Website
MSF Twitter
Anthony . wrote: Greece was
Financial Modeling Training
Guide to Finance Interviews
The inital post, the guy is
- Only time will tell....
The OP was just called an
The national sport of France