purealpha, I think a nuance needs to be made. In France, the people making a career wouldn’t do the computer thing. Ambitious and educated white collars in French companies (there are alot of these people) are as submissive if not more than their american counterparts. Hierarchy, age, diplomas, family background, etc. are more important in France than in anglo-american cultures. However, we are talking about unionised blue-collars or little white-collars. About these people, I agree with many things you said.
purealpha Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Here are awesome things that the Americans could > really learn from… > > --> “We will never accept this law,” Jean-Claude > Mailly, secretary general of Force Ouvriere, said > today on RMC radio. “Just because a law has been > voted through doesn’t mean we just say: ‘Oh, too > bad.’” > > That’s is called balls guys. If you don’t have > balls you get your rights taken from you by the > govt and the corporations, simple as that. See > USA case study. Like you know, GWB stealing > election and we are just like “oh okay, what can > we do about it, we are just nobody”. Ok, GWB stealing an election is one opinion. I didn’t vote for him either election, but that being said, roughly half the population did the second time around. The fact that no one stood up might simply be manifest evidence that in reality more people wanted him in office than wanted him out, that and at the end of the day, we stand behind our existing system. I’m sorry none of this matches your special reality. Are you an American? If so what did you do? > --> Unions said they would contest the move in the > courts. “There is a right to strike,” Charles > Foulard, a CGT union organizer, said on BFM. “This > is scandalous, this is not what you do in a > country with human rights.” Look, let me break it down like this, retirement is not a “human right”, it is a privilege, just ask any citizen of any 3rd world country. Not even that, I came from a rural area, many there are small business owners and farmers, the majority of them work until they die, maybe they reduce hours or workload as they grow older, but they keep it up. Also, they understand the concepts of setbacks and necessity. Greece, Spain, Portugal, even the UK are having to face these facts, and soon (maybe 5 years) the US will have to under go some form of austerity. If you can’t afford things, you simply can’t afford them, I don’t understand when this point got lost on the hippies. > Damn right! This kind of stuff just makes my > Friday. The USA *used* to have free strong people > like this that wouldn’t take crap, what happened? We sent those b*tches back to France. > That is no secret! I’m also known for making six digits while working 35hrs, vacationing > a buttload, and munching sushi. Everything you’re saying just sounds childish. You’re just spewing crap in an arrogant self-serving manner. As for the laptop instance, great illustration brah. Any grownup would have simply quit the job they voluntarily signed up for, or negotiated through it. But no, not a spoiled Frenchie, he throws a tantrum and destroys company property because he can’t have his way. You make it sound like he was Clint Eastwood, or standing in front of a tank vs the reality. As I said in an earlier post, the only reason the French are still in this struggle is because they haven’t figured out who to surrender to yet.
^^^ So you wrote all this just to place this last one sentence ? You could have saved yourself this trouble if your goal was just to sound like an idiot. Oh and btw since it seems that you like history I would suggest that you open a book about French history, in particular its military history, because you are obviously missing the piece until WWII.
This history? http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/260baxkn.asp More complete: http://silflayhraka.blogspot.com/2003_01_19_silflayhraka_archive.html#90229835
French Military History in a Nutshell Gallic Wars: Lost. In a war whose ending foreshadows the next 2000 years of French history, France is conquered by of all things, an Italian. Hundred Years War: Mostly lost, saved at last by a female schizophrenic who inadvertently creates The First Rule of French Warfare - “France’s armies are victorious only when not led by a Frenchmen.” Italian Wars: Lost. France becomes the first and only country ever to lose two wars when fighting Italians. Wars of Religion: France goes 0-5-4 against the Huguenots. Thirty Years’ War: France is technically not a participant, but manages to get invaded anyway. Claims a tie on the basis that eventually the other participants started ignoring her. War of Devolution: Tied; Frenchmen take to wearing red flowerpots as chapeaux. The Dutch War: Tied. War of the Augsburg League/King William’s War/French and Indian War: Lost, but claimed as a tie. Deluded Frogophiles the world over label the period as the height of French Military Power. War of the Spanish Succession: Lost. The War also gave the French their first taste of a Marlborough, which they have loved ever since. American Revolution: In a move that will become quite familiar to future Americans, France claims a win even though the English colonists saw far more action. This is later known as “de Gaulle Syndrome”, and leads to the Second Rule of French Warfare: “France only wins when America does most of the fighting”. French Revolution: Won, primarily due to the fact that the opponent was also French. The Napoleonic Wars: Lost. Temporary victories (remember the First Rule!) due to leadership of a Corsican, who ended up being no match for a British footwear designer. The Franco-Prussian War: Lost. Germany first plays the role of drunk Frat boy to France’s ugly girl home alone on a Saturday night. WWI: Tied and on the way to losing, France is saved by the United States. Thousands of French women find out what it’s like not only to sleep with a winner, but one who doesn’t call her “Fraulein.” Sadly, widespread use of condoms by American forces forestalls any improvement in the French bloodline. WWII: Lost. Conquered French liberated by the United States and Britain just as they finish learning the Horst Wessel Song. War in Indochina: Lost. French forces plead sickness, take to bed with Dien Bien Flu. Algerian Rebellion: Lost. Loss marks the first defeat of a Western army by a Non-Turkic Muslim force since the Crusades, and produces the First Rule of Muslim Warfare -“We can always beat the French.” This rule is identical to the First Rules of the Italians, Russians, Germans, English, Dutch, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Eskimos. War on Terrorism: France, keeping in mind its recent history, surrenders to Germans and Muslims just to be safe.
Thank you for bringing these very credible sources to my attention.
But to be fair, I loled at: "French Revolution: Won, primarily due to the fact that the opponent was also French. "
Black Swan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > French Military History in a Nutshell > > Gallic Wars: Lost. In a war whose ending > foreshadows the next 2000 years of French history, > France is conquered by of all things, an Italian. > > Hundred Years War: Mostly lost, saved at last by a > female schizophrenic who inadvertently creates The > First Rule of French Warfare - “France’s armies > are victorious only when not led by a Frenchmen.” > > Italian Wars: Lost. France becomes the first and > only country ever to lose two wars when fighting > Italians. > > Wars of Religion: France goes 0-5-4 against the > Huguenots. > > Thirty Years’ War: France is technically not a > participant, but manages to get invaded anyway. > Claims a tie on the basis that eventually the > other participants started ignoring her. > > War of Devolution: Tied; Frenchmen take to wearing > red flowerpots as chapeaux. > > The Dutch War: Tied. > > War of the Augsburg League/King William’s > War/French and Indian War: Lost, but claimed as a > tie. Deluded Frogophiles the world over label the > period as the height of French Military Power. > > War of the Spanish Succession: Lost. The War also > gave the French their first taste of a > Marlborough, which they have loved ever since. > > American Revolution: In a move that will become > quite familiar to future Americans, France claims > a win even though the English colonists saw far > more action. This is later known as “de Gaulle > Syndrome”, and leads to the Second Rule of French > Warfare: “France only wins when America does most > of the fighting”. > > French Revolution: Won, primarily due to the fact > that the opponent was also French. > > The Napoleonic Wars: Lost. Temporary victories > (remember the First Rule!) due to leadership of a > Corsican, who ended up being no match for a > British footwear designer. > > The Franco-Prussian War: Lost. Germany first plays > the role of drunk Frat boy to France’s ugly girl > home alone on a Saturday night. > > WWI: Tied and on the way to losing, France is > saved by the United States. Thousands of French > women find out what it’s like not only to sleep > with a winner, but one who doesn’t call her > “Fraulein.” Sadly, widespread use of condoms by > American forces forestalls any improvement in the > French bloodline. > > WWII: Lost. Conquered French liberated by the > United States and Britain just as they finish > learning the Horst Wessel Song. > > War in Indochina: Lost. French forces plead > sickness, take to bed with Dien Bien Flu. > > Algerian Rebellion: Lost. Loss marks the first > defeat of a Western army by a Non-Turkic Muslim > force since the Crusades, and produces the First > Rule of Muslim Warfare -“We can always beat the > French.” This rule is identical to the First Rules > of the Italians, Russians, Germans, English, > Dutch, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Eskimos. > > War on Terrorism: France, keeping in mind its > recent history, surrenders to Germans and Muslims > just to be safe. +1000000000. This made my day.
Black Swan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > French Military History in a Nutshell > > My GOD! Black Swan, that is just pure genius! +infinity
“Sadly, widespread use of condoms by American forces forestalls any improvement in the French bloodline.” why do you think they keep asking for so many Lance Armstrong “samples”? my bet is they’re hoping a few swimmers will flow through.
strong words BS…
Just to be absolutely, clear, that was a copy and paste rather than original composition…
Not sure where I stand on this thread. On the one hand, the strikes in France look way overblown. On the other hand, France is a really great place to visit and even to live if you can handle the beaurocracy. So they must be doing something right. Also if you look at the statistics, the majority of the US population has seen no growth in real incomes since the 1980s while the top 1% have seen their wealth increase massively. They wouldn’t take that in France. These protestors are basically saying: ‘ok, so we’ll have to take some pain on our pensions, but we’re not just going to sit back and take it lying down. We are going to make it so difficult for you to push this through that you won’t think about doing something similar for at least 10 years’. I would throw into the mix the fact that France is far from perfect, has serious levels of poverty (though less than in the US) among a significant proportion of its population - particularly recent immigrants. This leads to racial tensions and problems assimilating Muslims into the society in a way that isn’t experienced in America. So all in all a mixed bag. Great place to visit for anyone who’s never been though. Paris and the south east in particular.
I do my fair share of French bashing; they do make it pretty easy most of the time. I have to give them credit for their help in the American Revolution though. Although their intentions were 100% selfish, we might still be taking afternoon tea if they hadn’t helped.
Well at least the French don’t have leaders like Sarah Palin who could end up as a POTUS and don’t have a “Tea Party”. So maybe we were better than them before…nowadays I am not sure.