Big Lizards:Blog:Entry “The French Correction”

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March 28, 2006

The French Correction

Hatched by Sachi

Sparked by a proposal to overturn the French law that forbids employers from firing new employees during their first two years of employment, over a million French youths decided to hold a riot in Paris. See ¡No Pasarán! for some great pictures (and hat tip to Power Line.)

The stagnant French economy has created an unemployment rate over 10 percent. Among French youths, it is an ominous 22 percent. (And among French Arab youths, it's more like a staggering 50%+ -- which may explain why the Arab-French youths started mugging the French-French youths when they rioted in the wrong neighborhoods.)

The reason is simple: since it's almost impossible to lay off workers, employers simply don't hire any. Instead, they adjust the work hours of existing employees to accomodate the uneven work load.

It's not that the French govenment has done nothing, of course:

Apparently just to show that there was no shortage of silly ideas, the government then reduced the number of hours in the French workweek. The government planners were certain this would spark hiring. It didn’t.

But even when the government accidentally stumbles onto a reasonable, commonsense idea -- something that might actually "spark hiring," like the current proposal -- unreasonable French youths throw a temper tentrum. And how do "reasonable" French adults respond? By calling a general strike, of course! From the AP article:

The nationwide strike - the first time that unions had ordered walkouts in solidarity with students spearheading the protests - slowed train, plane, subway and bus services to a fraction of their normal levels.

How can a country's economy grow when its "students" (and "workers") expect to be paid just for rioting and striking? This is the same France that allowed 15,000 of its seniors to roast to death in a mere 90 degree "heat wave," because the skeleton crews left behind during the French vacation season -- August -- could not provide enough electricity to meet the demand of air conditioners. And not one, single French official had to cut his stomach.

Yet they are so quick to criticize Americans for... well, for everything. According to a French columnist at Le Monde, Lorent Zecchini, our "failure" in Iraq is due to our failure to follow the French multi-culti "soldier's creed" of compassionate warmongering.

Zecchini would do well to study France's Ivory Coast debacle. But maybe he thinks the French got mixed up and accidentally adopted our Soldiers' Creed:

I am an American Soldier.

I am a Warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my Warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.

Nah. If they had... then they might have won!

Hatched by Sachi on this day, March 28, 2006, at the time of 6:29 PM

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» Students Risk Life and Limb to Protest! from Big Lizards
...Other people's lives and limbs, of course. In an otherwise dreary New York Times article on the protests in France against businesses being able to fire dud employees, I stumbled across this section: In a spectacular show of defiance today,... [Read More]

Tracked on March 30, 2006 5:24 PM

Comments

The following hissed in response by: KarmiCommunist

France has been following strict Communist dogma for decades now, whilst pretentiously posing in such a pretentiousness Socialist way.

France...look at what y'all are about to become, and imagine how foolish that y'all look to those whom...whom actually have some power.

Personally, humble Low and Ignorant Insane swamp hermit me is predicting a disastrous 2006 result for the Democrat Party, and *THEIR* MSM.

Why would i ever have voted in 2002???

Boo Got Shot & Translation

Rap version...
Boo...who, Boo??? Well, rap makes a point, huh

The time has come that, and for all Americans too realize that their votes should not be bought!!!

This gal lives in what is considered a tough area, and look at how she speaks.

Boo and the rest of 'rapers'(?!?) are rather weak, in any area...yes, even boring. i was an ex-Cop, who ended up in Prison, and became 'Da Main Fla Pimp...gentle former cop that humble i once was.

Basically, most Prisoners need help, and even some 'mob' type of gangs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weak males excite gentle me, and there are plenty of them in Prison...any colour or any race or any sex.

KårmiÇømmünîs†
Gentle me...former Prison Pimp.

The above hissed in response by: KarmiCommunist at March 28, 2006 9:16 PM

The following hissed in response by: Mr. Michael

What a mess they have made out of France... I suppose it's the result of Governing by Slogan: They can no longer make informed decisions so they accede to the loudest voice and demand what they should know will bring them nothing but ruin! If it were just a sliver of the French who were driving this, then I would hold out hope that the masses could change thier collective minds later on. But in the case of France (and more and more Europe in general) they have a significant population which does not share their heritage. After the collapse, what will remain will look very little like the France of the last few centuries.

The above hissed in response by: Mr. Michael at March 28, 2006 10:41 PM

The following hissed in response by: Bezuhov

Well, you balance your books via conquest for 15 centuries, its a little tough to break the habit. Even failed forays do tend to make youth unemployment moot.

The above hissed in response by: Bezuhov at March 28, 2006 10:54 PM

The following hissed in response by: Big D

First off, why are there so few comments on this blog? It is truely one of the most outstanding on the internet.

Second - ah the Ivory Coast. One of the most laughable military misadventures in a long string of such. Truely only to be topped by the French attack on Greenpeace.

Thirdly, this reminds me of a story. I went to a Paris resturant where we sat under a no smoking sign. A fellow at the table next to lit up a big fat stogie and started puffing away.

Politely we asked the waiter to talk to the gentlemen in question. He refused. "How can you expect me to annoy a patron in that way?" was his cowardly, ever so French reply. We sat there, befuddled. Had'nt the resturant put up the sign? Why were we the one's being unreasonable?

We then asked the gentlman in question to please refrain from smoking, and pointed to a sign. He said "Ah, you must be American! You are all so agressive. What is a sign? It is just a piece of wood! I am enjoying myself. Life is too short my fiend to worry about such trivialities."

And then there it is in a nutshell. The French sauce of arrogance, stupidity, rudness, and willfull suspension of reality. Which brings us to the riots, where the French youth attack a program likely to result in more jobs for French youth.

You know, I listen to Democrats today and all I hear is that French guy in the resturant...or that waiter... Think about this story when you hear them discuss immigration reform.

The above hissed in response by: Big D at March 29, 2006 8:06 AM

The following hissed in response by: Sachi

Big D,

>First off, why are there so few comments on this blog? It is truely one of the most outstanding on the internet.

I always wondered about that myself.

The above hissed in response by: Sachi at March 29, 2006 9:21 AM