A riot is an ugly thing.....
Posted on 10/19/2010 8:05:52 AM PDT by FromLori
PARIS – Masked youths clashed with police and set fires in cities across France on Tuesday as protests against a proposed hike in the retirement age took an increasingly radical turn. Hundreds of flights were canceled, long lines formed at gas stations and train service in many regions was cut in half.
President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to crack down on "troublemakers" and guarantee public order, raising the possibility of more confrontations with young rioters after a week of disruptive but largely nonviolent demonstrations. Sarkozy also vowed to ensure that fuel was available to everyone. More than 1,000 gas stations are currently shuttered nationwide.
The protesters are trying to prevent the French parliament from approving a bill that would raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 to help prevent the pension system from going bankrupt. Many workers feel the change would be a first step in eroding France's social benefits — which include long vacations, contracts that make it hard for employers to lay off workers and a state-subsidized health care system — in favor of "American-style capitalism."
Sarkozy's conservative government points out that 62 is among the lowest retirement ages in the world, the French are living much longer and the pension system is losing money. The workers say the government could find pension savings elsewhere, such as by raising contributions from employers.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
“Raising contributions from employers”. What employers?
A riot is an ugly thing.....
Hey Frenchies, we could have used a littlw bit of that anger and hostility back in WW2. No wonder France is a third world country.
“Und it’s about time vee had vun!”
Geez, it seems stinky cheese has harmful side effects. Who knew?
One of my favorite photos from when the Germans marched down the Champs a Leysse is the one with the caption. “Frenchmen could only weep as the Germans march through the Arch De Triumph”. Yeah, no bleep.
If he wants to see real anger, he needs to look at the mobs in the streets of Paris. They are disorderly and destructive, and they are rebelling because their European-style socialist government is taking away a "goodie" to which they believe they are "entitled." The same can be applied to Greece.
America's Taxed Enough Already citizens, on the other hand, are orderly and not destructive. They only wish to possess what their ancestors possessed--the right to be free of a government which believes it knows better than they how to use the fruits of their labors and to make decisions about their lives. They are not asking for "goodies," because they understand that politicians who promise them are bribing them in order to enslave them.
No, what the President doesn't understand is that by pushing his "redistributionist" ideas too far, he has awakened a people who had taken their liberty for granted, but who now have decided that they prefer liberty to being ruled by petty tyrants called "intellectuals" and "czars." Theirs is a "passion for liberty," not the "anger" of a disgruntled mob.
These bastards are already clashing with police over retirement!!!!
Entitlement mentality coming soon to a community near you.
“Masked youths clashed with police”
The sense of entitlement is strong in this one.
Yes! US, not them!
Why are they masked (this time)? I wonder who we will see when the masks come off? Will it be the "youths" who caused the trouble in Paris last time? Are they simply out in the street burning and smashing because that's what they like to do? Do their actions really have anything to do with raising the retirement age? I have my doubts.
“...in favor of “American-style capitalism.”
Oh, the horror of it all. Actually, I wish more Americans would adapt “American-style capitalism”.
I wonder who we will see when the masks come off?
What they will end up with is a government wearing masks.
Boy isn’t that the truth people don’t seem to realize that we haven’t had it in a while and bailing out the banks wasn’t capitalism so they confuse it.
Coming soon to the streets of your town as early as November 3rd.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.