as rummy blabs on HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS PROTEST IN FRANCE

[Jeffersons Ghost]

It certainly looks like a riot on CNN and this time they are not protesting U.S. policy. It appears the French Aristocracy is also putting the squeeze on the middle class just like in America... I remember when all these red-neck Alabama Chicken-Hawks said the French were wussies for not jumping into Iraq... I wonder if the French "wussies" are giving our 15 to 20,000 immigrant protesters a lesson in revolution... Do I hear "VIVA LA FRANCE" echoing from a distant drum?

Wikapedia says:

The French Revolution (1789-1799) was a period in the history of France. During this time, republicanism replaced the absolute monarchy in France, and the French sector of the Roman Catholic Church was forced to undergo radical restructuring. While France would oscillate among republic, empire, and monarchy for 75 years after the First Republic fell to a coup d'état by Napoleon Bonaparte, the revolution nonetheless spelled a definitive end to the Ancien Régime. It eclipses the subsequent revolutions of 1830 and 1848 in the popular imagination. It is widely seen as a major turning point in continental European history, from the age of absolutism to that of the citizenry, and even of the masses, as the dominant political force.
Contents

Causes of the French Revolution

A number of factors led to the revolution. To some extent, the old order succumbed to its own rigidity in the face of a changing world. To some extent, it fell to the ambitions of a rising bourgeoisie, allied with aggrieved peasants, wage-earners, and individuals of all classes who had come under the influence of the ideas of the Enlightenment. As the revolution proceeded, and as power devolved from the monarchy to legislative bodies, the conflicting interests of these initially allied groups would become the source of conflict and bloodshed.

Causes of the French Revolution include the following:

* A bad economic situation, as well as an unmanageable national debt, were both caused and exacerbated by the burden of a grossly inequitable system of taxation and France's funding of the American Revolution.
* A resentment of royal absolutism.
* An aspiration for liberty and republicanism
* A resentment of Manorialism (seigneurialism) by peasants, wage-earners, and, to a lesser extent, the bourgeoisie
* The rise of Enlightenment ideals.
* Food scarcity in the months immediately before the revolution.
* High unemployment and high bread prices resulting in the inability to purchase food.
* A resentment of noble privilege and dominance in public life by the ambitious professional classes.
* A resentment of religious intolerance.
* The failure of Louis XVI to deal effectively with these phenomena.

Do any of these causes for revolution sound famliar?
Oh yeah, I also meant to ask if anyone can translate Saint-Martin. I've read several of his letter but for some reason his books have not been translated into English. Any other Saint-Martin fans out there?

[Mass]

1. No riots. Traditional labor protests.

These seem to be the biggest in years though: more than 2 millions people in the streets.

This is what happens when you have a real labor movement and not trade unions.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

2. you didn't see the footage i saw a while back

it looked like tear gas spewing into the air at another place... I know a few immigrants who are forming a "real labor movement" only a few states away.

[Mass]

3. I've seen the footage - No riots, believe me.

They are showing the tail of the protests with outside elements to frigthen people here. Nothing either new or surprising for who has lived in France.



Chirac is trying to screw young people and they are fighting. If you call that a riot, fine, but it is in the tradition of years of protests in France. As surprising as it seems from this side of the Atlantic, it is fairly usual in France.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

7. you're obviously not watching CNN

she just said "tear gas" mobs being dragged off by police, "riot police." "intense live pictures"

[TallahasseeGrannie]

4. Redneck Alabama Chickenhawks?

[Jeffersons Ghost]

6. they're not an endangered species here...

Earlier today, at the grocery store for example, This rather large ill-kept country girl at check out made some comment about long hair as I made sure the store didn't make some quick cash by missing a mark-down. Before I could respond the elderly bagger said he had long hair in '72. I said, "really? In '72 I had short hair because I was serving my country." Then Ms. Sloppy got all nice and began to prattle about her great Veteran relatives... I said, "yeah, maybe someday people will brag about some peace-heroes because this war has gotten us nine trillion bucks in debt to places like Red China, Iran and Iraq to name a few." She then went on that since so many countries have defaulted on their debts to us we should just refuse to pay them back." I said, yeah, then we could go bankrupt like Russia and watch our way of life flood down the drain." For some reason, everyone in that part of the store got quiet but as I left I remembered what Russ said about playing at political popularity. I know what he meant when he said, "I don't care."

[sam sarrha]

5. we have less rights here. in the south all the jobs are thru temp agencies

each factory has its 'Own' agency ..IN HOUSE, the job is 'Temporaty'.. you never get hired full time.. i had a job a while back with 12 hour shifts and NO breaks, and a 1/2 hr lunch. no one ever looked up.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

8. hi sam

:hi: Yeah, they've got the economic thumb screws on down here... You should see the waiting list at the local Rubber Plant, which is the last bastion of Union Labor in this whole region... Did you hear about GM?

[Jeffersons Ghost]

9. final count was three MILLION protestors and this is just beginning

They used water cannons and tear gas in some areas, where CNN had strong video showing people with sticks throwing stuff at riot police, who were roughly hauling them away.

[uppityperson]

10. French relative explained it to me this way...

You can hire someone under age 27 at the low starting wage, then fire then for no reason, NO reason at all, in the first 2 yrs. Then hire another young person at low starting wage, fire for NO reason. Repeat. This means NO job security for anyone under 27.

"Thus, companies can hire new workers for low wages, fire them at the end of 2 years, and hire new workers for low wages. Does not matter if they are good or not. Basically, companies would be shooting themselves, as they would be getting rid of good workers for keeping low wages. Not a good long-term solution, I think. However, the government thinks it would aid in lowering unemployment somehow (though I cannot figure out how). Here in France, unemployment is at 9.6%, with it being 26% for people under age 30."

[Imajika]

11. Interesting

Thanks for providing that insight. It is interesting to look at it that way, and with that in mind I can clearly see why young people and unions would oppose this legislation. I'd have to read a lot more to really have an opinion on this though.

I can't say I know a tremendous amount about this issue, but it does seem to me that France needs to do something to reduce unemployment and get the economy going. If not this sort of legislation, what is a good idea? Unemployment stuck at nearly 10% and closer to 25% for those under 30 is downright awful. Further, the French economy is performing fairly poorly over the last several years correct? Won't they have to loosen these tight labor laws at some point? I would be interested in any articles or links that provide a little more detail about this issue and what ideas all sides have. I know in the business that I am in, the companies I work with avoid at all costs opening offices or doing any hiring whatsoever in Western Europe. Eastern Europe and Asia are attracting tons of business, but Western Europe seems to repel them. If businesses avoid Western Europe because of the very strict labor laws, won't France and countries with similar systems just continue to bleed jobs?

[Jeffersons Ghost]

12. This has been going on for a while

Sunday, March 19, 2006. 10:37am (AEDT)

Police use teargas on French protesters

Riot police teargassed scores of demonstrators in Paris after an estimated million people took to the streets of France to protest a widely unpopular new labour law.

Following a peaceful march through Paris, which attracted up to 350,000 people, hundreds of young demonstrators defied police and hurled objects at officers who eventually drove them back, charging the crowd and using tear gas grenades.

Vehicles were set on fire and overturned, and nearby windows smashed.

At least five officers and about a dozen demonstrators were injured and over 100 people were arrested in the unrest at the eastern Place de la Nation that lasted nearly four hours, police said.

About 500 students then marched on the Sorbonne university in the Latin Quarter, which was the scene of earlier clashes.


http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1595382.htm

Tomorrow I'll check Reuters for today's action.

[0007]

13. Drum roll. Now the "Light Cavalry Overture"

"VIVA LA FRANCE"

C'mom America up off your lazy ass.