I heard the White French are very racist people, and their society is adopted adultery custom. What a 15 years old went strike is not odd, the Muslim children go to strike at a very young ages. The unique thing is the leader husband and wife Sarkozy and Carla Bruni both having affairs.
On Nov 1, 12:29 am, [email protected] wrote: > October 31, 2010 > > Why the French LoveSocial Conflict > > By Theo Vermaelen > > France is in many ways a uniquecountry. Where else in the world could you see > a 15-year-old appear on TVsaying that he is striking because he would like to > retire at 60 instead of 62?Where else could you see a leading politician such > as Segolene Royalencouraging 15-year-olds to go on strike? In any other > country Ms. Royal wouldbe part of the Loony Left, but here she got 47 % of > the votes in the recentpresidential election and is considered a mainstream > socialist candidate forreplacing Sarkozy in 2012. Where else would 71 % of > the people support strikerswho block refineries so that they have to wait > hours in line to fill up theircars? > > Even supposedly right-wing politicianssuch as Dominique de Villepin, ex-prime > minister under Chirac, have endorsedthe 15-year-olds' position, claiming that > if people retire later, the youngerwill have to wait longer for a job. This > statement is probably the most pureform of static economic thinking ever > pronounced -- i.e., the idea that thelabor market consists of a fixed number > of slots. If this were the case, wecould simply eliminate youth unemployment > by lowering the retirementage to 45. > > After 9/11, many of us tried tounderstand why so many Saudis supported > Islamic terrorism, and the answer wasoften found in school textbooks that > openly preached hatred against the nonbelievers.A similar exercise should be > done to better understand the French mind. What dothe French learn in school > to make them support economic terrorism and chaos aslong as it is organized > by the working class? > > Except for students in a specialeconomics section, French high school > students get no education in economics orfinance.So one explanation for the > French attitude is the fact that the vast majorityof the people have no basic > understanding of economics or markets. Those whoget economics training in > high school probably get a muddled message. I gotthis impression after taking > a closer look at the content of the economicscourses of the last year of the > "lycée," or high school. > > The topics discussed seem moreappropriate for a sociology course. Out of the > seven courses of the curriculum,four have titles such as "Social > Stratification and Inequality,""Conflict and Social Mobilization," > "Integration andSolidarity," and "European Integration and Economic and > SocialPolicies." There is no discussion of microeconomics (demand and supply) > orfirm optimizing behavior such as profit (or value) maximization or > discussionof financialmarkets or free markets in general. > > The seeds of anti-capitalism andanti-Americanism can be found throughout the > curriculum. One chapter deals with"Conflict and Social Mobilization." After a > thorough analysis ofMarxist thinking and an almost sad note that the > influence of workers has diminished(because they are fewer workers, and the > ones that became wealthier lost theirclass-identification), the authors still > conclude that > > [t]he reasons for the conflict with the other socialclasses remain strong. > Although workers participate in mass consumption theyuse fewer services than > other classes: they go less on holidays than others,they have less accessto > the internet and they don't have maids or nannies. > > In short, French people are stilltaught today that class warfare is the > nature of (French) society and willremain as long as not all classes are > equal. Of course, equality is notpossible, as it would require that either > all maids have maids or that therewould be no maids. > > The chapter on "Work andEmployment" explains unemployment only as a result of > technologicalprogress where machines replace workers. Nowhere can a > discussion be found onhow social charges, taxes, and labor regulations (such > as the minimum wage) cancontribute to unemployment. > > The icing on the cake is thestatement in the section on "Conflict and Social > Mobilization", whichis supposed to be a consolation for all of us waiting in > the gas lines: > > A priori we often tend to think that conflicts are useless,they are better > avoided. Not at all what sociologists think: conflict makeschange possible. > Social conflicts, because they put individuals into action,also contribute to > form identities and develop solidarity. The first difficultyfor you in this > chapter is therefore the need to consider conflict in apositive role. > > Luckily, the French government hasmore or less responded as the Saudi > government did after 9/11: starting thisyear, all high school students (not > just the ones of the economics section)will have to take a course in > economics, and the curriculum will be changed.The goal of the curriculum will > be to better understand how companies,households, and the state behave and > how markets allocate resources, includinglabor markets and financial markets. > So there is some serious hope that in thefuture, corporations will no longer > be depicted as entities to fight, butinstead as the ultimate creators of > wealth. > > Predictably, when the reforms wereproposed at the beginning of this year, > Francois Dubet, the only sociologist onthe curriculum committee, resigned in > protest, stating that "[n]ow thecorporation will no longer be seen as a place > where people work, or like asocial entity, but as a unit of production that > has to continuously adapt to achanging environment." > > Let's hope Mr. Dubet is right. Andperhaps then the French will someday > understand that when the supply of oil iscut by striking workers, the price > of gasoline at the pump will rise. > > Theo Vermaelen is Professor of Finance, INSEAD. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. This is an unmoderated forum. Please refrain from using foul language. Thank you for your understanding. Peace among us and in Cambodia. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/camdisc Learn more - http://www.cambodia.org
