Get ready for riots. Macron trying to increase pension age in France

[Torie]

u r supposed to live to the ripe old age of died of a heart attack at ur desk, thats the way life is. always has been always will be.

You should read The Fixed Period by Anthony Trollope.  It is set in a fictional place called Britannula.  They found a perfect solution to the problem of cranky old people giving advice, repeating themselves, complaining about rheumatism, receiving government funds without contribution, trying to help, getting in the way, and making younger people feel guilty.  At the age of 67, a citizen's "deposition" would take place.  The deposition consisted of their removal to "The College", an institution situated in the town of Necropolis, where they would be encouraged to enjoy a year of contemplation.  This was followed exactly one year later, at the age of 68, by their "departure" (a peaceful euthanasia following inhalation of chloroform) and subsequent cremation.

Way too complicated. The Spartans sent the Tories of their city to the mountaintop to freeze to death. Presumably the local fauna would then make good use of,  and dispose, the corpse, to keep things nice and sanitary up there.

[Torie]

This contretemps is meaningless to me without context, so voila:

https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/01/10/pension-reform-in-france-which-countries-have-the-lowest-and-highest-retirement-ages-in-eu

I am not sure why France is right up there with Luxembourg as the nation with the highest  expected number of years of pulling a pension, but it is. Is it because all that haute cuisine causes the French to live longer than the rest of us?

God bless Denmark. The happiest nation on earth always works the longest, perhaps because it is one of the highest taxed places on earth.

[Torie]

So Angus, the tl:dr is that there is something about the French language (the French look far too diverse for me to believe it is genetic - Normandy v. Marseilles), that causes people to sit on their ass and malinger, the better to  have more time to shop with other people's money at impromptu port markets where presumably the food fresh off the ship is the most savory. Got it. Thanks.

[Torie]

So Angus, the tl:dr is that there is something about the French language (the French look far too diverse for me to believe it is genetic - Normandy v. Marseilles), that causes people to sit on their ass and malinger, the better to  have more time to shop with other people's money at impromptu port markets where presumably the food fresh off the ship is the most savory. Got it. Thanks.

Smartass.  

Not quite, but indeed language does affect us.  Japanese has 50 words for rain.  Danish has about 100 for snow/ice.  They need them. 

Consider this example:  English has many words for trash receptacle.  Rubbish bin, garbage can, trashcan, wastebin, dustbin, refuse bin, etc.  The French have one:  La Poubelle.  And they didn't have that one till around 1884.  (okay, to be fair they also have la boîte à ordures)  What conclusion could we draw from that?  I'll let you draw your own.

On the other hand, the French have about 10 common ways to say "let's get a drink".  Far more than English. 

https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/french-people-do-not-like-to-shower-survey-shows

[Torie]

Once upon, long, long ago, when I had both hair and hormones, the denizens of what became the lone superpower (still true but probably for not much more than the balance of my not adequately "investable" remaining lifetime time horizon), actually talked about France at restaurants (see how bi-lingual I am?) and the dinner table, and at the office water cooler, and the the Charles De Gualle road show (that drama queen in a drag military uniform), actually cared much about anything France did. Now they don't even care that much about their wines and food. But Dan and I still love the language, and while neither of us are any good at it, except to some extent in print, Dan has a wonderful French accent, while mine sounds like it is straight out of Los Angeles (listening to Spanish did not help much). Darn!

You know what is the saddest thing of all? Of course you do. The Brits are now more interesting than the French! Good God!

[Torie]

...

So, now f**king what? Our national health system is still on the brink of collapse. Our school system and our judiciary are slowly getting there too. ...

All three are going down the tubes at once? What on earth does high tax France (it is high tax isn't it?) spend its money on?

How is the judiciary collapsing? Presumably that is due to non budgetary reasons, whatever the source of the malaise.