French Riots. Really? Really???

[klr]

The rich will steal our dotage and turn it into more yachts.

I know where the yachts are*, don't worry.

*I live close to the local docks, and thence the marina.

[Coito ergo sum]

The rich will steal our dotage and turn it into more yachts.

Yachts are good.

I want this in my dotage....

[Ian]

I am 100% behind the French. Their workers, whether they consciously know it or not, are trying to protect something great about France and that is the notion that work is not life and life is not work. Life is and should be a balance. The world is being increasingly overtaken by international capitalism, which is driving down wages in its relentless pursuit of profit. In that process, as is easily evidenced the rich are getting richer and the poor even poorer. The French 'social culture' is naturally socialist (far more left as a whole than most other non French people realise!) and they rebel at this notion. Its in their DNA!

Tomorrow in the UK the so called comprehensive spending review is announced. Its main purpose is to get the UK back into 'credit worthiness'. The people who got us there in the first place? Workers? The average mortgage slave? No. The people who own most of stuff. Fucking wake up people.

Indeed. The US, for example, is a culture that is too devoted to work.

I recall you work for the government in some fashion. Color me surprised that you would take this view...

From all government employees -

Seriously!

People whine about overpaid government workers, but there are stats which show we earn about 20% less than our private sector counterparts.

As a whole, yes we average more pay than the overall workforce. That's because we're more educated than the overall: the entire private sector workforce includes lots of burger-flippin' teenagers and the like. There are no federal employee equivalents to burger-flippers.

[Clinton Huxley]

The answer, of course, is for the workers of the world to unite and seize control of the means of production. Down with vampire capitalism!

[Coito ergo sum]

I am 100% behind the French. Their workers, whether they consciously know it or not, are trying to protect something great about France and that is the notion that work is not life and life is not work. Life is and should be a balance. The world is being increasingly overtaken by international capitalism, which is driving down wages in its relentless pursuit of profit. In that process, as is easily evidenced the rich are getting richer and the poor even poorer. The French 'social culture' is naturally socialist (far more left as a whole than most other non French people realise!) and they rebel at this notion. Its in their DNA!

Tomorrow in the UK the so called comprehensive spending review is announced. Its main purpose is to get the UK back into 'credit worthiness'. The people who got us there in the first place? Workers? The average mortgage slave? No. The people who own most of stuff. Fucking wake up people.

Indeed. The US, for example, is a culture that is too devoted to work.

I recall you work for the government in some fashion. Color me surprised that you would take this view...

From all government employees -

Seriously!

People whine about overpaid government workers,

And, rightly so, because the government workers that most folks encounter are really rather piss poor. The DMV, the Treasurers Office - most city employees - they don't really want to work hard. They are slow, and don't give a flying fuck if stuff takes long or can't get done. They just don't care, and the government is less responsive than private business in resolving problems. I'd damn well much rather call Fed Ex customer service than the Post Office.

but there are stats which show we earn about 20% less than our private sector counterparts.

Not anymore, that's not true. But, even 20% less than private sector counterparts is, in my experience, an overpayment.

As a whole, yes we earn more than the overall workforce.

Because the government pisses away money.

That's because we're more educated than the overall:

LOL - that doesn't show at all in the government workers encountered by the public. That much I can damn well guarantee you.

And, so what?

the entire private sector workforce includes burger-flippin' teenagers and the like. There are no federal employee equivalents to burger-flippers.

Sure there are - some federal employees work in cafeterias. But, they do tend to go by the wayside, since they tend to not be able to operate a business for a profit without public funds streaming in to pick up shortfalls. Like, in 2008, when the Congress voted to privatize failing cafeterias/restaurants in the government. The Senate's restaurants were losing between $1 and $2 million a year.

The problem with government run restaurants is not, of course, with the employees themselves. It's with the system. Nobody owns the place. Nobody has a "stake" in its success or failure, like in a privately run restaurant. As such, there is no person whose pocket ultimately suffers if it doesn't run right. The "community" is the owner, and that is the functional equivalent of nobody being the owner. That results in people not giving much of a shit about a lot of business factors that are a concern in a private business.

[Coito ergo sum]

The answer, of course, is for the workers of the world to unite and seize control of the means of production. Down with vampire capitalism!

The more cooks in the kitchen the better!

[Pappa]

The answer, of course, is for the workers of the world to unite and seize control of the means of production. Down with vampire capitalism!

The more cooks in the kitchen the better!

In some situations it's been shown to work wonderfully.

[Bella Fortuna]

I'd be happy to have another one in mine...

[Ian]

A whole bunch of shit.

Alright smartguy,

NOW I'm saying you've put forth a really stupid and ignorant opinion. I respected your academic views on the Electoral College, but you can piss off for that last post.

First off, the 20% less statistic does hold true today. Actually the figures I saw indicated 22% less. You think I was passing along information I heard about twenty years ago? Try two weeks ago.

In my office building (in which there are several thousand employees, most of them paid by Uncle Sam) there's no such thing as an employee without a Bachelors degree. Most everybody over age 30 has at least a Masters if not a doctorate. And I'd say every last one of us could be earning more in the private sector. I certainly could! But we work there because 1) there's not as much private sector demand for military analysts, and 2) despite knowing that, we got into this business in the first place because we want to serve the greater good.

I'm sure your average guy behind the counter at the DMV or the Post Office doesn't impress you much. They don't impress me either. But like you said, they're the ones you deal with, so there's your brilliant fucking opinion.

Shame on you.

[Warren Dew]

Tomorrow in the UK the so called comprehensive spending review is announced. Its main purpose is to get the UK back into 'credit worthiness'. The people who got us there in the first place? Workers? The average mortgage slave? No. The people who own most of stuff.

I hadn't realized that in the UK, the government own most things.

[Warren Dew]

We have a right to stop working when we're too tired and have paid many years in the system already. Maybe it doesn't work this way your side, but here, every worker gets some of his wages shaved off and sent to pension fund. We pay in, we have a right to get the payout.

We pay in too, but the government has already increased my retirement age from 65 to 67.

It was either that, or cut benefits for people who have never worked in their lives. Since working people have less time to be politically active, they were the ones who got the axe.

[Svartalf]

Well, you chose to bend down and pick up the soap, we won't

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Retired at 39. Fuck you poor suckers.

[JimC]

Coito ergo sum wrote:

The problem with government run restaurants is not, of course, with the employees themselves. It's with the system. Nobody owns the place. Nobody has a "stake" in its success or failure, like in a privately run restaurant. As such, there is no person whose pocket ultimately suffers if it doesn't run right. The "community" is the owner, and that is the functional equivalent of nobody being the owner. That results in people not giving much of a shit about a lot of business factors that are a concern in a private business.

I agree that this is a real phenomenum, and therefore a real problem in some (but perhaps not all) government-run services. As such, it is a legitimate argument for private enterprise, basically resting on motivation, efficiency and a lack of complacency.

However, private enterprise let run free also leads to excessive differences in wealth levels, a culture of greed, and chaotic financial systems. There must be carefully planned and intelligently run intervention by democratically elected government to regulate corporate activities, and to reduce the excessive power wielded by a few. A strong union movement should be part of the mix, as well as a free press with a culture of investigative journalism. Checks and balances should be the name of the game...

[Rum]

I am 100% behind the French. Their workers, whether they consciously know it or not, are trying to protect something great about France and that is the notion that work is not life and life is not work. Life is and should be a balance. The world is being increasingly overtaken by international capitalism, which is driving down wages in its relentless pursuit of profit. In that process, as is easily evidenced the rich are getting richer and the poor even poorer. The French 'social culture' is naturally socialist (far more left as a whole than most other non French people realise!) and they rebel at this notion. Its in their DNA!

Tomorrow in the UK the so called comprehensive spending review is announced. Its main purpose is to get the UK back into 'credit worthiness'. The people who got us there in the first place? Workers? The average mortgage slave? No. The people who own most of stuff. Fucking wake up people.

Indeed. The US, for example, is a culture that is too devoted to work.

I recall you work for the government in some fashion. Color me surprised that you would take this view...

I am paid by the government (local government). I work for the public.