Viva La France!

More proof that Americans are over-worked….except for all of you professional surfers. ;)

With that said, I'm off to my job that doesn't provide any paid vacation time though we are allowed :roll: to take off two weeks a year of unpaid time.

There is no constitutional right to take a vacation. Stop crying and work to get a better job if you don't like what yours offers.

Unless you want to be like France, where:

-Unemployment rate hasn't fallen below 8 percent since 1981
-Also since 1981, France's per capita GDP declined from seventh in the world to 17th
-In the last five years, the French economy has been below the average of the 30 industrial economies that comprise the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
-In 2006, France's economic growth rate was the slowest of any nation in the European Union except Portugal.
-Since 1997, France's public debt rose faster than any other country in Western Europe
-Taxes on the average French worker now exceed 50 percent

Viva la France!

Moreover, France's poverty rate remains one of the lowest in the world, at 6% (compared to 15% in the UK and 18% in the US).

Originally posted by Brandon Brendall, the thief:
There is no constitutional right to take a vacation. Stop crying and work to get a better job if you don't like what yours offers.

Unless you want to be like France, where:

-Unemployment rate hasn't fallen below 8 percent since 1981
-Also since 1981, France's per capita GDP declined from seventh in the world to 17th
-In the last five years, the French economy has been below the average of the 30 industrial economies that comprise the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
-In 2006, France's economic growth rate was the slowest of any nation in the European Union except Portugal.
-Since 1997, France's public debt rose faster than any other country in Western Europe
-Taxes on the average French worker now exceed 50 percent

Viva la France!

Find a better job! :cool:

Originally posted by Jaguar:

With that said, I'm off to my job that doesn't provide any paid vacation time though we are allowed :roll: to take off two weeks a year of unpaid time.

This is the one that blew my mind. The average Swede takes 25 sick days per year, on top of their incredibly liberal vacation benefits.


Smokers take eight days more sick leave per year
Published: 29th March 2007 11:41 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/6841/

Smokers take on average nearly eight days more sick leave per year than non-smoking colleagues, according to a Swedish study published on Thursday in the British health journal Tobacco Control.

The study looked at data on absence for sickness among more than 14,000 workers between 1988 and 1991.


Across the sample, the average total of days taken as sick leave was 25.

Current smokers accounted for 29 percent of the sample, compared to 26 percent for former smokers and 45 percent who had never smoked.

Smokers took 34 days off per year on sick leave on average, "never" smokers took 20 days and former smokers took 25 days.

The gap between smokers and former/never smokers was reduced to just under eight days when factors such as socio-economic background, alcohol use and obesity were taken into account.

Sweden has the highest sickness-absence rate among industrialised countries.

According to the latest Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) figures, Sweden loses 25 working days per employee per year due to sickness, compared to nine in the United States.

Even so, the evidence points to smoking as having a clear impact on productivity beyond Sweden, the study says.

The author of the paper is Petter Lundborg, an economist at Free University Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

The UK is around 15-17% and the US is around 12-13% (unless you have some more current figures).

In any case, France's figures are only low because of the wefare state that has wrecked their economy. I'll take a healthy economy that encourages growth any day over what they have.

Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes,Japanese Golfer:
Moreover, France's poverty rate remains one of the lowest in the world, at 6% (compared to 15% in the UK and 18% in the US).

Originally posted by Brandon Brendall, the thief:
There is no constitutional right to take a vacation. Stop crying and work to get a better job if you don't like what yours offers.

Unless you want to be like France, where:

-Unemployment rate hasn't fallen below 8 percent since 1981
-Also since 1981, France's per capita GDP declined from seventh in the world to 17th
-In the last five years, the French economy has been below the average of the 30 industrial economies that comprise the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
-In 2006, France's economic growth rate was the slowest of any nation in the European Union except Portugal.
-Since 1997, France's public debt rose faster than any other country in Western Europe
-Taxes on the average French worker now exceed 50 percent

Viva la France!

Have you ever been to France? Their people seem so much happier, healthier, and attractive compared to here, even with the smoking and red meat.

And how is their economy "wrecked" if nobody is living in poverty?

Originally posted by Brandon Brendall, the thief:
The UK is around 15-17% and the US is around 12-13% (unless you have some more current figures).

In any case, France's figures are only low because of the wefare state that has wrecked their economy. I'll take a healthy economy that encourages growth any day over what they have.

Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes,Japanese Golfer:
Moreover, France's poverty rate remains one of the lowest in the world, at 6% (compared to 15% in the UK and 18% in the US).

Originally posted by Brandon Brendall, the thief:
There is no constitutional right to take a vacation. Stop crying and work to get a better job if you don't like what yours offers.

Unless you want to be like France, where:

-Unemployment rate hasn't fallen below 8 percent since 1981
-Also since 1981, France's per capita GDP declined from seventh in the world to 17th
-In the last five years, the French economy has been below the average of the 30 industrial economies that comprise the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
-In 2006, France's economic growth rate was the slowest of any nation in the European Union except Portugal.
-Since 1997, France's public debt rose faster than any other country in Western Europe
-Taxes on the average French worker now exceed 50 percent

Viva la France!

i bet it has something to do with coastal elites

i'm not going to gain any friends by pointing this out, but: it's "vive la france", not "viva". "viva" is spanish (and italian, and…)

i'm convinced you all really, really care, too.

Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes,Japanese Golfer:
And how is their economy "wrecked" if nobody is living in poverty?

Source?

Yeah, but they also have a buttload of Moslems.

For what? My original quote "Moreover…"?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_France

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:

Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes,Japanese Golfer:
And how is their economy "wrecked" if nobody is living in poverty?

Source?

6.5% of 64 million people is 4.16 million people. That's a little different than "nobody."

Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes,Japanese Golfer:
For what? My original quote "Moreover…"?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_France

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:

Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes,Japanese Golfer:
And how is their economy "wrecked" if nobody is living in poverty?

Source?

Originally posted by sweetcell:
i'm not going to gain any friends by pointing this out, but: it's "vive la france", not "viva". "viva" is spanish (and italian, and…)

i'm convinced you all really, really care, too.

hahah, thats exactly what i was going to point out. :) but i didnt want Jag to think i was being a prick.

anyway, i realize that the US is fucking great and all of their ideas are the best and their economy kicks soooo much ass, but really, for the middle class….and even the lower middle class, things are probably better in many other countries.

but americans are MOST famous for not being able to put themselves in anyone else's shoes…even other americans!

Sorry, I didn't realize I was appearing on the McLaughlin Report. ;)

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
6.5% of 64 million people is 4.16 million people. That's a little different than "nobody."

Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes,Japanese Golfer:
For what? My original quote "Moreover…"?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_France

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:

Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes,Japanese Golfer:
And how is their economy "wrecked" if nobody is living in poverty?

Source?

Originally posted by Brandon Brendall, the thief:
There is no constitutional right to take a vacation. Stop crying and work to get a better job if you don't like what yours offers.

not all of us want to sell our souls to the government for a few measly vacation days! why do the sheep get all the good benes??

Originally posted by le sonick:
but americans are MOST famous for not being able to put themselves in anyone else's shoes…even other americans!

very interesting observation. can't say i dissagree. i guess it's an extension of the social emphasis placed on individuality in this country.

Happier? Is that why they have so many riots and car burnings? Protests and strikes? Is that why 53% voted for a conservative president who ran a campaign on changing the status quo? Healthier, maybe, but I wouldn't call the French "happier" overall. And I have no idea why you threw in attractive, like that has any relevance.

The poverty rate is not a good indicator of the overall economy of a nation. The poverty rate is low in France because of massive government spending on welfare, which in turn has helped slow their economy…see my original post in this thread, which breaks it down.

And no, I've never been, but I plan on it sometime in the next few years.

Originally posted by Charlie Nakatestes,Japanese Golfer:
Have you ever been to France? Their people seem so much happier, healthier, and attractive compared to here, even with the smoking and red meat.

And how is their economy "wrecked" if nobody is living in poverty?

Uh, except that as individuals, Americans give more to charity than any other nation on earth.

Originally posted by sweetcell:

Originally posted by le sonick:
but americans are MOST famous for not being able to put themselves in anyone else's shoes…even other americans!

very interesting observation. can't say i dissagree. i guess it's an extension of the social emphasis placed on individuality in this country.

Originally posted by Brandon Brendall, the thief:
Uh, except that as individuals, Americans give more to charity than any other nation on earth.

not surprising, since the US is the richest on earth and has a huge population. percentage of income given might be better grounds for bragging rights (then again, richer you get, the more disposable income you have to give away). but i'm certainly not knocking charitable giving in this country by individuals.

btw, source?