MonteZuma

Well isn't this a blast from the past. Thanks Plut! I would also add to your list my own special mentions, including Kawika, Vaal'Enga and Moooose, but there are many more great people that made Chaos so much fun. I'll try and drop in for a while some time soon. Monte

Sorry Astro, but I think that you and SeVeR answered very well - I have nothing to add because I think that all of Aileron's !@#$%^&*ertions are preposterous.

Aileron. This is crazy talk.

The christians can celebrate easter by going to church and I can celebrate friendships and family by buying people I love or like some nice chocolate. ez. Everyone wins! Even the chocolate manufacturers.

If someone wishes me a happy Easter, I don't feel insulted. If a jew wished me a happy passover I wouldn't be insulted. I'm not isulted when people wish me a Merry Christmas. I wouldn't be insulted if you wished me a happy 4th July either. So what if I'm not Christian? Even if I'm not a christian, why shouldn't I be Merry on Christmas day or happy on Good Friday? And why shouldn't a jew or muslim or a friggin heathen wish a christian a happy Easter or a Merry Christmas? Maybe s/he wants you to be happy on your special day even if s/he thinks the day is just a great excuse to have time off work? Lighten up people. Its ok to be happy and Merry even if you aren't christian. And its ok for heathens to want christians to be happy and merry, too.

Its like saying 'have a good weekend'. Forget the religious meaning. Easter is a holiday. People are wishing you a happy holiday.

I gave you reasoning why I thought your reasoning (or the French reasoning) was unreasonable. Young people are an important part of the workforce. They shouldn't be treated as 2nd class citizens.

A generous welfare system is not the same as socialism. What Astro said. In my first job (an office job), most young people behaved more responsibly than most older people. Most young people still had ambition and drive. The older people doing the same work were stale and often lazy. It isn't true that young people are generally less 'responsible' than older people at work. Car insurance is more exxie for <30yos because young people are often less responsible behind the wheel of a car. But when it comes to doing office work or flipping burgers or operating a cash register, I doubt there is much difference between age groups. Any difference is more than made up for by the lower pay rates for young people anyway.

France is not a socialist country. Fast food joints, supermarkets, offices, call centres, etc, etc, etc prefer to hire young people for many positions because they are cheaper. They do this even in countries where young workers are protected. Some industries also have graduate traineeships that target <26yos. Other jobs prefer young people because of their fitness and lack of family ties. Young people have !@#$%^&*ets that some industries want. There are ways to make industry and youth and unions happy without taking away young people's right to job security (yes I think job security is a right). Job security doesn't mean a job for life...but it does mean that the welfare of the employee is at least partly the responsibility of the employer. If you hire and then fire somebody there should be a good reason, or the employee should be compensated through redundancy payments or whatnot. People shouldn't be treated as consumables.

no. >=Win95

I think most revolutions are like that. Few revolutionaries have a detailed plan for the future, they are just reacting to something they perceive as wrong in the present. I see your point. I don't think mom and dad stockholders should be responsible for corporate mismanagement or illegal dealings, except to the value of their holding. Perhaps Directors should be held more accountable? If that is your point, I might agree with you.

Maybe. But one of the saddest parts of modern life is the move towards contract work and out-sourcing. Without stable employment it is difficult to plan for the future (eg basic stuff like getting a mortgage and settling down in a given suburb or city). What is wrong with a standard 3, 6, or even 12 month probation period? !@#$%^&*uming that people under 26 make worse workers than people over 26 is a mistake. I assume that even in France, irresponsible people can be fired - if the irresponsibility can be proved.

Not really. There are more people going to college now than there were 25 years ago, so today's youth are probably more skilled, but less experienced. For unskilled labour, experience is not very important, so I don't think your logic works. No. Because there is an aging population, putting more older people on welfare increases the burden on the welfare system, which is already over-burdened in France. Young people out-compete older people in the supermarket because they work faster and are paid lower. I don't think skilled people working in supermarkets are the problem. Skilled people that work in unrewarding low-paid jobs don't do so out of boredom. They do it out of necessity. No. old people should be able to work if they choose to. But they should compete in the labour market on the same terms as everyone else. I'm not sure about France, but in most of Europe, college education is free or very cheap.

If you don't have large corporations you don't have large economies of scale. Things like banks, insurance companies, shipping companies, airlines, mining companies, supermarkets, shopping malls. I like to use large chain supermarkets because they have a larger range and bigger aisles. I don't have to trot off to the butcher and the fruiterer and the baker. I like very large shopping malls because they are convenient. I like buying cars from large m!@#$%^&*-producers because they are cheaper and have a larger service network. Sure there are serious problems that need to be managed with respect to large companies (#1 I think is rampant consumerism), but it is kinda necessary if we want a high standard of living in a capitalist system. Unless you can think of a better idea? Fwiw, there are things about theoretical communism that appeal to me. The fact that it is not based on class, but based on ability and need. But by the same token, I'm glad I live in a capitalist society. I just wish it was better regulated.

According to the CIA factbook, the full name of Spain is "The Kingdom of Spain". It is a parliamentary monarchy. It has a cons!@#$%^&*ution.

Well, Spain is still a monarchy, but basically I agree with the sentiment of SeVeR and Astro. I'm not so sure we can really say that any European country 'hates' France, but there are both historical and contemporary reasons why France is maligned.

Well yeah. The only person that has seen it is Dav.

Are you serious? Of course it has flaws. That is why it needs to be regulated.And why does it need to be regulated? Because of the people who use it, not because of the system they're using. What Manus said. Capitalism isn't a natural order created by God or mother nature. Capitalism is a people-made way of structuring human society. If people can abuse it then the system is flawed - by definition.

Are you serious? Of course it has flaws. That is why it needs to be regulated. Corporations are a fundamental part of capitalism and economic growth in capitalist societies. Large corporations are a product of capitalism. If large corporations are flawed then so is capitalism. Therefore capitalism is flawed. Are you suggesting that capitalism would be more 'successful' without corporations? If so, I disagree. Therefore capitalism is flawed. No. capitalism is about the private ownership of capital. The way capitalism is supposed to work is that the market decides how much capital (including labour) is worth. Not you or the government. That is yet another reason why capitalism is flawed. The nurse getting $13 per hour for wiping your grandmothers butt in the nursing home should be paid much more than the fat cats that trade stocks in New York and make $1,000 per hour.

I don't think that is the problem in this case. Eligible voters under 26 are probably a small proportion of the total eligible voter population. The problem in France is high unemployment. Especially high youth unemployment. Of course not. But there is nothing wrong with protesting. Often I think people unfairly lump protestors and rioters in the same boat. France is hardly involved in a civil war. Social upheaval will ALWAYS happen. It happens in the US. It happens in the UK. It happens in Australia. It happens virtually everywhere.

Do you mean 'Corporation'?

France is not lawless. There is obviously some social upheaval in France at the moment, but this kind of upheaval happens in almost all democratic nations from time to time.

Turkey is a European country.

But Tunisia will not be a 'member' of the EU. Afaik, the deal with Tunisia is just a trade agreement. The EU has many agreements with many countries that are not in the EU and not in Europe.

I've seen a bit of Europe and found that Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK were very diverse, but I didn't see many oriental asians anywhere and I didn't see many southern asians (India) on the continent. There are many "African" Europeans in the UK and France. I think many of these came via central America and the French and English colonies. Lots of Pakistanis and Indians in the UK. There are lots of muslims in most large western cities in western Europe. I guess many of these are Turks, but some are probably otherwise middle eastern. Just about the easiest fast food to buy in industrialised Europe are doner kebabs and felafals. There are a sprinkling of people that I'm not really familiar with. Maybe they are north africans? Not many of those in Australasia atm, but that is changing. Most of Europe isn't as diverse as North America or Australasia, but they are catching up. Except maybe in Scandanavia, but I've never been there.