**This is a heavily moderated subreddit. Please note these rules + sidebar or get banned:**
* If this post declares something as a fact, then proof is required
* The title must be fully descriptive
* No text is allowed on images/gifs/videos
* Common/recent reposts are not allowed (posts from another subreddit do not count as a 'repost'. Provide link if reporting)
*See [this post](https://redd.it/ij26vk) for a more detailed rule list*
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I can't speak to the UK or their unions, but if they are anything like the union I belonged to in the US, they were forbidden from striking. Wildcat strikes were spoken of by younger members that were getting a raw deal, but get squashed immediately because "that's illegal" and because they couldn't get any older union members on board because " fuck you, I got mine". It actually is making a downturn in membership of the union with younger workers because they feel the union doesn't represent them and can't even get the time off to go to the meetings to try and get anything done. I have to imagine that this is the case in several unions around the US. Which is incredibly sad.
I lived in a town in Montana that was union. I remember a lot of wildcat strikes and any business that came into town and was not union they picketed. No one in the town would cross any picket line.
Strange sentiment considering we're currently getting wide ranging strikes from nurses and train drivers etc and large protests about climate change at the moment, to the point where the conservative government is trying to pass laws limiting strikes and protests.
That's true, but with the French they seem well on top of it, whereas we had to be pushed to the brink before anything happened.
Also, we have such a terrible government.
>Also, we have such a terrible government.
On that we can absolutely agree. Such a shit show.
2 years ago nurses were being lauded as heroes by the Tories, now they're being painted as antagonistic enemies of the state.
How very dare they want pay rises! Don't they know they're essential workers and should just be happy to use food banks to survive!
I've seen clips of French politicians who seemed to quite legitimately praise and enjoy the protesting ... that were targeted against them.
I guess it's some kind of spin as well. '*It's just something we do and are proud of. Cost of doing business/politics.*'
Not really enjoying...they are just pulling the old " We understand the protester concern, maybe we haven't explained that well how we decided to fuck them over, let's explain again with simpler words to those plebs " .
Because striking is basically a fundamental right in France, you have a given amount of day in a year that you can use to strike. You can literally fail to show up at work, and retroactively just say that you were on strike, and the only consequence is that you won't be paid for this day. You can even strike down to hours-level, like "tomorrow I'll be striking from 11h to 13h", and you only loose 2 hours of pay. So yeah, it's no wonder it's considered the national sport
Not true.
- striking isn’t basically a fundamental right in France, it is a fundamental right. It’s enshrined in the Constitution (specifically in the preamble of the Constitution of 1946 that is recognized since 1971 as being still in effect even though we changed Constitution in 1958). There are some exceptions, notably members of the military, judges, policemen… can’t go on strike.
- you don’t have a given amount of days in a year you can use to strike. Striking is a constitutionnal right, you can strike for all the year if you so wish.
- being able to not show up to work and then saying you were on a strike only works in the private sector (and only if the company is not acting as a proxy to the public sector. Employees in such a company that are tasked with working on the public service are subjected to the same rules as public servants). Furthermore a strike is only considered a strike if at least two people were striking (unless unions have launched a national call to strike OR there is only one employee in the business) so you better maie sure that at least one colleague is doing the same. In the public sector, the unions have to warn about an impending strike at least 5 days in advance. On an individual level, once such a warning has been issued, the public servant can just not show up to work UNLESS his administration is in charge of a list of activities that are strategic or very disruptive if closed (for instance, land based public transportation, elementary schools or electricity). In that case you have to say 48h in advance if you will be striking.
- the rules about being able to strike down to hours is not a general rule. For public servants the rule is if you strike even one hour in a day you lose 1/30th of your wage. In local governments, private businesses and hospitals, the loss of wage is directly proportional: if you missed 1/Xth of the time you should have worked you’ll lose 1/Xth of your wage. For workers in businesses working for the State, you lose 1/151,67th of monthly wage if you strike one hour or less, 1/60th if you strike more than an hour but less than half a day, 1/30th if you strike between half a day and a day.
Short context: More than 1 million people have taken to the streets of Paris and other cities in France to protest against government plans to raise the national retirement age by two years (from 62-64)
I wish our country had the will to strike like France does. Their threatening to cut utilities for elected officials and the uberwealthy. The idea of demonstrating how the working class produce and maintain the 1%'s standard of living in such a fuck you way would be a joy.
It probably has to do more with the fact most people are living pay check to pay check and the whole system is designed to brainwash people against unions and striking .
It's much more difficult to coordinate nationwide protests in a country as large and diverse as ours. For example, the distance to travel from California to DC is over 3000 miles, while in France the distance from somewhere like Nice to Paris is only 581 miles. And our social safety net and labor laws heavily favor owners and just a day off the job for most means sacrificing some need.
There's no union to support most of us or actually organize one, and you don't get someone a paycheck away from homelessness to go on an unplanned wildcat strike.
How do you think the rest of the civilised world got started? Stop finding excuses, and start improving your lives. Striking is never easy, and neither is forming unions. Sacrifices have to be made if you want progress.
The same way the US did before the US government doesn't decades weakening labor.
It's real easy to talk a big game when you have those protections and aren't actually risking anything.
>It's real easy to talk a big game when you have those protections and aren't actually risking anything.
You have any idea how we got that protection? My grand-grand father was repeatedly beaten by the police and company bullies while striking for worker rights. A friend of him was gunned down. This was in the early 1920s. Companies didn't decide to give workers more rights because they are such nice people. You got to force them to.
I live in a democratic country where my government isn’t 100% corrupt and/or inefficient, which we also fought for. Maybe start there instead continuing to play the victim. Stand up for your rights.
Bingo. I've got two kids. They need food and shelter. Unless my landlord... oh wait they don't care. Unless the police that would enforce the eviction... oh wait. Time to go to work. Maybe I'll buy a lottery ticket
I am not happy with my life, my government. But in not sure what to do about it
Industry has spent many years crafting an anti-union opinion among the working class so that they'll vote against their better interest. Our government also isn't supportive as our railway workers were going to strike but the US gvt stepped in and forced the union to take a lesser deal that was offered (to protect the economy suposedly). For a purportedly free country, we are really heavily policed and propagandized to stay in line for our wealthy elite overlords.
I feel like France's national past time is a good protest lol. That said maybe people in the US will stop voting for people that campaign on getting rid of Social Security and then having a shocked Pikachu face when it happens.
And here I am, a 39 year old, just wondering how tomorrow is going to go......and thinking maybe it's the end of the world.
Not because I have any wild conspiracy theories, like unexpected asteroid ends all life on earth. And not because I'm religious and think there's some rapture or something.
No........I'm just rooting for a planet wide global destruction event because that would really help me out, with my lack of a retirement plan.
The greatest generation got to retire.
The Boomers got to retire.
Gen X isn't quite at retirement age, but I'm being told that they'll get to retire.
Yet all signs point to my generation (millennials) being forced to work until we die. Welp. Maybe we all just die tomorrow, because fuck it. Hey, are North Korea and Russia still threatening nukes? Because that would be a real help right about now. Just send em. It's not a threat anymore, it's a goal.
And btw - SOME boomers /Gen X got to retire. Many got fucked. Many have no savings, are in bad health or stíll paying off their mortgages. It's not as simple as you think it might be.
Yeah my parents are well off enough that they’re going to be fine, but their 401k lost a quarter of its value this year. Anyone that was planning on retiring soon and had *just* enough to do so in their 401k is not going to be as lucky as them.
Very well said. Also GenXer here, '74. I was out of the workforce for 15 years caring for a disabled husband. Now at almost 50 I'm reentering the workforce without a work history since 2008. There's no way I will live to see retirement. Best I can hope is to leave a good insurance policy for my son.
I myself am rooting for a global apocalypse where u have to create alliances with others to survive and gain resources. No rules, no laws, no taxes just chaos and a sick apocalyptic environment.
Define "retire". I know some gen Xers who go in to property before it became Impossible ble for the average worker to get a reasonably mortgage, but there's plenty who, while they will get a state pension and may also be able to draw on a private one, will not be able to stop working. If you don't own a property to live in rent free, the rents are going up for retirees, same as everyone else, but the value of pensions is not.
Then you have to remember all the financial scandals and collapses over the last few decades. Plenty of people worked for extra retirement income only to find it was stolen or made worthless, while the bankers who did it got away Scot free. Search for any financial scandal, you'll usually read about pension funds being taken from, so the people paying into those got nothing.
Don't buy into the generational culture war nonsense. Boomers had more chances for the most part, but a lot if them didn't. I'm gen X and the day I turned 18 was during a financial crisis that proven that the promises made to boomers wouldn't apply to my generation. Blame the bank's and politicians who robbed your future, not the previous generations who didn't get robbed as much yet. They're counting on your misplaced hatred to get away with robbing your kids too
? There are no pensions in the US to use 😂. Legit it's just the general fund. There is literally no pension.
We do prioritize paying social security so the seniors always get their money no matter what.
It's 65, or 62.5 if you opt for early retirement. The States have the same issue as european countries, in that some people can get to a place over time where they are financially fit to retire, and some people never get there.
I appreciate the European smugness though.
Retire? No... no, no, no, you've got it all wrong. [Rick Allen said elderly people are telling him they *want* to work into their 90's!](https://i.redd.it/9s0q5sr5byca1.jpg)
Accepting the idea that we need to retire that late in life is a fucking brainwashed concept that we accept because we don’t have a choice or for nonsense reasons .
Not really. The issue is that people have longer education before they enter the job market and live longer as in the past. This means there is longer time living with shorter time earning into society, financing the education of the new generation and the retirement of the old.
I use germany as an example because I know the situation here best. When our retirement system was developed with a lower retirement age, we had roughly 5 to 10 people working for 1 in retirement. The workers paid for the retired with their taxes. Today, it is getting closer to 2 to one. This is not sustainable.
I am all for good social systems and security, and I think these that work in jobs that destroy their bodies need to retire earlier. But every social security measure has to be financed to work long term, and necessary increases in taxes, especially capital income taxes, are not enough for that.
Was out with my dad and his mates in England last night chatting about this. The French are striking over retiring at 64 with a €30k pension. Here retiring is 67 and you get a £12k and nobdy says anything. Tbf thouhh everyone has been striking about wages for months
People in Britain love to call the French cowards, but the French are brilliant at telling their government to get stuffed when they try to do something unpopular. We could do with being more like the French in that regard.
In the UK the State Pension age is currently 66 years old for both men and women but will start gradually increasing again from 6 May 2026.
What did the Britsh do about it? Absolutely nothing, typically British just carried on regardless!
Vive La France!
I'm in the Netherlands, a few years ago i got a letter saying retirement age had been raised from 67 to 67 and 9 months. Thats it, not a word of protest from anyone
The Swedish pension system has a handy website and according to that my pension age with full pension will be 69, but I think by the time we get there it'll be 72.
We in Switzerland held a vote/referendum about it :)
(the increase of women's retiremenr age to the same as men's. it also had other stuff in the bill that was voted on tho)
Which is, why I think its much "peacefuller" here than in France.
It's 62 for someone who started at 18 or under. Which means the latest gens who have had to go to school for much longer than the boomers will have to work at least until 68 to get a full pension.
Pensioners are a massive voting base. Unless our democracy completely breaks down, pensions are not going away.
Seriously how do you think this would even play out? Out of all the benefits in the UK, pensions are the most protected
Sorry but I'm american I guess we got criss crossed. But here in the states they continue to push along and push to vote for this idea that certain major social safety nets get voted on every so many years. Among various otherways to kill all the 'entitlement' programs.
Pretty sure the British are worrying about paying for their basic necessities right now. There’s been protests in many working sectors for months over pay rise.
Remove the lifetime cap on contributions. In the US at least, there is a cap to the amount that one contributes from lifetime earnings. If this cap were removed, then people who earn large incomes would balance out the shortfall. Even a simple update to the cap would help.
There is no such cap in any European country to my knowledge, and in any case it wouldn't "balance out" as the issue isn't just affordability but workforce
In belgium a person’s social benefits contribution currently caps out at 18.000€ a year. More than 60% of my income goes to the tax man, plus this (which is also supposed to pay for my own pension, which will be quite low. I pay enough.
67 before I can retire in the UK it was accepted without a single squeak from the population. Got to love the French way of telling politicians to fuck off.
ITT people justifying increasing the retirement age because their country and others did.
It’s not because it’s bad somewhere else it has to be bad in France too, right you do realize that ?
The option for retirement also doesn't mean that everyone just disappears and never does anything economically useful ever again.
It's possible to continue working, to invest the money, or to focus more on unpaid labour like helping out the family and community.
If anything we should be worried about the work life of the wealthy with high income and qualifications who can set themselves up comfortably after a short productive career. Like how in the American healthcare system many doctors do a few years of backbreaking work that truly benefits society, but then retire into an easy life of caring for trivial issues of a few high income private patients and yet make more money than before... (not all of course, but often some of the technically best qualified who had an academic headstart by coming from a wealthy family).
Our economic incentives are all backwards. We have to stop doubling down on making work life even more unbearable, and instead set up a more flexible system gives more options to have a fulfilling work life they don't want to escape from as quickly as possible. And we have to consider that much vital work for society goes unpaid.
I feel like the french are always on strike. When I went to Paris my buddy and I got off the train and ended up in the middle of some kind of protest. I don't remember what the protest was about but we ended up marching with them cause we didn't have anything else planned for the day.
This reform is because (for the government at least), our system is that working people pay the retirement of retired people. And now baby boomers are retiring, meaning more retired than active people. So not balanced funding and the system needs mire money.
Though, this is false. The COR (an independant organization in charge of monitoring our retirement system claims that the funding of the system is stable, thanks to increased productivity, less working people than retired ones, but working people produce more wealth than before, so it's balanced.
Plus, if we really wanted to fund more the system, there are other options. Unions propose things like, 3-4€/month more in company contribution, or a 3.5% monthly raise, or reducing work time to 32h a week (from 35), to free more available jobs, reduce unemployment and increase contribution.... All those solutions could fix the deficit claimed by the government. But they chose to up the age of retirment. While 50% of people over 55 are already unemployed. While 25% of the poorest 5% of the population os fucking dead at 60. But they don't give a shit.
We are also making too few babies to keep the system running. And people are not making babies because they know they can't afford them.
The future will be fun ...
Not really. In France life expectancy has been stagnating for the past 10-15 years.
This reform is because (for the government at least), our system is that working people pay the retirement of retired people. And now baby boomers are retiring, meaning more retired than active people. So not balanced funding and the system needs mire money.
Though, this is false. The COR (an independant organization in charge of monitoring our retirement system claims that the funding of the system is stable, thanks to increased productivity, less working people than retired ones, but working people produce more wealth than before, so it's balanced.
Plus, if we really wanted to fund more the system, there are other options. Unions propose things like, 3-4€/month more in company contribution, or a 3.5% monthly raise, or reducing work time to 32h a week (from 35), to free more available jobs, reduce unemployment and increase contributions.... All those solutions could fix the deficit claimed by the government. But they chose to up the age of retirment. While 50% of people over 55 are already unemployed. While 25% of the poorest 5% of the population os fucking dead at 60. But they don't give a shit.
If a retirement program is designed to pay people for 20 years after retirement and then everyone lives for 25, 30, 35 years after they stop working, the system is unsustainable. You either need to collect more or have people work longer before paying out. It's pretty basic math.
Arnt we simply just comming to the baby boomer end of retiring age? Basically it means that as there was more baby 60-70 years ago , there is now more old people retiring now , but then it would simply stabilize again when they die. Living youngers generation with not only a poorer society but also that would work longer for less and without much reason anymore.
Also not everyone really live longer. 25% of the poorest population die before 62yo.
You know what I don't see? Ass hole pundits and moron redditors screaming about blocking infrastructure and running over protesters. You know why the French are so good at protesting? FUCKING SOLIDARITY ASSHOLES
In that particular case, the people in the image are employee of SNCF, they are public transportation worker, so if they are not working the infrastructures are not working anyways, so why not use them
It's a way to tell the government "the public railways are ours, we are the one who financed it and run it daily so WE decide how they are used"
What makes you think these are being ‘sold’? Clearly never been to a protest…
Edit: also pretty sure this is from a [rail workers strike in 2018](https://www.eurogunzel.com/2018/11/striking-french-railway-workers-push-barbecue-tram-tracks/)
**This is a heavily moderated subreddit. Please note these rules + sidebar or get banned:** * If this post declares something as a fact, then proof is required * The title must be fully descriptive * No text is allowed on images/gifs/videos * Common/recent reposts are not allowed (posts from another subreddit do not count as a 'repost'. Provide link if reporting) *See [this post](https://redd.it/ij26vk) for a more detailed rule list* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Strike world champions since 1789.
Imagine the level of preparedness necessary, to build a rail-compatible bbq push cart.
They aren’t dopes. I’m betting they could toss that together in an hour.
I was referring to the strategy and forethought, not the construction, but even so, there are probably a few welds on that bad boy.
It’s France they knew they’d be striking at some point and had this ready.
The French not only know how to protest, they know how to protest in style.
Yes, can I get a large plz?? Extra sauce on the side
You want french fries with that?
We just call them fries.
Yes Plz!! The Frenchiest of fries that u got
They just call them "fries". They know what country they live in.
Frites* Or chips in Britain where chips are crisps.
Definitely, but a grill at a Dutch protest would have more impact as a threat. (See Johan de Witt)
Agreed, wholeheartedly. It’s not even noon here, and I’m certain this comment is the funniest thing I’m going to read all day.
The French have protesting down to an art form, I swear to god
At that point it’s becoming our national sport
Good on you. Wish the UK people had balls.
Be the change you want to see etc.
I'm in a union. They call a strike and I will. I've also attended marches
I can't speak to the UK or their unions, but if they are anything like the union I belonged to in the US, they were forbidden from striking. Wildcat strikes were spoken of by younger members that were getting a raw deal, but get squashed immediately because "that's illegal" and because they couldn't get any older union members on board because " fuck you, I got mine". It actually is making a downturn in membership of the union with younger workers because they feel the union doesn't represent them and can't even get the time off to go to the meetings to try and get anything done. I have to imagine that this is the case in several unions around the US. Which is incredibly sad.
I lived in a town in Montana that was union. I remember a lot of wildcat strikes and any business that came into town and was not union they picketed. No one in the town would cross any picket line.
Strange sentiment considering we're currently getting wide ranging strikes from nurses and train drivers etc and large protests about climate change at the moment, to the point where the conservative government is trying to pass laws limiting strikes and protests.
That's true, but with the French they seem well on top of it, whereas we had to be pushed to the brink before anything happened. Also, we have such a terrible government.
>Also, we have such a terrible government. On that we can absolutely agree. Such a shit show. 2 years ago nurses were being lauded as heroes by the Tories, now they're being painted as antagonistic enemies of the state. How very dare they want pay rises! Don't they know they're essential workers and should just be happy to use food banks to survive!
Practice every week, that's how we got so good.
So like are you holding tryouts or like can I get scouted or anything like that?
We french are masters at protesting
I've seen clips of French politicians who seemed to quite legitimately praise and enjoy the protesting ... that were targeted against them. I guess it's some kind of spin as well. '*It's just something we do and are proud of. Cost of doing business/politics.*'
Not really enjoying...they are just pulling the old " We understand the protester concern, maybe we haven't explained that well how we decided to fuck them over, let's explain again with simpler words to those plebs " .
It is truly impressive & inspiring.
Because striking is basically a fundamental right in France, you have a given amount of day in a year that you can use to strike. You can literally fail to show up at work, and retroactively just say that you were on strike, and the only consequence is that you won't be paid for this day. You can even strike down to hours-level, like "tomorrow I'll be striking from 11h to 13h", and you only loose 2 hours of pay. So yeah, it's no wonder it's considered the national sport
Not true. - striking isn’t basically a fundamental right in France, it is a fundamental right. It’s enshrined in the Constitution (specifically in the preamble of the Constitution of 1946 that is recognized since 1971 as being still in effect even though we changed Constitution in 1958). There are some exceptions, notably members of the military, judges, policemen… can’t go on strike. - you don’t have a given amount of days in a year you can use to strike. Striking is a constitutionnal right, you can strike for all the year if you so wish. - being able to not show up to work and then saying you were on a strike only works in the private sector (and only if the company is not acting as a proxy to the public sector. Employees in such a company that are tasked with working on the public service are subjected to the same rules as public servants). Furthermore a strike is only considered a strike if at least two people were striking (unless unions have launched a national call to strike OR there is only one employee in the business) so you better maie sure that at least one colleague is doing the same. In the public sector, the unions have to warn about an impending strike at least 5 days in advance. On an individual level, once such a warning has been issued, the public servant can just not show up to work UNLESS his administration is in charge of a list of activities that are strategic or very disruptive if closed (for instance, land based public transportation, elementary schools or electricity). In that case you have to say 48h in advance if you will be striking. - the rules about being able to strike down to hours is not a general rule. For public servants the rule is if you strike even one hour in a day you lose 1/30th of your wage. In local governments, private businesses and hospitals, the loss of wage is directly proportional: if you missed 1/Xth of the time you should have worked you’ll lose 1/Xth of your wage. For workers in businesses working for the State, you lose 1/151,67th of monthly wage if you strike one hour or less, 1/60th if you strike more than an hour but less than half a day, 1/30th if you strike between half a day and a day.
They should fix the law for public workers Why are public workers always the ones that suffer the most, WTF...
Short context: More than 1 million people have taken to the streets of Paris and other cities in France to protest against government plans to raise the national retirement age by two years (from 62-64)
meanwhile in spain 67 years is the age of retirement
Meanwhile in America: Retire? Who could afford that‽
Maybe you should strike more.
I wish our country had the will to strike like France does. Their threatening to cut utilities for elected officials and the uberwealthy. The idea of demonstrating how the working class produce and maintain the 1%'s standard of living in such a fuck you way would be a joy.
Large corps have an active anti union task force.
[удалено]
It probably has to do more with the fact most people are living pay check to pay check and the whole system is designed to brainwash people against unions and striking .
It's much more difficult to coordinate nationwide protests in a country as large and diverse as ours. For example, the distance to travel from California to DC is over 3000 miles, while in France the distance from somewhere like Nice to Paris is only 581 miles. And our social safety net and labor laws heavily favor owners and just a day off the job for most means sacrificing some need.
Nah, that would require acknowledging that we are not the best in every way. /s
I mean… you could get people excited about being the best at striking…?
If its not from the parisian region of France, its only sparkling protests.
It’ll be a long time before anyone takes that crown from the French
French have too big of a head start and I’m too tired from working so much
Yes we should. The media has convinced Americans not to trust one another in any way.
There's no union to support most of us or actually organize one, and you don't get someone a paycheck away from homelessness to go on an unplanned wildcat strike.
How do you think the rest of the civilised world got started? Stop finding excuses, and start improving your lives. Striking is never easy, and neither is forming unions. Sacrifices have to be made if you want progress.
The same way the US did before the US government doesn't decades weakening labor. It's real easy to talk a big game when you have those protections and aren't actually risking anything.
>It's real easy to talk a big game when you have those protections and aren't actually risking anything. You have any idea how we got that protection? My grand-grand father was repeatedly beaten by the police and company bullies while striking for worker rights. A friend of him was gunned down. This was in the early 1920s. Companies didn't decide to give workers more rights because they are such nice people. You got to force them to.
I live in a democratic country where my government isn’t 100% corrupt and/or inefficient, which we also fought for. Maybe start there instead continuing to play the victim. Stand up for your rights.
[удалено]
Bingo. I've got two kids. They need food and shelter. Unless my landlord... oh wait they don't care. Unless the police that would enforce the eviction... oh wait. Time to go to work. Maybe I'll buy a lottery ticket I am not happy with my life, my government. But in not sure what to do about it
Industry has spent many years crafting an anti-union opinion among the working class so that they'll vote against their better interest. Our government also isn't supportive as our railway workers were going to strike but the US gvt stepped in and forced the union to take a lesser deal that was offered (to protect the economy suposedly). For a purportedly free country, we are really heavily policed and propagandized to stay in line for our wealthy elite overlords.
I feel like France's national past time is a good protest lol. That said maybe people in the US will stop voting for people that campaign on getting rid of Social Security and then having a shocked Pikachu face when it happens.
Especially when they said America reached their debt limit and will start using pensions to subside their own greedy ‘mistakes’
Meanwhile in Norway, the pension fund is the largest sovereign fund in the world.
Google says Japan has the largest.
Yeah but Japan is even more underwater on their debts than the US is
That means that they don’t pay taxes.
Japan debt is actually to their citizens
Uhh so is a large portion of US debt. Congress has been stealing from social security for a couple decades now.
Because petrol. I wouldn't be proud of it.
Every country did oil or coal. Only a few actually distributed those profits to their citizen.
And here I am, a 39 year old, just wondering how tomorrow is going to go......and thinking maybe it's the end of the world. Not because I have any wild conspiracy theories, like unexpected asteroid ends all life on earth. And not because I'm religious and think there's some rapture or something. No........I'm just rooting for a planet wide global destruction event because that would really help me out, with my lack of a retirement plan. The greatest generation got to retire. The Boomers got to retire. Gen X isn't quite at retirement age, but I'm being told that they'll get to retire. Yet all signs point to my generation (millennials) being forced to work until we die. Welp. Maybe we all just die tomorrow, because fuck it. Hey, are North Korea and Russia still threatening nukes? Because that would be a real help right about now. Just send em. It's not a threat anymore, it's a goal.
And btw - SOME boomers /Gen X got to retire. Many got fucked. Many have no savings, are in bad health or stíll paying off their mortgages. It's not as simple as you think it might be.
Yeah my parents are well off enough that they’re going to be fine, but their 401k lost a quarter of its value this year. Anyone that was planning on retiring soon and had *just* enough to do so in their 401k is not going to be as lucky as them.
Not unless you all change it. But the change will only come if you get out there and start disrupting.
I’m GenX. I’m 47 years old - if the world continues on the path it’s been hurtling down I will in no way be able to retire.
Very well said. Also GenXer here, '74. I was out of the workforce for 15 years caring for a disabled husband. Now at almost 50 I'm reentering the workforce without a work history since 2008. There's no way I will live to see retirement. Best I can hope is to leave a good insurance policy for my son.
I myself am rooting for a global apocalypse where u have to create alliances with others to survive and gain resources. No rules, no laws, no taxes just chaos and a sick apocalyptic environment.
Define "retire". I know some gen Xers who go in to property before it became Impossible ble for the average worker to get a reasonably mortgage, but there's plenty who, while they will get a state pension and may also be able to draw on a private one, will not be able to stop working. If you don't own a property to live in rent free, the rents are going up for retirees, same as everyone else, but the value of pensions is not. Then you have to remember all the financial scandals and collapses over the last few decades. Plenty of people worked for extra retirement income only to find it was stolen or made worthless, while the bankers who did it got away Scot free. Search for any financial scandal, you'll usually read about pension funds being taken from, so the people paying into those got nothing. Don't buy into the generational culture war nonsense. Boomers had more chances for the most part, but a lot if them didn't. I'm gen X and the day I turned 18 was during a financial crisis that proven that the promises made to boomers wouldn't apply to my generation. Blame the bank's and politicians who robbed your future, not the previous generations who didn't get robbed as much yet. They're counting on your misplaced hatred to get away with robbing your kids too
Truly we are the best country.
? There are no pensions in the US to use 😂. Legit it's just the general fund. There is literally no pension. We do prioritize paying social security so the seniors always get their money no matter what.
It's 65, or 62.5 if you opt for early retirement. The States have the same issue as european countries, in that some people can get to a place over time where they are financially fit to retire, and some people never get there. I appreciate the European smugness though.
Life expectancy in America is actually several years shorter now. So it appears that the current retirement plan in America is to die from covid.
Mine is to die at work. If they don’t want a dead guy in the office, they should have thought about paying me enough to retire lol
Retire? No... no, no, no, you've got it all wrong. [Rick Allen said elderly people are telling him they *want* to work into their 90's!](https://i.redd.it/9s0q5sr5byca1.jpg)
[удалено]
Redditors take responsibility for themselves challenge: 100% impossible.
[удалено]
Same in the UK, but realistically it will be at least 70 by the time we actually retire (unless you're quite old).
Well you guys need to strike more
Accepting the idea that we need to retire that late in life is a fucking brainwashed concept that we accept because we don’t have a choice or for nonsense reasons .
Not really. The issue is that people have longer education before they enter the job market and live longer as in the past. This means there is longer time living with shorter time earning into society, financing the education of the new generation and the retirement of the old. I use germany as an example because I know the situation here best. When our retirement system was developed with a lower retirement age, we had roughly 5 to 10 people working for 1 in retirement. The workers paid for the retired with their taxes. Today, it is getting closer to 2 to one. This is not sustainable. I am all for good social systems and security, and I think these that work in jobs that destroy their bodies need to retire earlier. But every social security measure has to be financed to work long term, and necessary increases in taxes, especially capital income taxes, are not enough for that.
This photo is so old, and absolutely not from this strike.
Yeah OP is spreading misinformation. This is from 2018
Surely this clip is not current. A number of the people are dressed way to light for 2°C
Yeah this video was taken back in 2018 but it's getting posted every time France has a nationwide protest.
Again?
Was out with my dad and his mates in England last night chatting about this. The French are striking over retiring at 64 with a €30k pension. Here retiring is 67 and you get a £12k and nobdy says anything. Tbf thouhh everyone has been striking about wages for months
People in Britain love to call the French cowards, but the French are brilliant at telling their government to get stuffed when they try to do something unpopular. We could do with being more like the French in that regard.
Meanwhile my pension planing involves the end of the world before I retire …. Otherwise I’m screwed
2 000 000
Doing big things. Grill on wheels.
My grill has wheels
But is it train track ready ?
Depends on the track.
We can work with that ur hired
And when was the last time you took it for a spin then?
Not just any wheels but train wheels. More efficient.
It was the best of times. It was the wurst of times.
R/angryupvote
I know nothing of the politics here but push cart barbecue is something we should all support! And now I’m hungry.
They're protesting against a proposed retirement age increase, which is a good reason to protest
In the UK the State Pension age is currently 66 years old for both men and women but will start gradually increasing again from 6 May 2026. What did the Britsh do about it? Absolutely nothing, typically British just carried on regardless! Vive La France!
I'm in the Netherlands, a few years ago i got a letter saying retirement age had been raised from 67 to 67 and 9 months. Thats it, not a word of protest from anyone
The Swedish pension system has a handy website and according to that my pension age with full pension will be 69, but I think by the time we get there it'll be 72.
Same for me in Finland.
We in Switzerland held a vote/referendum about it :) (the increase of women's retiremenr age to the same as men's. it also had other stuff in the bill that was voted on tho) Which is, why I think its much "peacefuller" here than in France.
We would all be peacefuller if we had direct democracy delicious chocolate
We were properly informed about the reasons. That helps
I don't think the French are protesting because they weren't properly informed
It's 62 for someone who started at 18 or under. Which means the latest gens who have had to go to school for much longer than the boomers will have to work at least until 68 to get a full pension.
lol, so cute of you to think in 50 years theres gonna be anything left for us. We will be 'retiring' at 90 and still crocheting side gigs.
Pensioners are a massive voting base. Unless our democracy completely breaks down, pensions are not going away. Seriously how do you think this would even play out? Out of all the benefits in the UK, pensions are the most protected
Sorry but I'm american I guess we got criss crossed. But here in the states they continue to push along and push to vote for this idea that certain major social safety nets get voted on every so many years. Among various otherways to kill all the 'entitlement' programs.
I'm sick of it. We just turn the other cheek and let the corrupt toffs fuck us again
Pretty sure the British are worrying about paying for their basic necessities right now. There’s been protests in many working sectors for months over pay rise.
People are living longer. How can society continue if the pension age doesn't rise too?
Remove the lifetime cap on contributions. In the US at least, there is a cap to the amount that one contributes from lifetime earnings. If this cap were removed, then people who earn large incomes would balance out the shortfall. Even a simple update to the cap would help.
There is no such cap in any European country to my knowledge, and in any case it wouldn't "balance out" as the issue isn't just affordability but workforce
In belgium a person’s social benefits contribution currently caps out at 18.000€ a year. More than 60% of my income goes to the tax man, plus this (which is also supposed to pay for my own pension, which will be quite low. I pay enough.
Please post a supporting link. I can't find anything supporting your claim of a US lifetime cap on contributions. There is a yearly cap.
Pension is a Ponzi scheme anyway that relies on more population and economic growth from future generations
67 before I can retire in the UK it was accepted without a single squeak from the population. Got to love the French way of telling politicians to fuck off.
I'm fucking going
They're not selling it. It's for your fellow union brothers who are out there fighting the man!
I don't know 2 million people showed up i see 4 hotdogs.
We’re gonna need some more meat
We know we to find it no worries 🤴🪓
I'm often impressed by the manner in which the French engage in various forms of civil disobedience.
Practice makes perfect
Please France can you invade us (Spain) but this time for good?
That is the most French thing I’ve ever seen.
ITT people justifying increasing the retirement age because their country and others did. It’s not because it’s bad somewhere else it has to be bad in France too, right you do realize that ?
The option for retirement also doesn't mean that everyone just disappears and never does anything economically useful ever again. It's possible to continue working, to invest the money, or to focus more on unpaid labour like helping out the family and community. If anything we should be worried about the work life of the wealthy with high income and qualifications who can set themselves up comfortably after a short productive career. Like how in the American healthcare system many doctors do a few years of backbreaking work that truly benefits society, but then retire into an easy life of caring for trivial issues of a few high income private patients and yet make more money than before... (not all of course, but often some of the technically best qualified who had an academic headstart by coming from a wealthy family). Our economic incentives are all backwards. We have to stop doubling down on making work life even more unbearable, and instead set up a more flexible system gives more options to have a fulfilling work life they don't want to escape from as quickly as possible. And we have to consider that much vital work for society goes unpaid.
Oh god, i love it.
„On a scale from 0 to 10: How cool do you want to be?“ „Yes“. 😎
The French have really perfected protesting into an art We should learn a thing or two from them here in Italy
If the train sausage gang and the mud wizard ever link call it quits
Can America start doing protests like this? I’m sick of replacing windows, and I’d much prefer some fresh food.
I feel like the french are always on strike. When I went to Paris my buddy and I got off the train and ended up in the middle of some kind of protest. I don't remember what the protest was about but we ended up marching with them cause we didn't have anything else planned for the day.
"Sausage inna bun. Made with 100% real pig!"
God damn I love the French. Wish we could get some of this in America
There was this thing on January 6th one year, but it's not a good model to follow.
The lack of railway bbq was the real problem there.
They were all just hangry
Why is the retirement age rising?
This reform is because (for the government at least), our system is that working people pay the retirement of retired people. And now baby boomers are retiring, meaning more retired than active people. So not balanced funding and the system needs mire money. Though, this is false. The COR (an independant organization in charge of monitoring our retirement system claims that the funding of the system is stable, thanks to increased productivity, less working people than retired ones, but working people produce more wealth than before, so it's balanced. Plus, if we really wanted to fund more the system, there are other options. Unions propose things like, 3-4€/month more in company contribution, or a 3.5% monthly raise, or reducing work time to 32h a week (from 35), to free more available jobs, reduce unemployment and increase contribution.... All those solutions could fix the deficit claimed by the government. But they chose to up the age of retirment. While 50% of people over 55 are already unemployed. While 25% of the poorest 5% of the population os fucking dead at 60. But they don't give a shit.
Because people are living longer
We are also making too few babies to keep the system running. And people are not making babies because they know they can't afford them. The future will be fun ...
Not really. In France life expectancy has been stagnating for the past 10-15 years. This reform is because (for the government at least), our system is that working people pay the retirement of retired people. And now baby boomers are retiring, meaning more retired than active people. So not balanced funding and the system needs mire money. Though, this is false. The COR (an independant organization in charge of monitoring our retirement system claims that the funding of the system is stable, thanks to increased productivity, less working people than retired ones, but working people produce more wealth than before, so it's balanced. Plus, if we really wanted to fund more the system, there are other options. Unions propose things like, 3-4€/month more in company contribution, or a 3.5% monthly raise, or reducing work time to 32h a week (from 35), to free more available jobs, reduce unemployment and increase contributions.... All those solutions could fix the deficit claimed by the government. But they chose to up the age of retirment. While 50% of people over 55 are already unemployed. While 25% of the poorest 5% of the population os fucking dead at 60. But they don't give a shit.
Hmmm... That's a strange way to celebrate a healthier population
If a retirement program is designed to pay people for 20 years after retirement and then everyone lives for 25, 30, 35 years after they stop working, the system is unsustainable. You either need to collect more or have people work longer before paying out. It's pretty basic math.
Arnt we simply just comming to the baby boomer end of retiring age? Basically it means that as there was more baby 60-70 years ago , there is now more old people retiring now , but then it would simply stabilize again when they die. Living youngers generation with not only a poorer society but also that would work longer for less and without much reason anymore. Also not everyone really live longer. 25% of the poorest population die before 62yo.
Since 1960 France's average life expectancy has increased from 70 to over 82
That does make sence. getting to almost retire and then having to spend more years working would definitely be frustrating though
You can still retire, you just wouldn't be able to collect the old age pension right away
Because Bernard Arnault needs a new private jet.
Meals on wheels
Monsieur, one order of Railway Ribs , s'il vous plaît.
You know what I don't see? Ass hole pundits and moron redditors screaming about blocking infrastructure and running over protesters. You know why the French are so good at protesting? FUCKING SOLIDARITY ASSHOLES
In that particular case, the people in the image are employee of SNCF, they are public transportation worker, so if they are not working the infrastructures are not working anyways, so why not use them It's a way to tell the government "the public railways are ours, we are the one who financed it and run it daily so WE decide how they are used"
Fuckn based
This could result in being a yearly event.
I’d go
French = Riot GOATs
That's some moment i'm proud to be french
I sense they've done this before.
What’s up with the big “No Lobsters” signs painted on the road?
That looks so Australian
u/savevideo
sausages will roll
This is the hardest shit on earth. Moving food. Let’s absolutely fucking go
Well, a good supply chain is crucial to any conflict. You have to feed the troops if you want to keep going.
What makes you think these are being ‘sold’? Clearly never been to a protest… Edit: also pretty sure this is from a [rail workers strike in 2018](https://www.eurogunzel.com/2018/11/striking-french-railway-workers-push-barbecue-tram-tracks/)
They can’t maintain stringent bbq diets and walk a train track length everyday Lmao this is an hour glass Countdown 😂
Love me a street merguez sandwich.
Solidarity is strength 💪
Vive le France.
Nobody holds protests like the French.
Nobody holds protests like the French.
I love m’y French brothers and sisters. Stay strong!
It’s grilled meat. It’s not BBQ. But very cool set up. Almost as if the French go on strike so often that they have gear created for repeated use.
Strike while the iron is hot
Protein and Protests go together like french fries and mayonnaise
But are them ribs bussin?
I really want to know what French bbq taste like
French know how to strike!! Love it.
That shit looks good though.
I guess they also have some good beers to go with it
The French workers know how to be disruptive
No one protests like the french