"I'm not sure what you meant by that, but it reminds me of a paradox that puzzles me. While I perceive Europe as being rampantly leftist in contrast to a more "conservative" America, I can't deny that American influences are partly responsible for European politics."
Fistful what I meant was that during the Clinton years I had the impression that
health insurance, education and a more centralized (federal ?) gouvernment looked very European to me. Just my impression, for the rest, revolutions -
like the glorious revolution, the indepandence wars followed by your constitution and then the French revolution - the CAnnonear described it really, really well.
About the CEP (contrat premiere embauche), that contract that had the young demonstrating against the gouverment, our young need to be protected the most that we possible can because for example of our very malfunctioning contract of generations, which means that every actively working person is paying the retirement of, well the retired, is only working if there are 4 people working for one retired person. Do the maths, it's not working and gives everybody the impression that your paying for somebody who can't give it back, talking about inheritance taxes and the flaw that we're only having 1,6 children, and so on....
In fact right now every productive person, like me, is dragging along : the old, the young, the unemployed, the gouvernment and so on. I'm sick of it.
Every work contract even here includes between 1 and 3 months of probation so your employer can figure out if you're fit or not for your position, no questions allowed if he sends you home. If there was no protection for our employees you could be sure, and it already has happend, that every factory on the continent would move out to Roumania, where you could produce for peanuts...
"Laurent, do you favor Segolene or Sarkozy? Do you think either of them will make much difference?"
I favor Sarkozy, I couldn't bring myself to vote socialist, I do think there will be a difference, I don't think things will get much better - basically I'm looking for the person who get's the job done, as long as he's not, well leftwing. All in all
I think we are on the edge and a new kind of revolution is waiting just behind the next corner....
Iain, I was working so I didn't watch the game, but in the Bistro where I had lunch people were talking a lot about it...
How does one do the quoting, grey in a frame thingy ?