Comments by "Stephen Jenkins" (@stephenjenkins7971) on "Why Are the French Striking Again?" video.

@philippebrehier7386 This is a bizarre ask. Military and police are part of the government; of course they get "socialized" budgets like all public employees. It's not like anyone gets "socialized" budgets of water, food, or education. And cops/military are among the least paid jobs in a country, so idk what insanity goes on in that head of yours.
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@philippebrehier7386 Making sure the government is permanently insolvent because the people can't support their own retirees also does nothing but hurt the vulnerable and benefit the wealthiest.
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@seanonraet8327 Not at all, but if its done for no reason then people are gonna rightfully look down on you. People treat it like robbery.
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@seanonraet8327 Yeah, their passion has literally destroyed their country 5 separate times while countries like the US and Germany only get trashed once. That's not something to envy them for; especially when the French people are protesting for something ignorant in this case -maintaining impossible retirement ages at a time of low birth rates and longer lives.
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@philippebrehier7386 They do have mixed economies, as they should since capitalism needs limitations. But they are STILL capitalist; it's just a form of it. Even the Nordic countries, of which some call Socialist, have corrected them that they're capitalist.
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@philippebrehier7386 French armed forces is a part of the French Ministry of Armed Forces. The police generally are under the jurisdiction of law enforcement in specific provinces, cities, and towns -they are both quite literally public servants. What exactly do you think they are? And yes, cops/military are among the least paid jobs in a country; they're public servants and tend to get much less income than their counterparts in the private sector.
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@philippebrehier7386 I admit when I'm wrong, but you have yet to admit you're entirely wrong about the military and police NOT being a part of the government.
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@peperminth7236 Productivity doesn't matter outside of international trade; the national economy morphs around productivity of the average person and income rises and so does cost of living with it. The "billionaires" are heavily taxed in France, and that STILL doesn't avoid the actual issue. Good job completely dodging the actual problem, people like you are literally the "This is fine" meme.
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@peperminth7236 Yoyr system will not work because that dodges the issue. I'm sure that "properly" taxing the wealthy will work, but the situation of "more retirees/less workers and tax base ratio" will continue to worsen. You are ignoring the primary issue in favor of kicking the can down the road.
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@philippebrehier7386 Bruh, the other dude noted the extreme and massive jump in life expectancy and along with it living standards between thousands of years and the last 200 years; and your response is "that's cherrypicking"? He noted both, that's a comparison, not cherrypicking. The only thing you can complain about in his logic is that something else was responsible for the massive jump in living standards; but capitalism really is the only thing that makes sense.
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@philippebrehier7386 1) I wasn't talking about that, but there is an issue where the President can skip over the Legislative branch like this and push something so unpopular. 2) "In 2022, the average salary in France is €2,340 net per month or €39,300 net per year." "The national average salary for a Military is €1,575 in France." <---this is monthly "The average pay for a Police Officer is €49,452 a year and €24 an hour in France. The average salary range for a Police Officer is between €34,963 and €59,936. On average, a High School Degree is the highest level of education for a Police Officer." Edit: I mixed up middle class monthly salary with annual salary. In reality the police do make roughly a bit more than the middle class while soldiers on average make well below minimum wage. Could be wrong though.
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@french907 If you think raising taxes on the rich will solve this, then you are literally the "This is fine" meme like 99% of the protestors in this case. That being said, this pension reform is seriously flawed and done in a very disturbing way. Though the French seemed A-OK with this rule when it benefitted them, so idk how to feel about it. You're either okay with it, or you're not, you can't pick and choose just because its now being used for policy you don't like. And the worst scenario is the most obvious one; the fact is that with less workers and higher life expectancy, there will be more retirees and less workers to support them. At least in terms of ratio. SOMETHING needs to be done. Whether more immigration, raised retirement age, or raised birth rates.
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@cielvague "Just go into further debt, that will solve the problem"
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@roxane5339 "I can tell you I'm not so much of a political person but for the first time in my life I will be striking Thursday because I can't accept a government that ignores 3/4 of its population over a reform he could have taken the time to build WITH us." This is the ONLY good reason to protest or even riot. The skipping over the democratic process by using flaws in the French Constitution (built in by De Gaulle apparently) is gross af. That being said, don't act like this is the majority of people. 99% of people that talked about this I have seen are only doing so because "we want to retire earlier". This is pure ignorance and is the reality of the protest and rioting; selfishness disguised as protecting democratic rights.
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@theyeening Cry all you want, but nothing you can't support retirees when they eventually make up 50% of the population. And its this logic why Marxist states always collapse; they gamble away the future for the sake of the present.
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@antoinebaldur2941 So going by this logic we should just overthrow the government whenever because other people protested that as bad, right? Maybe start going on a hunt for fascists and Marxists because who cares about rules since they were broken before, amirite? Your logic is skewed. Just because someone used the same logic before doesn't mean it doesn't fly now.
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@peperminth7236 I am sick and tired of people acting like raising production of the individual per capita actually matters to a domestic economy. When more people make stuff, they get paid more, and prices rise in retaliation. Living conditions and the wealth needed to sustain it remains relatively stagnant. Even if you literally tax rich people of all of their money, that isn't gonna solve anything, genius.
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@SpottedHares Is that why France is worst than the US in terms of living standards? Because they "hold their politicians accountable"?
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@philippebrehier7386 Gotta love how you act like capitalism hasn't massively improved living standards for its short existence in human history and that there is some alternative that isn't atrociously worse lol
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@stephb8756 You're 100% correct. But the fact of the matter is that capitalism is a flexible enough system that allows for such changes to begin with. The people most often crying about capitalism are often Marxists -and their ideology has never allowed for such flexibility. That's kinda my point. I am in no way advocating for capitalism unchained. I kept it simple because going off on a long tangent to clarify doesn't work in YouTube comment sections, typically. :D
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@stephb8756 Marx had a simplified and dumbed down understanding of how capitalism functioned; ignoring all other aspects of human civilization other than class. Humans are not inherently logical creatures, so him ignoring societal norms/religion/culture/and so much more is a big negative that has caused a lot of death in his name. As for the Bolsheviks, indeed they massively improved life in Russia. But they did so in the backdrop of the Russian Empire -basically any ideology with time can do better than literal feudal structures.
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@steph b Don't be dishonest and act like capitalist societies have feudal structures, because if you do that then I'm going to have to mention how Marxist societies resemble feudalism quite a bit more with all of the means of production owned by a few lords called the politburo. Ignore it if you want. It's the blunt truth. I am a Social Democrat, but a neoliberal is preferable to a Marxist. Marxists are as bad as Fascists, and they make the same arguments; "we not as bad as X"
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@matthew8153 That almost never happens. When people start working while or before college, it's for their pocket money.
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@matthew8153 It is, but don't act like they HAVE to do that to avoid student loans. That's complete propaganda on your part.
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@matthew8153 Uh, no, that's just the blunt truth. Did you forget to take your meds?
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@BerlinBoi67 They will get replaced by new pensioners, though. The issue is that there ratio between working and retirees will only get more skewed towards retirees due to the current demographics. So in reality; it will only get worse.
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@french907 That person you're agreeing with unironically thinks that mixed economies aren't capitalist. So I wouldn't, if I were you. Anyway, there are only three solutions for this problem that is only going to get worse. Macron's pro-business policies are absurd in this context, but most people are only mad about this because "raising pension age bad", they don't have any realistic alternatives. So basically, the protests are perfectly rational, but done for the wrong reasons. You can point out the possible consequences of raising retirement age all you want; but those are all basically nothing compared to the consequences of NOT doing it.
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@Mussi93 Oh yes, and then damn future generations with impossible debts as more and more retirees suckle on the young. Let's just be honest and wish for the destruction of France while we're at it lmao
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@Duck-wc9de Eastern Europe is not any better in this, wut?
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@notright7 That really doesn't change that the raising of the retirement age needed to happen. It's just the rest of the reforms and how it was done that was seriously sus. If it does NOT happen; then you're gambling away France's future for the present.
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