I have a job for you. How would you like... lifetime employment without possibility of being fired?
Also, 4 to 6 weeks off for vacation each year. A 35 hour work week. Free college education for everyone. Free healthcare for everyone -- and it is considered the "best" healthcare in the world. Retirement at 60 on full pension. Sound good? Move to France.
If they will let you. But their long French collective noses are out of joint right now. That nasty Mr. Sarkozy wants to change things. And what he wants to change is BIG!! He thinks, in order to balance their budget, they need to move retirement to age 62 from 60. I mean, those two years' might change everything! Those years just might be when you were planning on a long snooze...or maybe a trip to Tahiti? Your flower garden might not get planted without those two years. And the only time you would have off is...let me see: AFTER those 35 hours at work OR during your long summer vacation? What is he thinking anyway!? He is so unreasonable, he is not budging. Even when the transportation workers and the teachers go on strike. Even when they are picketing and burning down parked cars. I understand. In the meantime, I know a lot of unemployed Americans who would just love the opportunity for a job like that. And just think about it: Americans could retire 3 years EARLY in France? What a deal!!
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The program in Spain is much the same...except I do think the retirement age is higher...closer to 65. "Free college" is for everyone who scores high enough in the tests similar to SAT or ACT. Many don't score high enough to attend. Yes, and the health care in Spain is universal and outstanding. A friend of ours wife is dermatologist in Spain...spent a few weeks in UW Hospitals...and described most of the cases as "banal". I had to chuckle at that.
ReplyDeleteWe got a great laugh from reading the "terrible" situation the French are facing. AND we can't be at peace about the first tiny steps the US has taken in health care. You are giving great insight into how the rest of the world lives and some of the common threads for all humanity....the grass is always greener ...or change is difficult no matter what.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of skin problems as "banal" ... but quite frankly if it were me with the issue, I prefer "banal" to "avante garde" for a skin rash.
ReplyDeleteOn the flip side those of us in the US are complaining mightily about silly things as well - like having the taxes rise to match the spending, or reduce the spending, for instance. Once it gets into the details, political discourse gives way to temper tantrum. While we are not French, we do have a few things in common.
I have an answer without moving to France!
ReplyDelete*4-6 weeks off during the summer
*35-40 hour work week
*retire at 60 with 20 years experience
*a job for life with tenure
Become a TEACHER!
ps. For those teachers out there, I was a teacher so I can say this!
Add all that to the OTHER four-hundred-and-seven reasons I would like to move to France.
ReplyDelete