The French are kidnapping bosses throughout the country

[Sarah Ibarruri]

I heard on NPR this a.m. that the French (love them! They have more balls than we do!) are angry about the economy, and blame those with $ and power. They're kidnapping bosses. Okay, I'm not in favor of violence, but you know what? If CEOs are living famously, while people that have worked for the company to make him rich, get sacked, what are people to think?

Anyway, I looked up articles on this and came up with:


http://www.theprovince.com/opinion/Bossnapping+sweeps+France/1433715/story.html


http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jIIM90WyRdtmDowkRXClzkxsM7Xg


http://www.expatica.com/fr/news/news_focus/Bossnapping_-a-new-trend-in-France__50987.html

[madaboutharry]

1. What a great concept.

Who hasn't had a boss they would have liked to have done this to? I can think of several co-workers as well!

Americans are too mealy mouthed.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

2. Americans grow up threatened, and they're therefore afraid of everything nt

[acmavm]

15. There's a LOT of truth to what you say. But then again, since Reagan

we've had a government who doesn't mind doing really shitty stuff to citizens who complain.

I mean, what else is the 'Patriot Act' good for?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

19. I agree. It's always horrific under Repukes! nt

[Terry in Austin]

3. Gotta love 'em, pitchforks and all

Or would that be "les pichefourques?"

:evilgrin:

[mbperrin]

4. Absolutely time that those who abuse power find out that actions

actually do have consequences.

Got to love some of that French!

[Sequoia]

5. Remember the movie, "9 to 5" when the boss was kidnapped

and tied up by Jane Fonda,Dolly Parton & Lily Tomlin? That was super funny.




Recently divorced Judy Bernly takes an office job and soon becomes pals with fellow secretaries Violet Newstead and Doralee Rhodes. Their boss is male chauvinist Franklin Hart Jr. , who is trying to land Doralee in bed. While smoking pot one night the women hatch a plan to take revenge on their cruel boss.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

6. Love it! lol nt

[Canuckistanian]

7. If that was tried in America, there would be SWAT teams and snipers

And they would be there in record time. The workers would be denounced as terrorists and their friends and families would be taken in for questioning.

CNN would have satellite trucks there and theme music already made up in prparation for 24/7 coverage of this "tragedy".
Executive's family members will be shown weeping.

Christian conservatives would blame it on Gay Marriage and abortion and call for more laws.

Gun nuts would form posses and start heading to the scene.

And Bill O'Reilly would lie about some aspect of the situation and demand that someone get the death penalty.

Just a guess.

[billyoc]

9. Well, that didn't happen whe Republic Window and Door workers occupied their factory

and Obama spoke out in support of them.

[Canuckistanian]

11. They didn't hold their bosses hostage

That's an important distinction.

[billyoc]

16. I don't think it is. The material goods are more important to a corporation

than the boss du jour.

[backscatter712]

14. I propose a different tactic: Kidnap Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes.

We'll see what tune FAUX Noise sings when there's a gun pointed at Murdoch's head.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

20. Yep, this country is designed to gag and handcuff the majority and keep the control among the rich

and powerful.

[leftofthedial]

8. What time is that extra American Idol show on E!?

[Orwellian_Ghost]

10. Can't they just...

... try some online petitions or ineffectual peace parades? That's what's worked for us.

Oh wait...

[leftstreet]

12. ...or strongly worded lettres!

:o

[progressoid]

17. Don't forget Blogging and Twittering!

[SammyWinstonJack]

31. .

:evilgrin:

[tinrobot]

13. Just like in 1789...

But without the guillotines...

[Sarah Ibarruri]

21. Exactly! The French don't stand for a lot of shit. Sooner or later they defend t hemselves nt

[TZ]

18. Yes kidnapping people and threatening violence unless you get your way is SOOOO classy

:sarcasm:
This reminds me of the Right to Lifers who feel they have the right to threaten and intimidate doctors who perform abortions because its "wrong".

[Sarah Ibarruri]

22. Well, our revolution was not fought with polls, and neither was the French revolution. nt

[Occulus]

26. For everyone else's sake, I'm glad you weren't alive during

our own Revolution.

[conspirator]

33. real life works like the romans used to say: "if you love peace you must be prepared for war"

Rich people are just not going to change the rules that benefit them, no matter how unfair, until the workers start literally breaking things up.
Unfortunately men has not yet evolved from the need of physical force.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

23. They don't have any more balls than anybody else.

They do it because they know that there will be no criminal consequences for doing it (provided that no violence is done, of course)

In neither case did police intervene to free the managers, in a tacit recognition that such radical tactics were part of negotiations and that no harm would come to the bosses.

[justaregularperson]

24. Face it, their country is freer than ours.

As long as there is no violence this is far better than many alternatives.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

29. If their country is freer than ours...

Then by definition, staging such a protest in the US would require more balls than doing it in France, wouldn't it? I have no opinion as to whether the US or France is more "free."

[justaregularperson]

25. I would add they do have "more balls". Three million stand up and protest.

Over jobs. We don't even have the "balls" to do that. Nor do we (many) have the compassion to stand for those in need in our communities.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

27. Going to a protest doesn't take balls either.

Nobody's going to teargas them, beat them, or arrest them. There is no risk.

[JI7]

28. i have asked people why they don't demand more for themselves

from just their job and the pay they get to things from government/politicians etc.

and many times they look at me as if i'm crazy or something.

in our society the people who are working hard but not getting the pay they deserve based on the wealth they are creating are often too tired to pay attention to what is going on when they get back. and this is how many at the top want to keep it. they don't want the people to demand more and get what they really deserve.

just look at the debate on EFCA vs the corporate bailouts. why does efca have to be perfect but they rushed through the bailouts for the whores. and don't forget about all the talk about how unfair it was to tax the bonuses of the whores.

[eridani]

30. If someone would sign up to bring the tumbrils and the guillotine--

--I'll take care of making sure there are plenty of knitting needles.

[blindpig]

32. k&r

The French working class has a lot more solidarity than we do. Lots of work to be done.