French Union Calls for Apple Retail Store Employee Strike Coinciding with iPhone 5 Launch

[damitssam]

Macchiato2009,

Quit your damn whining. Bring your own lunch and water and shut up. If you hate your job so much, QUIT.

There's no gun pointed to your head and say go work.

Europeans have the highest paid salaries in the world (average worker) and they still goddam strike. Especially the french.\

I wonder how many 3rd world educated citizens would jump at the opportunity to work in a apple store.

 

[dbft]

Are people seriously arguing that they - as an individual with average personal wealth - by the magic of MARKETS - managed to earn themselves the wages and benefits they get?

If so you have absolutely no idea about the history of the world. The people who went without pay for months at a time to fight for better working conditions, and who regularly got fired for union activities. The fact is the working class (which includes almost everyone in this thread) is composed of entirely replaceable individuals. (The other classes are too - but there's fewer of them and they have more money - and hence more influence). Without working together (through unions) working rights will be deteriorated more and more.

Example: Since Thatcher broke the unions in the UK, turning much of the country into "I EARNED MY MONEY MYSELF" types the same as people in this thread - we're now having the biggest benefit cuts in generations - my mother (who has terminal cancer) may be required to return to work - despite the fact that she can barely get out of bed on many days. The minimum wage is being effectively lowered as it will not be keeping up with inflation - and several members of government have been quoted talking about getting certain people to work for below the stated minimum wage (disabled people, young unemployed people most recently). The unions fought for these things for years - and when they were strong they actually won. Despite the fact that I'm in a largely non-unionised industry (Software Engineering) I still pay my union dues to support the other workers - as when one industry lowers pay or benefits - the others no longer need to offer them to remain competitive. It's a race to the bottom.

 

[GadgetDon]

Are people seriously arguing that they - as an individual with average personal wealth - by the magic of MARKETS - managed to earn themselves the wages and benefits they get?

If so you have absolutely no idea about the history of the world. The people who went without pay for months at a time to fight for better working conditions, and who regularly got fired for union activities. The fact is the working class (which includes almost everyone in this thread) is composed of entirely replaceable individuals. (The other classes are too - but there's fewer of them and they have more money - and hence more influence). Without working together (through unions) working rights will be deteriorated more and more.

Example: Since Thatcher broke the unions in the UK, turning much of the country into "I EARNED MY MONEY MYSELF" types the same as people in this thread - we're now having the biggest benefit cuts in generations - my mother (who has terminal cancer) may be required to return to work - despite the fact that she can barely get out of bed on many days. The minimum wage is being effectively lowered as it will not be keeping up with inflation - and several members of government have been quoted talking about getting certain people to work for below the stated minimum wage (disabled people, young unemployed people most recently). The unions fought for these things for years - and when they were strong they actually won. Despite the fact that I'm in a largely non-unionised industry (Software Engineering) I still pay my union dues to support the other workers - as when one industry lowers pay or benefits - the others no longer need to offer them to remain competitive. It's a race to the bottom.

There's two extremes. One extreme is the "it's a pure meritocracy, everything that anyone ever made or didn't make is all due to them, the society and history have no effect and so I deserve it all and owe nobody nothing". Yes, that's poppycock. The other extreme is "What any individual makes, what success any individual makes, has nothing to do with what that individual has done or talents that individual has applied or the level of effort that individual applied, it's all because of chance and fortunate situations and such, so they do not deserve the rewards they have received and they should be distributed more 'equitably'". That's also poppycock.

 

[CSpackler]

The European Socialist model is on its way out. People are waking up. Government itself is the initiation of force to get us to obey laws. Taxes are the first example. Government can do to others, without punishment, what we could never do to our neighbors. They can lie, murder, and steal. They create enemies and use fear to control. They put people on their payroll to turn against those who question their power. Once we recognize this, we can finally recognize the chains and the boundaries of our cages.

As George Carlin once said, "It's a big ***** club, and you're not in it."

There is a reason the US became the most advanced and wealthy country in the world in 200 years. The lack of regulation, small size of government, and protection of our feedoms. Our central bank didn't even come into being until 1913, the same year the income tax was created.

Think about the technology we have. Televisions, cell phones, computers, semiconductors... they are not directly regulated by our government. They are cheap and everyone has them. The Internet remains vastly unregulated and continues to evolve at an exponential rate, driven by competition and innovation.

Unfortunately that time is coming to an end as we have turned our back on our founding principles. Now those at the very top are slowly transferring our great wealth away from the middle class and they are powerless to prevent it. In fact they cheer it. Most people do as their liberties are slowly stripped away. Once they do realize it is too late.

 

[seqastian]

13th month of salary? No wonder Europe is broke!

Austria here. I get 14.

 

[mrxak]

I really feel sorry for all you Americans who has such dumb things to say to this post.
You have very few unions - ergo your working rights suck pretty much everywhere. The average middle class European has a higher quality of living than the average American, because of the things you call socialism (or what some of you think is communism). Health care, paid vacation (so we dont have to work our selves to death), pension and unions, who negotiate our wages so we arent screwed by the companies we work for.

If Apple cant comply with French law, then they should close their stores in France. Period. Its the same thing with the warranty troubles in Italy.

So grow up and stop being affraid of a communist Europe that has never, and will never be.

You make your fellow countrymen look bad.

You kidding? We have plenty of unions. We have unions sucking dry some of our most important industries. We have unions dragging down our educational systems. We have unions all over the place.

Most of them take striking rather seriously, though, and aren't so stupid as to bite the hand that feeds. They don't just go on strike because it's the end of summer and they want more time off work before the weather turns.

Unions were very important in the developing world, and still are. In the developed world where labor laws exist in government, unions have no place. They are a redundancy, an inefficiency. Unions were a solution to many problems, like back when it was perfectly legal to put children to work in dangerous factories with no fire exits. Unions today are a solution looking for more problems, even if they don't exist.

Like all organizations given a bit of power, even if for a good reason initially, they eventually lose their purpose but are unwilling to give up their power. They simply become a machine designed to accumulate more and more power for no reason at all other than to justify their existence. It happens time and time again. Eventually, they either self destruct or somebody external shuts them down, but by the end they've done far more harm than the bit of good they did in the beginning.

 

[Rockoar]

I worked all through College. I've never taken a loan. I paid in cash every semester. Its called being held accountable for your actions. I was responsible. I have a Bachelor's in Int'l Business Administration. I have an Associate's in Radiology. I'm still in school finishing up a Bachelor's in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (a continuation of my Associate's). I'm 26. I am debt free except my mortgage. I own a house on an acre of land and I have guns (I like to hunt). I think I'm doing quite well. I'm still in school with two semesters left. I work full time and I still have to take clinicals every week. I'm married to an RN. I work hard now so I can enjoy my time later. You can achieve things through hard work, not by living above your means and being lazy.

Please tell me all about how you are not the 1%
It is a known fact that students and families in the US go through hell in order to get a quite mediocre education:

College seniors who graduated in 2010 carried an average of $25,250 in student loan debt. Meanwhile, unemployment for recent college graduates climbed from 8.7% in 2009 to 9.1% in 2010 — the highest annual rate on record for college graduates aged 20 to 24.

source. Here in France we pay next to nothing for a college degree (around 180€ tuition per year for a college degree and around 300€ per year for a master's diploma) and believe me, our universities are quite known for it excellency around the world. I know, there's a lot of great universities in the US but getting there is quite difficult and not anybody can afford it, specially in this economic crisis.

One of the reasons why we have good education at low prices are students, professors and social protests and strikes through history. Every bit of our welfare was won through strikes and protest. It is stupid to let the government, corporation of whatever dictate how you should live. In here, we don't believe that everyone is to himself, but that everyone is part of a society that need to be equal and fair for all, with no distinction, that's why I pay for my tuition the same fee as everyone else, no matter their origin or social status.

----------

Lighten up, anyway i have been to Paris 5 times (2004 - 2008) and twice i was effected by strikes and my godmother that lives there said it happened quite regularly. So I was stereotyping based on my experiences.

Well, I repeat you, in the last 2 years we haven't had any major strike affecting the transportation system of this city. And even so, if we did, I'm glad we did how else would we stop companies dictating how we should live? the ticket fee I'm paying has been the same one since the last 3 or 4 years. Can you say the same? meanwhile, around Europe, metro tickets has gone up like crazy. Just in Madrid it has been augmented close to two times in original price just in the past year.

 

[GadgetDon]

Every bit of our welfare was won through strikes and protest. It is stupid to let the government, corporation of whatever dictate how you should live. In here, we don't believe that everyone is to himself, but that everyone is part of a society that need to be equal and fair for all, with no distinction, that's why I pay for my tuition the same fee as everyone else, no matter their origin or social status.

Fair. And that's the question, what's fair. George has ten times what Sam has, is that fair? Except George spent the last ten years working on getting his business launched, putting in 80 hour days, spending much time studying on his own time and improving what he creates, while Sam has worked as a waiter, a good waiter but putting in his 8 hours a day and then kicking back for fun. Still unfair for George to have ten times what Sam has?

 

[ruvil]

Macchiato2009,

Quit your damn whining. Bring your own lunch and water and shut up. If you hate your job so much, QUIT.

There's no gun pointed to your head and say go work.

Europeans have the highest paid salaries in the world (average worker) and they still goddam strike. Especially the french.\

I wonder how many 3rd world educated citizens would jump at the opportunity to work in a apple store.

Sorry it does not work like that. The law clearly states that at LEAST water has to be provided for. I don't see why they can just drink the tapwater, but IF it's undrinkable - then it is pretty obvious that apple needs to get them a water fountain.

As for food, i don't see the issue either. Just because you don't get free food doesn't mean that they shouldn't get it either. You have the right to strike too, you know.

Nope, there's not a single gun pointed at anyones head but if you simply quit your work you won't have anything(=homeless). Sure you can just get another job but what if that employer just saw what happened at apple store and "wow, yeah if they don't like it here they can just quit!". And so it goes... no we must fight and strike for our rights no matter what. I think most of you here are afraid that your products might become a bit more expensive just because people are demanding food and clean drinkable water.

 

[Dobbs2]

Please tell me all about how you are not the 1%
It is a known fact that students and families in the US go through hell in order to get a quite mediocre education:
source. Here in France we pay next to nothing for a college degree (around 180€ tuition per year for a college degree and around 300€ per year for a master's diploma) and believe me, our universities are quite known for it excellency around the world. I know, there's a lot of great universities in the US but getting there is quite difficult and not anybody can afford it, specially in this economic crisis.

One of the reasons why we have good education at low prices are students, professors and social protests and strikes through history. Every bit of our welfare was won through strikes and protest. It is stupid to let the government, corporation of whatever dictate how you should live. In here, we don't believe that everyone is to himself, but that everyone is part of a society that need to be equal and fair for all, with no distinction, that's why I pay for my tuition the same fee as everyone else, no matter their origin or social status.

----------



Well, I repeat you, in the last 2 years we haven't had any major strike affecting the transportation system of this city. And even so, if we did, I'm glad we did how else would we stop companies dictating how we should live? the ticket fee I'm paying has been the same one since the last 3 or 4 years. Can you say the same? meanwhile, around Europe, metro tickets has gone up like crazy. Just in Madrid it has been augmented close to two times in original price just in the past year.

I finished high school with 36 hours of College credit from AP classes. I went to an in state University that cost only 8K-9K a year. I worked full time through the four whole years. I have had a job since I was 16. I was also the first in my immediate family to go to something other than a community college. I'm make a modest living now and I don't over spend. I'm nowhere near the 1%. Living in Oklahoma has its perks in low cost of living and low tuition. I have never driven a car that was under 10 years old. I attended Oklahoma State University and I'm about to finish at The University of Arkansas. I don't believe I had a mediocre education, but continue to be an arrogant know it all.

 

[mrxak]

Um... Steve Jobs was never CEO of Apple until returning after his years in the wilderness. First CEO was Michael Scott, then Mark Markula, then John Scully. As for who screwed up Apple in those early days and how Jobs would be considered if he'd died then, well, I would pass out the blame a lot wider than Jobs, and he did accomplish things that never would have been forgotten.

As for taking all that money away - at what point would you have taken it away? Before he bought Pixar with it, helped it grow into a significant moviemaker? Before he'd set up NeXT and had written the OS that became the basis of what OS X (and later iOS) became? Take the money from Apple from the iMac so there was no funding to enter the consumer products market?

Yes, he left a lot of money to his widow and his kids. Do you know what they will do with it now? You're sure that there's no benefit in what they'll do, so we should just confiscate it all?

You're right of course, but it's beside the point. Jobs (and everyone else with any money) isn't hoarding it so nobody else can use it. That's now how it works.

Jobs may not have spent his money extravagantly, buying lots of goods and services and thus spreading that wealth around, but he certainly recycled his money back into the system. I don't think he had a secret vault someplace under his house that was just full of $100 bills. No, he kept it in a bank, or in investment accounts. The money he had in banks was loaned out to people buying houses, starting businesses, or making payroll at other companies. The investments he made through a brokerage went to all those other companies he invested in, giving them liquidity to spend on R&D, hire new employees, or whatever else they needed the cash for.

From the sounds of that theft at his place recently, Jobs only kept $1 in his wallet, and a couple credit cards. Doesn't sound like he was hoarding cash to me. He kept his money in the system, and the system was at work spreading that wealth around to ordinary people.

People don't seem to understand how banks work, at a fundamental level. Do people think interest on their savings or CD accounts just magically appear? That's your cut of the profits from other people using your money while you aren't doing anything with it.

 

[Ping Guo]

People don't seem to understand how banks work, at a fundamental level. Do people think interest on their savings or CD accounts just magically appear? That's your cut of the profits from other people using your money while you aren't doing anything with it.

That's not how fractional reserve banking works. Banks don't lend out the money they already have. Rather, they create it with loans (debt). The loan is a promise to pay the actual money (fiat) in the future, which they never do. 95% of the money in the economy is bank credit with no currency backing it.

The result of all this lending is a constant expansion of money supply, which dilutes the value of existing currency. The bank credit then has to keep growing, otherwise there won't be enough money for people to earn to pay back the principal + interest. The amount of money that must exist in the future to pay back the principal plus interest therefore continues ballooning, which is why we have national debts in the trillions and no end in sight.

It's a giant ponzi scheme.

 

[Genghis Khan]

Wow...so many idealogical americans claiming to have knowledge of what makes a country work. I know the following will be flamed, but I thought a few things needed pointing out to some of the news channel educated professors in here...

1) Unions, and better employee working conditions and such.

It's not unreasonable for employees to have good reward and job benefits for their time and effort. It seems that under the american system, employees are as disposable and replaceable as machines, and treated about the same.

Of course owner's should get the biggest share of the profits of the business, because they hold the biggest risk, however they are not alone responsible for the business success, and couldn't do it by themselves. (i won't even mention the disproportionate risk/reward of executives...)

I think that all of the american's in this thread should be aware that the viewpoint that employees aren't entitled to any more is false. There is a spectrum of worker entitlements, and revolutions always happened when it goes too far in one of the directions, but the capitalist forces always push it back there as far as they can...

We live in societies, not economies...

2) Europe is full of socialists and is a generally rubbish place.

It seems that 'socialist' is a word with only negative connotations in the US. Which humorously highlights how a country so preoccupied with freedom of speech can only think in simple ideologies, choking freedom of thought.

Socialism is a perfectly reasonable base for governance of a country. But the socialist references that right-wing americans often refer to are extreme cases, and are flawed as any extreme system is (*cough* unregulated capitalism *cough*).

Also, if you think that Europe is a rubbish place, I won't further distract you from enjoying your world map which sits between Canada (other side of the Canadian border) and Mexico (other side of the Mexican border).

3) I've also read mention of how Europe is dragging the world's economy e.t.c.

Really? I mean, REALLY?!



As a further point, I feel that I should warn american's of feeling like the american system is obviously superior due to economic wealth of the country. Shortly after the American independence, Adam Smith (check him out) predicted that the United States would become the world's largest economy within 200 years due to the size of their population and the amount of arable land (i.e. resources). My point being that america's economic success is not completely resultant on the political/economic system, so don't one to justify the other...

 

[IGregory]

Lets see if Apple can defeat the unions as it did Samsung.

 

[charlituna]

I have no idea whether the complaints are justified or not, won't say so either way.

But to strike on the day of the launch? STUPID.

Actually that is the smart thing. It's a day when all the press will be looking at Apple anyway.

The stupid is to do it over something that isn't being positioned well. No where has anyone said this is about applicable local laws that are not being followed etc. At least one of the demands (the food one) is being painted as a total whining over the prices to go out and buy food and that folks are too lazy to just bring a lunch from home. Not even a mention that Apple hasn't, according to law, provided a proper break room with refrigerators etc to store those lunches safely, thus are forcing folks to go out to eat and so on.

Which means that it will, as it has here, come off as total whining and not a legit workers rights complaint. That is if it is even a legit complaint. If it turns out that there is no law saying Apple must prove a water fountain, must follow the 13 month pay method, etc that weakens their issue. Double with the whining nature of how it is being positioned. That they are doing it on a major day like this will not win them much support if it hurts folks getting decent service

----------

What about the difference between a waitress at iHOP vs one at Spago? Assuming both carry plates of food from the kitchen to the customer, and they both get paid a percentage of the bill,

Actually rarely is that true. Many of the so called fancy restaurants still just pay hourly (often rather low) and you are expected to earn tips to cover the difference. But they aren't automatically added unless it's a big group like 5 or more folks. And at some places tips are pooled.

----------

water fountains?

Actually that could be the one thing that is a legit legal issue. Most places require access to drinkable water because dehydration is a serious health concern. So it could be a legal issue on that one point. Trouble is that no one has cited the laws in any of the articles about this to back up that even France has such laws. Or shown that Apple has no fountains in their stores. Or perhaps that is the actual issue. Perhaps this is a translation issue and it's not water fountains they want but water coolers with bottled water because the fountain water is in their opinion 'nasty'

----------

Everytime I'm in France, there's some huge strike happening.

That is part of why how they position this is important. Otherwise they look like just another greedy group making demands and using that it's Apple to get attention.

 

[kmv2012]

You kidding? We have plenty of unions. We have unions sucking dry some of our most important industries. We have unions dragging down our educational systems. We have unions all over the place.

Most of them take striking rather seriously, though, and aren't so stupid as to bite the hand that feeds. They don't just go on strike because it's the end of summer and they want more time off work before the weather turns.

Unions were very important in the developing world, and still are. In the developed world where labor laws exist in government, unions have no place. They are a redundancy, an inefficiency. Unions were a solution to many problems, like back when it was perfectly legal to put children to work in dangerous factories with no fire exits. Unions today are a solution looking for more problems, even if they don't exist.

Like all organizations given a bit of power, even if for a good reason initially, they eventually lose their purpose but are unwilling to give up their power. They simply become a machine designed to accumulate more and more power for no reason at all other than to justify their existence. It happens time and time again. Eventually, they either self destruct or somebody external shuts them down, but by the end they've done far more harm than the bit of good they did in the beginning.

I know you have unions in the US, but unfortunantly all we hear about in Denmark, where I live, is how bad they are, and how they are pestering government or companies about workers rights. If we had no unions in Denmark, then the workers, private aswell as public, would have no voice at all. They would be at the mercy off companies and the people in government that doesnt work those jobs. So the unions are NOT redundant, they serve a very important purpose - they give the workers a voice.

Without them we would, in the end, end up like many Americans, having to work multiple jobs to survive.

 

[dlowings]

Meal vouchers ? Hell I work for one of the largest companies in the world and they made us buy our own coffee machine ...

 

[sasasule]

Hmm strange thing here is that real Americans are almost gone

Native Americans....

And so called NEW FRESH Americans are all made from scumbages that are kicked out from Europe and USA root's and bloodline comes from if we check History

UK, French, Spanish, Italian, Portugezz, Irish, Dutch,German....
So why the **** USA people have anything to say vs any EU country when they are all coming from there.

History class

1492 Christopher Columbus landed in Guanahani.
1497 English navigator John Cabot landed in Newfoundland.
16th century

1513 Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama.
Spanish conquest of Yucatán: The Spaniard Juan Ponce de León defeated the state of Tlaxcala.
1520 Spanish conquest of Yucatán: Spanish conquest of the Maya civilization began.
1521 Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire: Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés destroyed the Aztec Empire.
1524 Giovanni da Verrazzano explored the Atlantic coast of North America under French employ.
1542 Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto discovered the Mississippi River, strengthening Spanish claims to the interior of North America.
1565 Spanish Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded St. Augustine.
1570 The Iroquois Confederacy was founded.
1587 English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh founded Roanoke Colony.
1590 The Roanoke Colony was found deserted.
17th century

1607 John Smith founded the Jamestown Settlement....
1614 The Dutch laid claim to the territories of New Netherland.
1619 Slavery was introduced to the Colony of Virginia.
1620 The Mayflower Compact was signed.
1625 New Amsterdam was founded.
1628 The Massachusetts Bay Colony founded.
1630 The Winthrop Fleet arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The Manor of Rensselaerswyck was founded.
1634 The Province of Maryland was founded.
Theologian Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1635 The Connecticut Colony was founded by Thomas Hooker.
1636 Williams founded the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
Harvard College was founded.
1637 The New Haven Colony was founded.
Pequot War: The war, in New England, ended.
1638 The Delaware Colony was founded.
New Sweden was established.
1639 The Fundamental Agreement of the New Haven Colony was signed.
The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut were adopted.
1640 French and Iroquois Wars: The wars escalated to full warfare.
1643 The New England Confederation was created.
Kieft's War: The war, in New Netherland, began.
1644 Third Anglo–Powhatan War: The war began.
1645 Kieft's War: The war ended.
1646 Third Anglo-Powhatan War: The war ended.
1649 The Maryland Toleration Act was passed.
The execution of the English King Charles I of England marked the establishment of the Commonwealth of England.
1655 Peach Tree War: The war took place.
1659 Esopus Wars: The wars took place.
1660 The Commonwealth of England came to an end with the restoration of King Charles II of England.
1662 The Halfway Covenant was adopted
1663 Charles granted a charter for a new colony, the Province of Carolina.
1664 Second Anglo-Dutch War: The war began with the English conquest of New Amsterdam.
1667 New Netherland was ceded to England under the Treaty of Breda (1667).
1669 John Lederer of Virginia began to explore the Appalachian Mountains.
1670 Charles Town was founded.
Lederer's expedition ended.
1671 The Batts-Fallam expedition sponsored by Abraham Wood reached the New River.
1672 The Blue Laws were enacted in Connecticut.
Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette began to explore the Illinois Country.
1673 Jolliet and Marquette's expedition ended.
1674 New Netherland was permanently relinquished to England under the Treaty of Westminster.
1675 King Philip's War: The war, in New England, began.
1676 Bacon's Rebellion: The rebellion, in Virginia, took place.
King Philip's War: The war took place.
1677 The Province of Maine was absorbed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1679 War between Carolina and the Westo resulted in the destruction of the Westo.
1680 Pueblo Revolt: A revolt took place in Spanish New Mexico.
1682 The Province of Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn.
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle travelled down the Mississippi River to its mouth.
1685 Charles died. He was succeeded as King of Kingdom of England by James II of England.
1686 The Dominion of New England was established.
1687 Yamasee Indians from Spanish Florida moved to Carolina.
1688 Glorious Revolution: James was deposed in favor of William and Mary.
1689 The Governor of the Dominion of New England was deposed, ending the rule of the Dominion.

King William's War: The war began.
1690 Schenectady Massacre: A massacre took place.
1692 Salem witch trials: Witch trials took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay.
1697 War of the Grand Alliance: The war was ended by the Treaty of Ryswick.
1698 Pensacola, Florida was established by the Spanish.
1699 Biloxi was founded by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville.
18th century

1702 William died and was succeeded by Queen Anne of Great Britain.
Queen Anne's War: The war began.
East Jersey and West Jersey became Crown colonies.
1715 Yamasee War: The war, in Carolina, took place.
1727 George I of Great Britain died and was succeeded by George II of Great Britain.
1729 The proprietors of the Province of Carolina sold out to the British crown.
1732 First Great Awakening: The First Great Awakening took place.
1749 The Province of Georgia overturned its ban on slavery.
1752 Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment took place.
1754 French and Indian War: The war began.
Albany Congress: A "Union of Colonies" was proposed.
1758 The Treaty of Easton was signed.
1760 September 8 French and Indian War: Pierre de Rigaud, Governor of New France, signed the Articles of Capitulation of Montreal, ceding the Ohio Country and Illinois Country, and the territory of modern-day Canada, to British Field Marshal Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, ending major hostilities.
October 25 George died and was succeeded by his grandson George III of the United Kingdom.
1763 Pontiac's Rebellion: The rebellion began.
February 10 French and Indian War: The Treaty of Paris (1763), under which France ceded much of its North American territory to Great Britain but surrendered Louisiana to Spain, formally ended the war.
October 7 George issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, establishing royal administration over the British colonies won under the Treaty of Paris and demarcating their western boundary.
1764 April 5 The Sugar Act, intended to raise revenues, was passed by the British Parliament.
September 1 The British Parliament passed the Currency Act, which prohibited the colonies from issuing paper money.
1765 March 22 To help defray the cost of keeping troops in America, the British Parliament enacted the Stamp Act 1765, imposing a tax on many types of printed materials used in the colonies.
March 24 The British Parliament enacted the Quartering Act, requiring the Thirteen Colonies to provide housing, food, and other provisions to British troops.
May 29 Virginia's House of Burgesses adopted the Virginia Resolves, which claimed that under British law Virginians could be taxed only by an assembly to which they had elected representatives.
October 19 Stamp Act Congress: A congress of delegated from nine colonies adopted the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, which petitioned Parliament and the King to repeal the Stamp Act.
1766 Pontiac's Rebellion: The rebellion ended.
March 18 The British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act and issued the Declaratory Act, which asserted its "full power and authority to make laws and statutes... to bind the colonies and people of America... in all cases whatsoever."
May 21 The Liberty Pole was erected in New York City in celebration of the repeal of the Stamp Act.
1767 The British Parliament suspended the Governor and assembly of the Province of New York for failure to enforce the Quartering Act.
June 29 The Townshend Acts, named for Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend, were passed by the British Parliament, placing duties on many items imported into America.
1769 The British Parliament suspended the Governor and assembly of the Province of New York for failure to enforce the Quartering Act.
December The broadside To the Betrayed Inhabitants of the City and Colony of New York was published by the local Sons of Liberty.
1770 January 19 Battle of Golden Hill: British troops wounded several civilians and killed one.
January 28 Frederick North, Lord North becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain.
March 5 Boston Massacre: The massacre took place.
1771 May 16 Battle of Alamance: A battle took place in North Carolina ending the Regulator Movement.
1772 Samuel Adams organized the Committees of Correspondence.
May The Watauga Association, in modern-day Tennessee, declared itself independent.
June 9 Gaspée Affair: The affair took place.
1773 May 10 The British Parliament passed the Tea Act.
December 15 The local Sons of Liberty published Association of the Sons of Liberty in New York.
December 16 Boston Tea Party: The Boston Tea Party took place.
1774 Franklin, then Massachusetts's agent in London, was questioned before the British Parliament.
Dunmore's War: The war took place.
Britain passed the Quebec Act, one of the so-called Intolerable Acts.
First Continental Congress: The Congress, to which twelve colonies sent delegates, met.
March 31 Britain passed the Boston Port Act, one of the so-called Intolerable Acts.
May 20 Britain passed the Administration of Justice Act 1774, one of the so-called Intolerable Acts.
Britain passed the Massachusetts Government Act, one of the so-called Intolerable Acts.
June 2 Britain passed a second Quartering Act, one of the so-called Intolerable Acts.
September 1 Powder Alarm: British General Thomas Gage secretly raided a powder magazine in Cambridge.
October 19 The HMS Peggy Stewart was burned.
December 22 Greenwich Tea Party: The Greenwich Tea Party took place.
1775 Second Continental Congress: The Congress met.
April 19 Battles of Lexington and Concord: The battles took place.
May 9 Skenesboro, New York was captured by Lieutenant Samuel Herrick.
May 10 Fort Ticonderoga was captured by Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold and the Green Mountain Boys.
June 17 Battle of Bunker Hill: The battle took place.
July The Olive Branch Petition was sent to King George III.
December 5 Henry Knox began the transport of fifty-nine captured cannon from upstate New York to Boston.
1776 New Hampshire ratified the first state constitution.
Prisoners began to be taken in Wallabout Bay. see Prisoners in the American Revolutionary War.
January 10 Thomas Paine published Common Sense.
January 24 Knox reached Boston.
March 3 Battle of Nassau: The battle began.
March 4 Battle of Nassau: The battle ended.
July 2 Second Continental Congress: The Congress enacted the Lee Resolution declaring independence from the British Empire.
July 4 Second Continental Congress: The Congress approved the written United States Declaration of Independence.
August 27 Battle of Long Island: The battle took place.
September 11 Staten Island Peace Conference: The peace conference took place.
September 15 Landing at Kip's Bay: The landing took place.
September 16 Battle of Harlem Heights: The battle took place.
September 21 Great Fire of New York (1776): The fire began.
September 22 Nathan Hale was captured and executed for espionage.
Great Fire of New York (1776): The fire ended.
October 11 Battle of Valcour Island: The battle took place.
October 29 Battle of White Plains: The battle took place.
November 16 Battle of Fort Washington: The battle took place.
November 19 Battle of Fort Lee: The battle took place.
December 23 Battle of Iron Works Hill: The battle began.
December 26 Battle of Trenton: The battle took place.
Battle of Iron Works Hill: The battle ended.
1777 Forage War: The war took place.
January 2 Second Battle of Trenton: The battle took place.
January 3 Battle of Princeton: The battle took place.
April 13 Battle of Bound Brook: The battle took place.
May 28 The Continental Army made camp at the Middlebrook encampment.
July 2 The Continental Army left the Middlebrook encampment.
July 5 Fort Ticonderoga was abandoned by the Continental Army due to advancing British troops placing cannon on Mount Defiance.
July 6 The British retook Fort Ticonderoga.
July 7 Battle of Hubbardton: The battle took place.
July 8 Delegates in Vermont established the Vermont Republic and adopted the Constitution of Vermont (Vermont Republic), which abolished slavery.
July 26 Battle of Short Hills: The battle took place.
August 6 Battle of Oriskany: The battle took place.
August 16 Battle of Bennington: The battle took place.
September 11 Battle of Brandywine: The battle took place.
September 19 Battles of Saratoga: The first Battle of Saratoga took place.
September 20 Battle of Paoli: The battle took place.
September 26 The British occupied Philadelphia.
October 4 Battle of Germantown: The battle took place.
October 7 Battles of Saratoga: The second battle concluded with the surrender of the British army under General John Burgoyne.
October 22 Battle of Red Bank: The battle took place.
November 15 Second Continental Congress: The Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation.
December 5 Battle of White Marsh: The battle began.
December 8 Battle of White Marsh: The battle ended.
December 11 Battle of Matson's Ford: The battle took place.
December 19 The Continental Army entered its winter quarters at Valley Forge
1778 February 6 The Treaty of Alliance was signed with France.
May 20 Battle of Barren Hill: The battle took place.
June British occupation of Philadelphia ended.
June 19 The Continental Army left its winter quarters at Valley Forge.
June 28 Battle of Monmouth: The battle took place.
November 30 The Continental Army entered winter quarters at the Middlebrook encampment.
1779 June 3 The Continental Army left the Middlebrook encampment.
July 16 Battle of Stony Point: The battle took place.
August 19 Battle of Paulus Hook: The battle took place.
December The Continental Army entered winter quarters at Morristown.
1780 January 28 A stockade known as Fort Nashborough was founded on the banks of the Cumberland River.
February 1 Some eight thousand British forces under General Henry Clinton arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, from New York.
Second Continental Congress: New York ceded its western claims, including territory west of Lake Ontario, to the Congress.
March 14 Bombardment of Fort Charlotte: After a two-week siege, Spanish General Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez captured Fort Charlotte, in Mobile, from the British.
April 8 Siege of Charleston: British troops under General Clinton and naval forces under Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot besiege Charleston, South Carolina.
May The Continental Army left Morristown.
May 6 Siege of Charleston: Fort Moultrie fell to the British.
May 12 Siege of Charleston: American General Benjamin Lincoln surrendered Charleston to the British. The British lost two hundred and fifty-five men while capturing a large American garrison.
May 29 Battle of Waxhaws: A clash between Continental Army forces under Abraham Buford and a mainly Loyalist force led by Banastre Tarleton near Lancaster, South Carolina resulted in the destruction of the American forces.
June 6 Battle of Connecticut Farms: The battle took place.
June 23 Battle of Springfield (1780): An attempted British invasion of New Jersey was stopped at Connecticut Farms and Springfield, ending major fighting in the North.
September 23 John André was captured, exposing the treason of Arnold.
October 7 Battle of Kings Mountain: The battle took place.
1781 January 17 Battle of Cowpens: The battle took place.
March 1 The Articles of Confederation were ratified.
March 15 Battle of Guilford Court House: The battle took place.
October 19 Siege of Yorktown: The British surrendered at Yorktown.
December 31 The Bank of North America was chartered.
1782 The British government officially, yet informally, recognized American independence.
1783 The British withdraw from ports in New York and the Carolinas.
September 3 American Revolutionary War: The Treaty of Paris (1783) ended the war.
1784 The State of Frankland, later Franklin, seceded from North Carolina.
1785 Congress refused Franklin admission to the Union.
November 28 The Treaty of Hopewell was signed.
1786 Shays' Rebellion: The rebellion took place.
Annapolis Convention (1786): The convention failed.
1787 The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was passed.
Philadelphia Convention: A Constitutional convention took place in Philadelphia.
Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey ratified the Constitution.
1788 North Carolina reconquered and dissolved the State of Franklin.
1789 United States presidential election, 1789: The election took place.
The United States Constitution came into effect.
First inauguration of George Washington: George Washington was inaugurated as President in New York City.
1st United States Congress: The Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1789 and the Hamilton tariff.
The Jay-Gardoqui Treaty was signed.
November 21 North Carolina, by a margin of 43%, became the twelfth state to ratify the Constitution.
1790 May 26 The Southwest Territory (a/k/a Territory South of the River Ohio) is created from North Carolina's Western frontier lands.
May 29 Rhode Island, by a margin of 3%, became the thirteenth state to ratify the Constitution.
1791 The United States Bill of Rights was ratified.
The First Bank of the United States was chartered.
The independent Vermont Republic was admitted to the Union as Vermont, becoming the fourteenth state.
1792 Kentucky County, Virginia became the fifteenth state of Kentucky.
U.S. presidential election, 1792: Washington was reelected President. John Adams was chosen as Vice President.
1793 Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin.
A yellow fever outbreak occurred in Philadelphia.
The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 was passed.
Chisholm v. Georgia was decided.
1794 Whiskey Rebellion: The rebellion took place.
Aug - Nov The Nickajack Expedition brings a close to the Chickamauga Wars.
Aug 20 Battle of Fallen Timbers: The battle took place ending the Northwest Indian War with the Western Confederacy.
The first of the "Civilized" Indian Nations, the Cherokee Nation, is founded.
1795 The Treaty of Greenville was signed.
The Jay Treaty was signed.
The Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified
1796 June 1 Tennessee, formerly Southwest Territory, was admitted as the sixteenth state.
Pinckney's Treaty was signed.
The Treaty of Tripoli was signed.
U.S. presidential election, 1796: Adams was elected President. Thomas Jefferson was elected Vice President.
1797 Adams was inaugurated.
XYZ Affair: The affair took place.
1798 The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed.
The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions were issued.
1799 The Charles Brockden Brown novel Edgar Huntly was published.
Fries's Rebellion: The rebellion took place.
The Logan Act was passed.
Washington died.
1800 The Library of Congress was founded.
U.S. presidential election, 1800: Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied in votes in the Electoral College.

 

[scoobydoo99]

I can explain the difference.

Someone who receives an "entitlement" is enjoying a resource or benefit that they did not actually earn. Instead, it was taken from someone else by force, and given to them.

Someone like Tim Cook, on the other hand, is compensated based on his market value. The reason he can fetch $300M+ is because he has managed Apple so that it has increased its market value by 140 BILLION since he took his current position. You aren't worth 300M because you can't do Tim Cook's job. He doesn't make that money just for showing up. He makes it for getting big results. If Apple does not compensate him sufficiently (his market value), they would risk losing him to another company.

For all the talk I hear about evil overpaid corporate executives, I have never once heard an accusation that professional athletes or entertainers are greedy, corrupt, and overpaid, even though their contracts work the exact same way, and are often in excess of tens of millions of dollars. Get over the pathetic jealousy you have towards these individuals, as well as that self-destructive sense of entitlement. You deserve what you earn. Nothing more.

First, your argument relies on the logical fallacy of ad hominem. Attacking the person has no bearing upon the validity of the argument. My "pathetic jealousy", even if it existed would be irrelevant.

The point isn't that Tim Cook isn't worth $378M, its that NO ONE is. The fact that the elite have brainwashed so many of you to actually advance this argument is a testament to the absolute nature of their control over you. You say I deserve what I earn. I say you deserve what you get. I'm hoping it comes soon (maybe in the next 50 years?) Unfortunately, when that day comes, you still won't get it.

----------

Unfortunately that time is coming to an end as we have turned our back on our founding principles. Now those at the very top are slowly transferring our great wealth away from the middle class and they are powerless to prevent it. In fact they cheer it. Most people do as their liberties are slowly stripped away. Once they do realize it is too late.

"So this is how liberty dies....with thunderous applause." _Queen Amidala

Thank you for your cogent post. As you can see, it mostly falls on deaf ears here. It's so ironic, isn't it? The people most hurt by the greed and corruption of the elite will defend them to the end.

 

[Ping Guo]

2) Europe is full of socialists and is a generally rubbish place.

It seems that 'socialist' is a word with only negative connotations in the US. Which humorously highlights how a country so preoccupied with freedom of speech can only think in simple ideologies, choking freedom of thought.

Socialism is a perfectly reasonable base for governance of a country. But the socialist references that right-wing americans often refer to are extreme cases, and are flawed as any extreme system is (*cough* unregulated capitalism *cough*).

Good post. While it's unfortunate that he who screams loudest is usually the one who's heard, I'd say that there are plenty of Americans who agree with you, and you'll find as much difference of opinion in the US as anywhere else. Unfortunately our Ministry of Information, aka the MSM, reinforces the false dichotomy, the idea that there are only two possible, polarized extremes, which is an appealing proposition to the intellectually lazy who can't be bothered to read up on various issues.

I feel that I should warn american's of feeling like the american system is obviously superior due to economic wealth of the country.

Shortly after the American independence, Adam Smith (check him out) predicted that the United States would become the world's largest economy within 200 years due to the size of their population and the amount of arable land (i.e. resources). My point being that america's economic success is not completely resultant on the political/economic system, so don't one to justify the other...

The idea of American exceptionalism is drilled into our heads from a young age. The reality is we're the beneficiaries of British common law, economic and trade systems, enlightenment values and technology, all from Europe. Then we just happened to land on a huge continent with tremendous natural resources, relatively defenseless indigenous populations, isolated by two huge oceans, really just dumb luck.

Furthermore, we benefited from slave labor, the engine of our economy until we caught onto the whole industrialization thing the Brits invented.

Funny you should mention Adam Smith, as pundits love to cherry-pick quotes from him. In reality, he would be branded a socialist today.

Smith writes: The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.

 

[MGEN]

guys,

as for meal vouchers... Opera and Louvre are locating in very expensive tourist locations of Paris

the less expensive meal would be McDonald's

unless you want to eat something else than this kind of crap, one must spend a significant amount everyday, compared to low wages given in France

In the USA we just pack our lunches.. it's not that hard...

 

[allaboutmac]

Look at that store!!

Who gives a crap about the strike. Look at that store. It's gorgeous! Why do we have these stripped down mission style stores. Yes, the "whiteness" theme of apple is there, representing Apple's aesthetic, but the entire building is beautiful and the architectural details are pleasing to the eye.

I would love an Apple store here in the US that had that kind of style. Especially considering the dough I'm spending. I mean even Vegas hides its intent (make you spend your money without feeling the pain, lol) behind some awesome facades.

Yeah, I know, I'm missing the point.

Ok French people-suck it up. My boss does not give me "extra pay" or lunch vouchers. Get over yourselves.

 

[axual]

And we wonder ...

Most of Europe and France are in financial straits ... the last thing they need is to increase unemployment.

Unions are out of control.

 

[damitssam]

Good post. While it's unfortunate that he who screams loudest is usually the one who's heard, I'd say that there are plenty of Americans who agree with you, and you'll find as much difference of opinion in the US as anywhere else. Unfortunately our Ministry of Information, aka the MSM, reinforces the false dichotomy, the idea that there are only two possible, polarized extremes, which is an appealing proposition to the intellectually lazy who can't be bothered to read up on various issues.



The idea of American exceptionalism is drilled into our heads from a young age. The reality is we're the beneficiaries of British common law, economic and trade systems, enlightenment values and technology, all from Europe. Then we just happened to land on a huge continent with tremendous natural resources, relatively defenseless indigenous populations, isolated by two huge oceans, really just dumb luck.

Furthermore, we benefited from slave labor, the engine of our economy until we caught onto the whole industrialization thing the Brits invented.

Funny you should mention Adam Smith, as pundits love to cherry-pick quotes from him. In reality, he would be branded a socialist today.

Smith writes: The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state.

No, the reason we became a superpower was due to the world wars in Europe. Basically destroyed any real competition for a couple decades.

 

[Ping Guo]

No, the reason we became a superpower was due to the world wars in Europe. Basically destroyed any real competition for a couple decades.

Opportunity, not causality. The potential to reach superpower status must have already existed, regardless of externalities. In that case why didn't the lack of competition cause Russia, or newly independent countries like India to become superpowers?