France is going wild

[Atb210201]

2 minutes ago, Elliott said:

Europe is destroying russia. Google "what killed the ussr" putin is repeating what destroyed the ussr.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/russia/articles/stop-fearing-a-strong-russia-start-fearing-a-dying-one-2026-05-16

https://www.realcleardefense.com/russia/articles/stop-fearing-a-strong-russia-start-fearing-a-dying-one-2026-05-16

We'll see.

[Elliott]

Just now, Atb210201 said:

We'll see.

No, we are seeing it, open your eyes

 

 

War on the Rocks

https://warontherocks.com

Russia Is on a Slow Path to Bankruptcy, But How Slow?

Sep 11, 2024 — Russia has gone from $113 billion in reserves to $56 billion in two years (taking exchange rates into account). A year ago, the National Welfare .

Edited Monday at 01:15 PM by Elliott

[Atb210201]

Just now, Elliott said:

No, we are seeing it, open your eyes

I would say the same thing back to you.

[Elliott]

5 minutes ago, Atb210201 said:

I would say the same thing back to you.

To indicate you have no proof

[Etherial Cat]

15 hours ago, Schizophonia said:

It cherrypicking 

I would argue that these are probably some of the worst cases, not cherrypicking.

I can personally attest to the fact that even some of the buildings at the Sorbonne Law School were in a pretty appalling state when I studied there. Some were downright decrepit and gross.

One of my best friends studied near Dijon, and even before the protests, she had randomly mentioned to me how run-down and poorly maintained the local high school facilities were. And this was in a relatively well-off area, mind you.

So it's not as though these problems are confined to a handful of particularly disadvantaged places, but I can TOTALLY imagine that in poor area like in Seine St-Denis it is catastrophic- and that's not even without taking into account the cases of classes without chairs, desks or even... teachers .

[Atb210201]

3 minutes ago, Elliott said:

To indicate you have no proof

Your proofs mean nothing to me, sorry.

But the end will be watchable to see who was right.

Edited Monday at 01:25 PM by Atb210201

[Elliott]

5 minutes ago, Atb210201 said:

Your proofs mean nothing to me, sorry.

But the end will be watchable to see who was right.

Reality means nothing to you.

Reality is right now, and you can see it. Why is russias 3 day operation 5 years going. Why is trumps 30th takeover of Iran not enough 1 year in

Edited Monday at 01:30 PM by Elliott

[Atb210201]

6 minutes ago, Elliott said:

Reality means nothing to you.

Reality is right now, and you can see it. Why is russias 3 day operation 5 years going. Why is trumps 30th takeover of Iran not enough 1 year in

I would rather listen to somebody whose predictions all came true.

Sorry.

[Elliott]

16 minutes ago, Atb210201 said:

I would rather listen to somebody whose predictions all came true.

Sorry.

Like "3 day operation" turning into 5 years with no end in sight. Or "we conquered Iran" for the 30th time?

I didnt give a prediction I gave information about what is today. 

 

[Atb210201]

3 minutes ago, Elliott said:

Like "3 day operation" turning into 5 years with no end in sight. Or "we conquered Iran" for the 30th time?

I didnt give a prediction I gave information about what is today. 

 

I know I wasn't talking about you.

I was talking about someone else.

Forget it.

Edited Monday at 01:57 PM by Atb210201

[Schizophonia]

1 hour ago, Elliott said:

@Schizophonia

So, obviously immigration lowers crime then?

 

Spain

:Total/Foreign-Born Population: Roughly 8.8 million to over 9.9 million (around 18% to 20.3% of the total population, with about 6.6 million to 7.2 million holding non-citizen/legal foreign status).

Recent Inflows: Spain received roughly 1.28 million new immigrants in 2024, continuing a high-growth trend. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Italy:

Total/Foreign-Born Population: Roughly 5.4 million to 6.5 million (around 11.1% of the total population).

Recent Inflows: Italy recorded about 451,600 new immigrants in 2024. [1, 2, 3]

 

 

Overall Crime Index: Italy registers a crime index of 47.30, compared to 38.16 for Spain, according to data from 

Immigration to Spain comes primarily from Latin America not from Africa like France, and even less from sub-Saharan Africa. Among the Maghrebian population in Spain the largest group is Moroccan which is also the Maghrebian population with the lowest crime rate in Europe.

Above all this suggests that the French justice system is dysfunctional.

[Elliott]

2 minutes ago, Schizophonia said:

Immigration to Spain comes primarily from Latin America not from Africa like France, and even less from sub-Saharan Africa. Among the Maghrebian population in Spain the largest group is Moroccan which is also the Maghrebian population with the lowest crime rate in Europe.

Above all this suggests that the French justice system is dysfunctional.

African countries that were ruled by France

[Schizophonia]

1 hour ago, Etherial Cat said:

I would argue that these are probably some of the worst cases, not cherrypicking.

I can personally attest to the fact that even some of the buildings at the Sorbonne Law School were in a pretty appalling state when I studied there. Some were downright decrepit and gross.

One of my best friends studied near Dijon, and even before the protests, she had randomly mentioned to me how run-down and poorly maintained the local high school facilities were. And this was in a relatively well-off area, mind you.

So it's not as though these problems are confined to a handful of particularly disadvantaged places, but I can TOTALLY imagine that in poor area like in Seine St-Denis it is catastrophic- and that's not even without taking into account the cases of classes without chairs, desks or even... teachers .

I’ve visited plenty of universities and indeed most of the time they’re not increadible, we are far from those American college comedies lol. But at least the annual tuition isn’t too high and is it really worth blocking access to high schools over this.

Not only do I doubt that this leads anywhere even if there might be some sense of satisfaction in being part of a large-scale movement, but I also believe that students who want to study should have the right to do so. Because it’s a public service paid for by them and/or their parents, or at the very least one that was promised to them.

 

[Etherial Cat]

13 minutes ago, Schizophonia said:

I’ve visited plenty of universities and indeed most of the time they’re not increadible, we are far from those American college comedies lol. But at least the annual tuition isn’t too high and is it really worth blocking access to high schools over this.

Not only do I doubt that this leads anywhere even if there might be some sense of satisfaction in being part of a large-scale movement, but I also believe that students who want to study should have the right to do so. Because it’s a public service paid for by them and/or their parents, or at the very least one that was promised to them.

 

I agree that it's a pity that students who want to study are being prevented from doing so, but isn't that precisely the point of these protests?

If we want to address the underlying problems, we need more funding for public education and services. And that money will have to come from somewhere, which means looking at where the wealth and financial resources are actually concentrated.

Despite what is regularly said in the media, France is far from being broke. The state is heavily indebted, but private wealth is massive and continues to grow.

According to l'INSEE, French households held nearly €15 trillion in net wealth at the end of 2024, an increase of 0.7% in just one year. Meanwhile, the wealthiest 10% of households hold almost half of all household wealth (48%). For comparison, France's public debt stood at approximately €3.6 trillion in mid-2026.

So the question isn't simply whether France has wealth. It's how that wealth is taxed and distributed, then how much of it can reasonably be mobilised to finance public services as fundamental as the Education Nationale.

 

[Etherial Cat]

 

Edited Monday at 05:15 PM by Etherial Cat

[Schizophonia]

2 hours ago, Etherial Cat said:

According to l'INSEE, French households held nearly €15 trillion in net wealth at the end of 2024, an increase of 0.7% in just one year. Meanwhile, the wealthiest 10% of households hold almost half of all household wealth (48%).

It's assets, not cash.

Edited Monday at 05:35 PM by Schizophonia

[Etherial Cat]

7 minutes ago, Schizophonia said:

It's assets, not cash.

Yes, that's how the game is played.

Why would you sit on cash when:

• Money sitting in your bank account earns next to nothing.
• You can borrow against your assets without having to sell them.
• Those assets can appreciate in value and generate far better returns.
• Unrealised capital gains generally aren't taxed until you sell, allowing your wealth to keep growing without triggering an immediate tax bill.

Of course, dividends and realised capital gains are generally taxable in France. But that's precisely where the distinction matters: you don't necessarily need to sell your assets to access liquidity. You can borrow against them while retaining ownership and benefiting from any further appreciation, all without having to liquidate a thing.

That's why wealthy people tend to accumulate assets rather than cash. Once you've built up enough capital, you can use it as collateral, access liquidity and potentially keep accumulating wealth, provided the returns outweigh the borrowing costs.

And then, once you've accumulated enough economic clout, you can start playing an entirely different game: buying up media outlets, throwing your weight behind whichever corrupt and incompetent politicians will best serve your interests, and relentlessly feeding the public whatever self-serving narratives will keep your privileges intact.

And the cherry on top? Having the finance minister on speed dial so you can lobby for whatever tax breaks and fiscal policies happen to suit your interests best.

After all, why let your fellow citizens question the system when you can help shape the very rules of the game, as well as the narratives through which they understand it?

 

[Elliott]

 

 

[Etherial Cat]

@Schizophonia
 

-

Automatic subtitle available in English.

It seems like 95.00 % + of whatever is the current french culture is only available in French, so I usually never publish or forward what's being produced there. But it's literally a very dense whole world to dive in.

Edited Monday at 07:42 PM by Etherial Cat

[Lyubov]

This is so silly.

Russia is not going to break up.

Maybe caucuses like Chechnya or Dagestan may break away one day. There is literally zero push or desire for a separate nation in any of those other places and they are all firmly under Russian control. 

Russia has nukes and there government administration is very strong, even if there is a political crisis over who succeeds Putin the state will go on and they have everything they need to hold the country together. 

But yeah Russia will be rough if you’re a young person with no money.  

Edited Monday at 06:56 PM by Lyubov