French Entitlement.

DISCLAIMER: It's not very much like me, but today I need to write about my thoughts on a political matter. Over the last few weeks, it's been harder and harder for me to ignore the state of France and the various riots and protests that have spiraled out of the country due to the proposed pension reform. To be up front, the whole issue absolutely baffles me. In order to establish where it is in my understanding I am coming from, I will briefly lay out the facts as I know them.

The cause of all the unrest lies in a change to the social pension program entitled to all French citizens. Specifically, the French people are most disturbed by a change in minimum retirement age from 60 to 62. This would also affect the mandatory retirement age from 65 to 67. It is worth noting also that according to a law passed in 2008, French people are allowed to work until age 70 but only if they want to do so. The French people are upset mainly because they feel that the new reform unfairly penalizes the poor or lower-class workers. Students have also voiced concern over a more competitive job market as a result of older workers holding onto jobs for longer amounts of time. In response, workers from both the public and private sectors are on strike. This includes workers in transportation, education, justice, hospitals, media and banking. French students, much to my chagrin, are also a large part of continuing strikes and protests.

So far, protesters have managed to do some considerable damage essentially slowing France to a crawl in the face of ongoing Senate deliberations on the issue. From CNN.com:

Blockades of refineries and fuel depots have led to fuel shortages. There was no fuel left in more than a quarter of petrol pumps on Thursday, according to Agence-France Presse. This has crippled transportation and affected schools. Activists blocked access to Marseille airport for several hours before being cleared by police on Thursday. Unions are stepping up the pressure on a continuation of refinery strikes, go-slows on motorways and work stoppages at regional airports.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy claims that the measures are needed to combat rising life expectancies which increase the burden put on the pension system. He also claims that the reforms will allow France to better handle growing fiscal deficit. The French Government reports that the reforms will save 19 billion euros ($23.3 billion) by 2018.

Those are the facts as I understand them. Having considered all of this, I believe my main problem is the overwhelming sense of entitlement that permeates every report coming out of the French people. It would be one thing if the pension reforms sought in some fundamental way to change the way in which the system works. As far as I can tell, it seems that the French government is making a necessary change in order to ensure the continued workability of the system. Sarkozy himself recently said that his actions are not an effort to wreck the systems, but to prevent it from bankrupting itself in the coming years. Adding to this, the social security budget has continued to push further and further into the red year after year and a solution would have been inevitably essential. I feel like even the most ardent detractors of the pension reform would agree that something would need to be done about buffering the ability of the pension to continue aiding the people. To be fair, French labor union leaders backed by the opposition Socialist Party feel that an increase to the capital gains tax would be a more efficient solution. I'm hard pressed to see this as a stable fix though as it seems that taking more money from workers who work less and less in fewer and fewer jobs only slows the malfunction. Honestly I would almost suggest implementing both ideas as a means to solving the problem, but I imagine the uproar would be deafening. That very same uproar is the most infuriating part of the entire situation for me as I don't understand how a people who are basically getting a handout can demand that the provider of said handout acquiesce to their whim.

I already mentioned that the reforms seem to be intended as a way to buoy the system and keep it healthy, but let's consider for a moment the French world AFTER these reforms take effect in 2018 (you know, seven years from now). To start, even with a minimum retirement age of 62, France would still have a much lower age than most of its European neighbors. Listed below are the average retirement ages of most of Europe:

UK : 63
Sweden : 63
Spain : 61
Italy : 60
Germany : 60
Netherland : 58
Belgium : 57

France checks in at age 59. This is a higher number than both the Netherlands and Belgium. I find it interesting though that only 15% of French people between the ages of 60 and 65 are still working. This is the lowest percentage in all of Europe. So basically, even though they may work a little longer on average than two other countries, the French are more consistently done at that age.

The most damning point is that this relatively small two years allow the French to continue taking part of completely government provided cradle-to-grave healthcare as well as vacation guarantees, working hours and public schools that are the envy of many other countries. It seems to me like the French people want all of the benefits of a free system without wanting to think or participate in any of the work necessary to maintain it.

I have two final problems with the protesters of this reform. The first is that in their attempts to demonstrate the injustices they feel victims of, they have crippled many other French citizens who may or may not be involved. Businesses are closed, people cannot get gas, and roads are blocked basically stopping the flow of life in large portions of the country. To make matters worse the vocal opponents of this policy amount at the most liberal estimates to roughly 3.5 million people (as reported by national unions). While not an inconsiderable amount, this only accounts for 1/30th the population of the country. If you take the police estimates (1.1 million), it's only a 60th. The second problem I have is that the majority of protest pictures I have seen showcase students. Not just any students, but remarkably young students. In many cases these very same students are the ones pictured around and in the middle of the greatest outbreaks of violence. In Lyon and Nanterre, there are young demonstrators who have vandalized stores, overturned cars and clashed with riot police. I have to think that the only reason the younger demographic is even involved in such protests is to cause an uproar and engage in the zeitgeist of the political climate with or without adequate knowledge of the issues.

As Americans, I feel as though we enjoy a multitude of privileges and freedoms that many of us take for granted, but I still feel as though the pure childishness of the French people in the face of these reforms has been embarrassing. To me, it honestly sounds like a loud, nation-wide temper tantrum and I applaud the government for doing its best to ignore it all and attempt to proceed with the democratic process. Analysts predict a break in the fervor soon anyways as France is due in ten days for mandatory vacations. Nothing like mandated off-time to soothe one's soreness over being asked to work a little harder for said off-time.

I'm gonna end this with an admission that my global political awareness is not robust or greatly well-informed. I've done my best to discern the facts as clearly as possible, but I will admit to my own potential misunderstanding. This won't likely become a common topic here on this blog, but I just got a little fatigued by the newest French silliness. Here's a quote from Nicolas Sarkozy that I feel echoes many of my sentiments on the topic of this protest:

"We can't be the only country in the world where, when there's a reform, a minority wants to block everyone else. That's not possible. That's not democracy."

The Well-Informed Faces of the French "Revolution"... Sigh.

Review: My Dinosaur Life

January 19th marks the release of Motion City Soundtrack's fourth album, My Dinosaur Life. This album marks the first release by the band on major record label Columbia Records. My Dinosaur Life also sees the band reuniting with Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus in a producing capacity. Under his watch, the band released their second album Commit This to Memory.

I'm going to go right ahead and disclaim my own credentials for reviewing music as I make no secret to having little skill in the medium not to mention an 'ear' for it. I listen to the things I think sound good and that entertain me without having to be analyzed for their technical merits. That being said I've been listening to Motion City Soundtrack since probably 2002 or 2003. One of the interesting aspects of this band in particular when it comes to me is that it often takes an extended amount of time for me to fully appreciate a lot of the songs on a given album. For instance many of the tracks off of Commit This to Memory I would skip in favor of the more popular tracks such as 'Everything is Alright', 'Better Open the Door', and 'Feel Like Rain'. Literal years have passed in the interim and it wasn't until very recently that songs like 'Time Turned Fragile', 'Make Out Kids', and to a lesser extent 'Let's Get Fucked Up and Die' finally became frequent listening material to me. The band's third album Even if it Kills Me presented a very interesting anomaly in that I enjoyed almost the entire album with the exception of 'The Conversation' (ugh, eff that song) from the very beginning. With this in mind I was curious to see how the soon to be released My Dinosaur Life would live up. By the time the first single, 'Disappear', was released to the public it was clear that whatever it was going to be, the album would be a distinctly different experience for me than Even if it Kills Me.

Having never done a CD review before, I'm just going to do a brief write-up of each track on the new CD with my impressions and then a brief summary at the end.

'Worker Bee' -- As far as opening tracks go, 'Worker Bee' is a very fitting start to an album that is intensely more about the journey of an individual than the comparatively romance slanted tracks of Even if it Kills Me. The track is about new starts and the rewards for endeavoring to be better. The opening lyric "It's been a good year, a good new beginning" is appropriate both thematically and as part of a new album. Of course it wouldn't be an MCS song without a slight element of humor and you get the impression that while the 'voice' (as I don't like assuming that the person telling the story of the song is necessarily the lead singer of the band) is saying how well he's doing, he almost doesn't quite believe it himself. 'Worker Bee' is trying to reaffirm that things are better now and one gets the sense that the words are just as much for the singer as they are for a state of things. It's a great, fast little track that pulls you in and puts you in the right mindset for Motion City Soundtrack. It's a little Weezer-y, but quirky enough that it's unmistakably not.

'A Lifeless Ordinary (Need a Little Help)' -- 'A Lifeless Ordinary (Need a Little Help)' is one of my favorite tracks on the new album and one which shares a lot in common with songs from previous albums that hooked me right away. This song is about a guy who 'gets it' without really understanding it. I don't think it's meant to be clear what precisely he's having trouble with, but it's immediately applicable to almost anyone's life. Sometimes the most simple concepts are the ones that for no particular reason elude us. 'A Lifeless Ordinary' is kind of a plea to have the boring life without complications that realistically doesn't really exist. It's a bouncy track that is chock full of catchiness and an inertia that pulls you through it in the most engaged sense. Without a doubt this is one of the standouts of the entire album.

'Her Words Destroyed My Planet' -- This one pretty much explains itself in the title. The song is sung as an anthem that if this girl had not broken this guy's heart so completely he would never have been able to become a better version of himself. Simply: girl breaks guy's heart > guy falls apart > guy sorts life out > guy is better off more or less. It's an idea that almost anyone who's ever been on the receiving end of a break-up can relate to. It serves as a 'what-if things didn't change, where would I be'? This song is also one of the most decidedly Motion City Soundtrack-sounding tracks on the album. There's not much else out there that sounds like it, and it has a lot of quirks that make it unique to this band. I imagine this is why 'Her Words Destroyed My Planet' is the first single.

'Disappear' -- As far as being the first song I was able to hear off of My Dinosaur Life, 'Disappear' took a little getting used to. This is a very dark track and decidedly more openly angry than any other Motion City Soundtrack song that has come before it. It's a fast track that angrily and purposely drives forward with a shady angst that belies an almost destructive undertone. Props go to the band for being able to still take me off guard after all these years with such a different sound and approach.

'Delirium' -- This song reminds me a ton of 'Modern Chemistry'. Not in the sense that they sound very similar because they don't, but more in the subject matter. This is a darker song like 'Disappear' but with that trademark MCS upbeat camouflage that can almost fool you upon first listen. Also distinguishing 'Delirium' from 'Disappear' is the fact that while the singer does indeed sound in a bad place, you get the idea that he's seeking and/or asking for help whereas the voice from the other song sounds like he's done with everything. 'Delirium' is where the proverbial nose points up and pulls out of the darker plummet of the album. Musically it's fast and it's fun and easy to sing along with.

'History Lesson' -- 'History Lesson' is pretty cut and dry too. It's also one of those songs that I haven't entirely warmed up to yet. Logistically thinking, I would put money on this track being amazing at a live show. As a recording it has a contained energy that I feel in a crowd of people all shouting the lyrics will be much more palpable. Thematically I think this song is about the singer looking back at how it was. Sometimes you have to look back before you can move forward, and as far as the arc of the album goes this is the beginning of the metaphorical journey out of the valley of 'Disappear' and 'Delirium'. It's not a bad song, but I feel like in a live setting it will be much more effectively energetic.

'Stand Too Close' -- This is another one of my insta-favorites on the new album. 'Stand Too Close' really dials back the energy a little and takes a moment to slow it down. It stands as a nice reprieve in the album, but musically it sounds a lot like MCS's previous acoustic versions; most notably the acoustic version of 'Fell in Love Without You'. It's reflective and it's steady and it's about being hesitant or not willing to walk outside your comfort zone. It almost asks 'what if I do, but what if I don't?'. It acknowledges the truth and it weighs that against the potential outcomes of putting yourself out there. Definitely a favorite for how unique it is against the rest of the album.

'Pulp Fiction' -- This is another one of those songs that I'm not completely behind yet. To be honest I had to check out a few video interviews with the band to even figure out that the song isn't supposed to make a ton of sense. Perhaps that's the reason for the disconnect. Generally I like to be able to imprint part of my life onto the song as I'm listening. While that's pretty simple as far as 'Her Words Destroyed My Planet' and @!#?@! go, 'Pulp Fiction' is virtually impossible to easily relate to. Musically this is very MCS as it is almost 80% synth keyboard. It's a fast song that I don't find impossible to listen to, but there is something preventing me from getting behind it wholeheartedly.

@!#?@! -- Hoo boy. I could have wrote the whole album review based around this one song. I will make no secret of the fact that this is not only my favorite song on My Dinosaur Life but one of my favorite Motion City Soundtrack songs ever. Immense kudos go to the song on its first lyric alone referencing one of the most defining games of my life; The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. There's something about the song that is 'in your face' without being aggressively so. There's an irony to it as well that harkens further comparison to Weezer's lyrics, but again in a very MCS way. The song is deliberate, it's fast, it's catchy and it takes on a certain self assured air that I just find myself relating to on a very base level. Lead singer Justin Pierre admitted that he originally wanted this song to be about The Legend of Zelda, the title of the song is a quotation from the video game Q*bert, and at least one of the band members calls it 'the nerd anthem'. Upon further discovery I also found that most of the band took a while to warm up to this song which drives my love for it that much more. Lastly, @!#?@! is FILLED with the f-word which is just wonderful as swearing is one of my favorite things. All in all, this is just one of the coolest songs I've heard thus far in 2010. Awesome.

'Hysteria' -- This is one of those songs that took me a little while to warm up to, but also serves as a perfect example of a track that has become one of my favorites of the album. It seems to be very aptly named as the song has a nervous kind of energy that is appropriately hysterical. The lead singer of the band describes it as a 'crush song' which makes a lot of sense given that context. The voice is talking about how easy things would be for him if it wasn't this person he apparently clams up around. I guess the song really is emblematic of how the mind reacts when its around someone it is attracted to. Thoughts fly, crash, get jumbled and you come off looking like a crazy person. This song is a lot like that.

'Skin and Bones' -- 'Skin and Bones' is a song questioning self worth. It asks 'am I ok?' and in the end will everything be alright. It asks the fundamental question that everyone asks themselves at some point of whether they are actually all of the things they claim to be or are they coming up short? It's a song that questions roles in the universe and ends up deciding that we're all alone in the cosmic sense. 'Skin and Bones' is cool because it asks the dangerous question of 'what's the point?'. Again this song is a classic in that it effectively mixes a generally upbeat song with lyrics that are pretty much the opposite.

'The Weakends' -- The closing track is very much in turn with the opening track of the album. Just like 'Worker Bee', 'The Weakends' is very similar in that they are hopeful and optimistic with that same twinge of sarcasm. It's almost as if in each case the words are what the singer intends but he's almost saying them to try and make them true. This track contends that tomorrow is a new day and that it's going to fight hard to best all the things that get in the way, but it doesn't sound convinced. I really like the parallel with the first song, but overall I don't like 'The Weakends' as much as 'Worker Bee'. It doesn't sound too much like an MCS song in a negative way. As it is I still think it's a good song, just not a good MCS song and that's what I signed up for. By no means would I call it the worst song ever by the band (an honor which goes securely to 'The Conversation'), but it's below the middle. Like I said, this song flourishes as a thematic complement to the opener but it fails to distinguish itself in Motion City's catalogue.

Ok, well that's it then. My Dinosaur Life is a great album that proves the band is, if nothing else, not remotely getting stale with age. This album also has an invigorating amount of life to the vocals that I never noticed were missing from Even if it Kills Me. Seriously, play any song off of the last album and then listen to any off of this one. Justin Pierre really dug deep for this effort and it pays off. It feels good to have that energy back, even if I never noticed that it was gone in the first place. I'd recommend this to anyone who's enjoyed a Motion City Soundtrack song in the past because there's really something for everyone's taste. My Dinosaur Life stands as a good step forward for the band as well as a respectable demonstration of where they've come from at the same time.

Oh, and don't forget to listen to @!#?@!.