Chapter 395 Three Worlds (Part 2)
Europe thousands of miles away.
France has been very lively recently, and the reason is very simple, because the Elysee Palace recently plans to delay the retirement age from 62 to 66.
Originally, the Elysee Palace had planned to delay the retirement age to 64, but the French economy could not bear it.
The Kyiv War resulted in a wave of European industries being harvested by America.
After the Sapiens company entered the African market with great force, France's economic colonies in Africa went out of control. In order to stabilize the African colonies, it was forced to reduce economic plunder of the African region and increase military spending.
The combination of increase and decrease caused France's profits in Africa to plummet.
Coupled with the previous global economic crisis and the multi-faceted impact of the plastic crisis .
France's fiscal debt ratio broke through the previous 120% of GDP and reached a new high of 137%, and pensions could not be paid all of a sudden.
If retirement age is not delayed now, they won’t be able to pay out money.
Therefore, all parts of France are very lively now, with millions of people "singing and dancing", "full of enthusiasm", "mingling together" on the streets, and even setting cars and flags on fire and holding bonfire celebrations.
Sophie, who is in charge of Europa's business intelligence, is drinking coffee in a roadside cafe in Paris and quietly admiring the beautiful scenery on the street.
Several young people sitting not far from Sophie were also looking at the angry old men and women on the street, and their faces were also very conflicted.
One of the curly-haired men was a little unhappy: "No matter how much they make a fuss, it's useless. The Elysee Palace is unlikely to change its decision."
"David, do you think France still has a future?" Another young man with a slicked-back hair leaned back in his chair, looking at the crystal chandelier in the cafe with blurry eyes.
Curly David looked depressed: "The future? Maybe working directly for the Homo Sapiens company is our future."
"Are you crazy? You actually want to work for the Homo Sapiens Company?" Another round-faced companion was horrified.
Curly David was very serious: "I'm not crazy, I'm just stating a possibility. Do you think Europa can fight against Sapiens or America? Don't be naive. How many people in Europa's core institutions hold America's green cards?"
Yuanlian was speechless.
The man with the slicked-back hair took a sip of black coffee and asked bitterly, "Why not join America?"
"Haha, can America support the whole of Europe? I mean maintaining the current high welfare." Curly David asked back.
The man with slicked back hair was suddenly speechless.
Now, let alone asking America to aid Europe, if it does not suck Europe's blood, it means that the other party has a change of heart.
Curly David pointed to the street outside the window and said, "Look at these old men and women. They have worked for more than 40 years, but now they can hardly get their pensions, let alone us."
In fact, this is the cruel reality.
The pension model around the world is almost always one of living beyond one's means.
In this mode, two major prerequisites are required to ensure that the system continues to run smoothly.
That is, the economy grows steadily and the natural population growth rate maintains a certain positive growth.
If one of these two conditions goes wrong, the system will inevitably collapse.
In the last century, the ratio of young and middle-aged labor force to retired elderly people in France was 4:1. Now it is 1.7:1, and it is expected to reach 1.5:1 in 2030.
If the French economy can maintain rapid growth, then there won't be any major problems and it can be sustained.
The problem is that the economy of France and Europe as a whole is now in recession.
Therefore, delaying retirement becomes the only option.
Curly David was very clear-headed and he immediately saw the internal and external troubles of France.
In the world of capital, money is the basis of everything. If you don’t have money but still want to maintain high welfare, you can only borrow money crazily.
The problem is that France is not America. The consequence of taking on massive debt is to become the next Eastern Roman Empire.
…
The back street of the cafe.
The kitchen staff dragged out a large pile of kitchen waste and placed it next to the trash can on the roadside.
After a while.
An old lady with a hunchback came to the trash can with a cane.
He took out the bag skillfully and rummaged through the garbage.
A dozen apples with wrinkled skin, a large bag of baguettes, a large box of bananas with black spots on the surface, two salmon sandwiches...
There was also a box of broken cookies, five bunches of green grapes, and three bumped pears.
The old lady only took enough food for herself for three days and put it in her bag. She looked at the remaining food, made a cross on her chest, and muttered to herself:
“Thank God for His Gift!”
In the setting sun, the staggering figure gradually moved away.
Human joys and sorrows are not shared.
The elderly in developed areas can still pick up garbage to eat, but what about the elderly in underdeveloped areas?
Sophie stood under the bus stop and calmly watched the old lady leave.
When she first came to Europe, she thought the situation here wouldn't be too bad, but the reality tore apart her previous perceptions.
The development here is actually uneven.
Backward infrastructure, high personal income tax, not-so-effective free medical care, extravagant consumption and waste, and overbearing arrogance.
These are what Sophie saw and heard in Europe.
As a post-90s born in the Far East, she finds it hard to imagine the luxurious life of some ordinary European families who consume thousands of kilowatt-hours of electricity per month.
Even at the Homo Sapiens company, although the benefits are very high, everyone is more conscious of saving resources.
This kind of saving does not mean not using, but reducing unnecessary waste.
For example, in Southeast Asia, although air conditioners are turned on all year round, the air conditioners and lights will definitely be turned off when people are not at home.
However, many people in Europe do not have this concept. They do not turn off the lights or air conditioners when they leave the house.
She shook her head and said, "Without Lucia's cheap natural gas, Europe will never recover."
After waiting for more than ten minutes, the bus did not show up.
Sophie patted her forehead in annoyance: "It seems that the drivers have gone to participate in the event."
Suddenly, a black chicken man wearing a mask appeared behind Sophie, took out a dagger from his pocket, and quickly approached her.
Next second.
Sophie swung her tail like a dragon and kicked him directly in the crotch.
“Ahhh…”
The shrill screams suddenly resounded throughout the area of several hundred meters.
A middle-aged white man who was picking up trash saw this scene and subconsciously picked up a baguette and rushed over.
"Ma'am! Are you okay?"
Sophie looked panicked with her heart beating faster: "Huhu... That's too scary. Fortunately, I learned karate."
The black chicken man with cracked eggs lay on the ground wailing like a cooked shrimp.
The middle-aged white man held a baguette in one hand and quickly called the police with the other.
However, the call was connected, but the other party said that there was a shortage of staff and asked them to wait for a while.
At this moment, several of the Wuji man's companions rushed over and quickly helped the guy lying on the ground away.
Sophie, still in shock, quickly thanked the middle-aged white man and left in a hurry.
In fact, Sophie was no longer surprised by this. During her mission in Paris, she encountered three pickpockets and two highway robberies.
Of course, not all of France is so chaotic, but some areas of Paris have higher crime rates because they are places where immigrants live.
This is actually a common problem across Europe. Since the influx of a large number of refugees, various problems have emerged one after another.
