Where to Invade Next Page #2

You call this an assembly line?

The line is hardly moving.

- It's moving very, very slow.

- Very slow.

The C.E.O. explained to me

that his workers

have numerous weeks

of paid vacation,

including other benefits,

as well as a strong union.

He saw no problem

with any of this.

We really feel that we are

being rewarded by this,

because the people

are very committed.

There is no clash

between the profit of the company

and the well-being of the people.

"There is no clash

between the profit of the company

and the well-being of the people."

Yes.

He explained that by paying

a good wage with good benefits,

the company still made

a healthy profit.

Here we go again.

You know what that means.

It's lunchtime, I-talian style.

Grown men eating vegetables

and smiling?

What kind of factory was this?

All the fine benefits

these workers have--

vacation, a wonderful lunch--

how did this come about?

Is it still a struggle?

It's the system

that's part of the welfare, no?

- Yeah, the social welfare.

- Yeah, of course--

Welfare's a bad word

in the United States...

- Okay.

- ...with certain conservative people.

They don't like that word, welfare.

- Here, it's not bad.

- It's not a bad word.

- For whatever reason.

- It's a good word.

Yeah, it's a good word.

Of course, you pay more--

You take care

of the welfare of the people.

You take more-- you pay

more taxes for that.

Uh-huh.

You mind that?

Because when you pay something

and you get something back...

- Yeah?

- That's okay, you know?

I asked the Lardini family

if they felt the same.

You, the boss, C.E.O.,

if you did it the American way,

you could make more money

and have more for yourselves.

And you agree

with your sisters?

Yes.

He says that many Italians--

that the dream of Italian people

is to come to America.

To United States.

Maybe they don't know

how it works there.

Yeah, you know

what the law says in America?

If you come to America,

for paid vacation,

you know how many paid weeks

you get by law?

- No.

- Zero.

- Zero?

- Yes, zero.

Zero.

I'm serious.

So, would you think twice now

about living in America,

knowing that you get

zero paid weeks' vacation?

Zero. It's zero.

Zero.

Their law does not mandate

a paid vacation for anybody.

So, if you decide to go on holiday,

you're not paid for that days?

- So, it's--

- That is correct.

Now, if you have a good union,

you may have a contract that says

you get two weeks' paid vacation.

- In a year?

- In a year. That would be good.

- Two weeks would be a good--

- So, two weeks is a good--

- A good job.

- Wow.

- Three would be awesome.

- Ah.

If you have that kind of job.

I don't know anybody

with four weeks' paid vacation, frankly.

I don't know.

Zero paid weeks guaranteed.

Zero.

I see what's going on here.

First comes eight weeks

of vacation sex

and then comes...

You have five months

of maternity leave.

Five months?

Are you paid for this?

- Yes, sure.

- What do you mean, "Yes, sure"?

You act as if I--

It's something that for us

is very natural.

What about the dad?

I think one or the other can--

Esatto.

It's like a substitution, you know?

But the mother

must take five months?

For sure.

It's true, the whole world

does have paid maternity leave,

except for the two countries

too poor to afford it--

Papua New Guinea

and this place.

Even with the long vacations

and extended lunch breaks,

the U.S. and Italy

are amongst the top 15

most productive countries

in the world.

We work many more hours

than Italians,

but we are not that much more

productive than you.

I believe that's true.

I believe that you are having

more sex here

and because of that you are happier

and you do better at work.

Volare...

Oh, oh...

I've come to Italy

and I've invaded Italy--

one man, one-man army--

to take the best ideas I can find here,

bring them back to America,

and convince

my fellow Americans

to do some of the things

that the Italians do.

And one of the things

I'm going to take from you

is this concept of giving workers

eight weeks' paid vacation.

Two or three years from now,

they're gonna be known

as American ideas

from that point on,

even though you were

doing it here first.

- Yeah.

- You don't mind?

No mind.

No worries.

I shake your hand for that.

Thank you, sir.

And thank you for being

the first C.E.O.

to meet with me

on a factory floor.

- Big pleasure.

- Yeah, I got my American flag here.

And I'm gonna plant my flag

here at Ducati.

Good. We've got something.

We've got something good

for the United States here.

I'm gonna just plant the American flag

right here in your living room.

- Oh.

- Is that okay?

- Cheers.

- Cheers.

- Salute.

- Salute.

Sure, Italy has its problems,

like all countries,

but my mission is to pick

the flowers, not the weeds.

- We have just one life.

- Right, yeah.

- That's the only one we have.

- We're not coming back.

And we have to enjoy it.

Your love has given me wings...

- I am French.

- Ooh.

You say you're French?

Oui.

"We"?

No, we are not French.

We're American

'cause you're in America.

Okay?

Greatest country on the planet.

Well, what have you

given the world

apart from George Bush, Cheerios,

and the ThighMaster?

- Chinese food.

- Chinese food.

That's from China.

- Pizza.

- Italy.

- Chimichanga.

- Mexico.

Really, smarty-pants?

What did Frenchland give us?

We invented democracy,

existentialism,

and the blowj*b.

Those are three pretty good things.

Yes, there was all that,

but there was something else

we could steal from France.

As usual, the French

offered little resistance.

So, I entered a small village

in rural Normandy

and went to one of the finest kitchens

in the country

to see how they prepare

a gourmet meal.

By my standards, it was a three,

maybe a four-star kitchen.

It was definitely

the best place to eat in town.

It was the school cafeteria.

I only had

one year of French in school.

Would you like to hear

my first lesson in French?

- Yes.

- Ahem.

The French love their cheese

and they eat a lot of it.

Chef Montignac

had dozens of types of cheese

right here

in the school refrigerator.

I showed the kids

what I used to do at their age

when the lunch lady served us

what she called Thursday Surprise.

The American way.

Didn't take long to get this going.

Once a month,

the school chef gets together

with city and school officials

and a dietician

to go over the daily menu.

Why is the mayor's office

concerned

with what is being served

in the school cafeteria?

See, here in France,

lunchtime isn't just 20 minutes

where you have to stuff your face

as fast as you can.

They consider lunch a class.

A full hour where you learn

how to eat in a civilized manner,

enjoy healthy food,

and serve each other.

And, yes, drink water.

Lots of water.

Mm, water.

They don't stand in a long line

waiting for a bunch of slop

on their plastic

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes