Why France Matters Here, Too

Tuesday 26 October 2010

Why France Matters Here, Too
French protesters on the streets of Marseille on October 16. (Photo: marcovdz / Flickr)

For many weeks now, the historic social change sweeping across France has drawn increasing attention globally. It should. A genuine, mass democratic upsurge has surprised all those who thought, hoped, or feared that such things could no longer happen in countries like France or the US. Millions of French people -- in left political parties, church, and student groups -- have accepted and cheered on the leadership of a unified trade union movement. They have recomposed and reinserted a powerful left into French politics. They are profoundly challenging President Sarkozy, his conservative political allies in both houses of the French legislature, and the entire twenty-five-year neo-liberal drift of economics and politics in France. Along the way, they have demonstrated a strength and cohesion that renders the existing French right an annoying small noise in comparison.

Depending on who counts, the French left has repeatedly mobilized between 1.3 and 2.9 million people into action in over 240 cities and towns across the country. Given that the US has five times the total population of France, the equivalent mass mobilization in the US would entail between 6.5 and 14.4 million. No political movement in US history has so far come close to such numbers of mobilized, active participants. This truly mass mobilization in France began with the general strike on September 7. That action garnered a public opinion poll of 70 per cent either "supporting" or "sympathetic to" the strike movement. That level of public opinion favoring the French strikers and demonstrators has held constant to this day despite escalating government and corporate threats, intimidations, and a defiant Sarkozy's barking about never compromising. France's "silent majority" is no longer quiet, thereby exposing the regime as a minority in power that seeks to maintain and exploit its self-serving political and economic positions.

The tension mounts with each passing week. So do the stakes. Behind the intense dispute over details of retirement eligibility, the government's austerity program, etc., there looms the more basic question of whether France's majority will continue to absorb the instabilities, inefficiencies, immense costs, and injustice of the country's capitalist economic system.

The relevance of all this to everyone in this country should be clear. Average working people in the US have suffered since the crisis began in 2007 much as their French counterparts did; indeed, it hit harder here than there. The same issues that concern the French (unemployment, precarious jobs, declining benefits, huge government bailouts of the rich and well-connected, etc.) likewise agitate most people here. France's experience suggests the potential in other countries for the parallel emergence there of huge left movements opposing policies that burden average citizens with the costs of capitalism's crisis and of bailouts rewarding the same enterprises that contributed to the crisis. France today suggests that when you further push a population to suffer reduced public payrolls and thus government services (in "austerity" programs to pay for overcoming the crisis), you risk provoking a mass left upheaval into the political, cultural, and ideological life of a country. France will not be the same in the future, no matter how this crisis ends.

The French strikes and demonstrations are coalescing around some basic demands that go far beyond the rejection of Sarkozy's demand for a two-year postponement of retirements for French workers. Contrary to so many US media reports, that particular issue was never what brought out millions of demonstrators and strikers; that was the bare tip of an iceberg. The issue that mobilizes the French is the basic question of who is to pay for (1) the collapse of global capitalism in 2008 and 2009, (2) the ongoing social and personal costs of high unemployment, loss of homes, reduction of job benefits, and the general assault on most citizens' standards of living, and (3) the costs of ending the crisis. The French masses have already absorbed and suffered the costs of (1) and (2). They have drawn the line at (3). That they now refuse.

Instead, they demand that the costs of fixing capitalism's crisis be borne chiefly by taxes on the banks, large corporations, and the wealthy. Those groups are declared to be (1) those most able to pay, (2) those who benefited most from speculations and stock market booms before the crisis began in 2007, (3) those whose investment and business activities were key causes of the crisis, and (4) those who got the biggest, earliest bailouts from governments subservient to them. As the Sarkozy government becomes increasingly isolated and reviled, the French capitalist elite -- known there as the "patronat" -- must begin to worry. That elite wants Sarkozy to preside effectively over a peaceful, docile, and profitable France, not one convulsed by such powerful oppositions. For them, he is not doing his job well.

Meanwhile, French workers re-learn -- and remind everyone else -- that, without their work, the economy stops. Corporate executives and politicians bark orders, but nothing happens unless and until workers comply. In their solidarity, the French rediscover the taproots of their political power. And their rediscovery ramifies everywhere, including among US workers, students, and others eager for a mass movement against capitalism's crisis and the social costs it imposes. US citizens are seeking ways to articulate an attractive left economic and political criticism of the crisis and of the government's response, and they are seeking a left alternative program to propose. France matters because it suggests a concrete form and substance for what such US citizens seek. Perhaps the best way to undercut the appeal and influence of the Tea Party Right in the US would be, as in France, the upsurge of a comparable left alternative.

Rick Wolff is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and also a Visiting Professor at the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University in New York. He is the author of New Departures in Marxian Theory (Routledge, 2006) among many other publications. Check out Rick Wolff’s documentary film on the current economic crisis, Capitalism Hits the Fan, at www.capitalismhitsthefan.com. Visit Wolff's Web site at www.rdwolff.com, and order a copy of his new book Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do about It.

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Comments

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In a country with a long

Tue, 10/26/2010 - 15:31 — Anonymous (not verified)

In a country with a long history of radical labor organization (I refer to the U.S.) what is truly remarkable is that there seems to be not even a residual impulse toward the kind of protest and concerted action we see in France.

To be sure, the Sarkozy government appears to be having no difficulty in riding out the storm, so perhaps the labor actions aren't all that effective after all.

"In a country with a long

Tue, 10/26/2010 - 16:03 — Austin Loomis (not verified)

"In a country with a long history of radical labor organization (I refer to the U.S.) what is truly remarkable is that there seems to be not even a residual impulse toward the kind of protest and concerted action we see in France." Given the long recent history of radical suppression of labor organization, I don't find it nearly as remarkable as I wish I did.

At the risk of

Tue, 10/26/2010 - 16:45 — MR (not verified)

At the risk of oversimplification or perhaps hyperbole, I think the biggest reason the French people are getting it right and Americans are not are that the French are largely an intelligent and cultured people.

Thanks to our piss-poor educational system that is more about job training and neoliberalism than education, Americans are far from intelligent, free-thinking people. Because they are largely obtuse, they are ripe for the picking by the right wing, who has succeeded in easily manipulating them and whipping them into a frenzy against the left, all the while diverting attention from those who actually put this country in this mess to begin with (the aforementioned right).

It never ceases to amaze me just how utterly stupid Americans are when they led around by the nose by political evangelists and conveniently turn their attention from who put everyone in this predicament and blame those who, essentially, have been in office for under 3 years.

The very existence of the right wing, IMO, depends largely on an ignorant people they can manipulate and propagandize. Without them, the right wouldn't even exist.

Trust me the French aren't

Tue, 10/26/2010 - 18:12 — Stefanie (A Canadian living in France) (not verified)

Trust me the French aren't that much more intelligent or cultured as compared to Americans.
The French consume more pizza per capita then any other country on the planet.
McDonalds is everywhere. . . .
Evangelism is the fastest growing religion here too.
And like Americans the French are notorious for being utterly inept at learning foreign languages correctly. (Trust me I am a language teacher.)
The education system while superior to the United States is largely inferior compared to the economic powerhouses of Europe, the UK and Germany.
If it follows that a better educational system should lead to unrest, why isn't Downing Street flooded with an angry peaceful mob.

@Stefanie, thanks for the

Tue, 10/26/2010 - 18:51 — MR (not verified)

@Stefanie, thanks for the insight. Perhaps I'm so impressed with the French rioting that I'm assuming too much. The fact that they stand up to their government for the betterment of the people (unlike the Tea Party who stands up to the government to the people's detriment unbeknownst to them) tells me that they seem to be more evolved as a people than Americans. Maybe it's because they've been around for so much longer than Americans.

On the educational system, I've read in the Guardian various columns about the UK's system, and that unlike here in the US it's largely geared toward the elite. In other words, it seems that there is much less access to university in the UK than in America. Especially those universities in the Russell Group. That seems to be a huge controversy in the UK but given you're a European teacher I suspect you could shed more light on this.

Thanks again for your insight. It's posts like this that get my respect.

Well, the Tea Party in the

Tue, 10/26/2010 - 20:41 — Anonymous (not verified)

Well, the Tea Party in the US appears to be challenging the system, until you look at the people they are blessing for election. These people, who are presented by the so-called Tea Party as "their candidates" aren't credibly "Fiscal Conservatives", nor are they even remotely "Libertarian". Since they are almost overwhelmingly "Social Conservatives", they seem to be merely a re-packaging of the candidates that were formed as a coalition of the so-called "Religious Right" and the far-right fringes of the Republican party in previous elections. Any wonder that Karl Rove and his new organizations are taking advantage of the blank check created by the US Supreme Court (Citizens United case) ??????

People in the U.S. are very

Tue, 10/26/2010 - 21:42 — Anonymous (not verified)

People in the U.S. are very isolated from one another, compared to other countries on the globe. It is one of our great weaknesses. Mother Theresa commented on this characteristic in America -- comparing us years ago to India, and when the poverty was even worse -- asserting that the poorest nation on earth was the U.S. because people felt so alone.

France is much smaller, geographically, but I think, too, the unions are much stronger in France, and people are more socially connected, as they are throughout Europe in a lot of ways. Yes, they have their hobunk mentalities walking around, their right-wingers, their neo-nazis -- and they have a much bigger problem with militant Islamism right now throughout Europe (particularly the U.K.) -- but the forces in the street for constructive social progress - the sheer numbers, IMO, reflect a majority that exists in the U.S. as well, but we are unable to mobilize, and mobilize as quickly as the French in our own interests. (Take for example, health care, where 65% supported opening Medicare, 55% of doctors, and 75% wanted a strong public option, along with the majority of labor unions across the board, as well as nurse organizations. This parallels the seventy percentage mentioned in the article.)

continued

continued So we are not so

Tue, 10/26/2010 - 21:47 — Anonymous (not verified)

So we are not so different from the French, IMO, in what we recognize as representing our interests. But we lack a certain confidence that they have, and mostly, a confidence in knowing that our fellow citizens, for the most part, are really on the same side. We have been hoodwinked by the propaganda from stations like FOX; even the more liberal outlets buy into the idea, and help spread it, that we are not a majority body of opinion, let alone one that is not being represented properly by our elected officials.

France seems to be a favored

Tue, 10/26/2010 - 21:47 — goobagooba (not verified)

France seems to be a favored example for the press in particular. Whether praised or insulted, the French are seen to be newsworthy.

During the last Bush administration, there was little or no coverage of the mass resistance in this country to the idiotic war they began, of the rallies that were larger than any since the Vietnam incursion. It was Congress who licked his boots then, and who have not been taken to task for it since.

I wish France well in this. The English didn't fare so well against the Thatcher government in a similar situation. We, on the other hand, seem cold-cocked by the absurdity of the choices confronting us next week, and by the mind-numbing political PR assaulting our ears and eyes.

Our labor movement was

Our labor movement was strong in the '30's, but it was crushed down through a variety of means over the decades, including the red scare tactics of the '50's. Still fresh in memory, still intimidating many people, I think. And the right knows it. All they have to do is drop a few boogeyman phrases, and the "liberal" media goes running with their tails between their legs, and apologizing for themselves. And, if they don't, people like FOX make sure they hire a journalism who can say they're a liberal and whine when the timing is right.

continued So the beat goes

Tue, 10/26/2010 - 21:49 — Anonymous (not verified)

So the beat goes on. And Pavlov's dogs respond on their living room couches.

The French, too, have in recent memory, the experience of being an occupied nation; the experience of the consequences of what Dr. King called the sweet drink (or drug, was it?) of gradualism. It was the same kind of inaction that led to their take-over.

France, in a way, in this time and spoy, on this ball of rock spinning through space, is show-down at the O.K. Corral. We are counting on the French to fight those MFs.

I am very glad to see information about the French protests on this internet newspaper -- it has bothered me for a long time -- "why aren't we more like the French?"

We were at one point in time. We need to recollect ourselves.

Tue, 10/26/2010 - 22:03 — Anonymous (not verified)

France, in a way, in this time and spot, on this ball of rock spinning through space, is Show-Down at the O.K. Corral. We are counting on the French to fight those MFs.

It is important for us, in

Tue, 10/26/2010 - 22:09 — Lucy (not verified)

It is important for us, in America, that the French win this fight.

France's "silent majority"

Wed, 10/27/2010 - 10:26 — MG (not verified)

France's "silent majority" is no longer quiet, thereby exposing the regime as a minority in power that seeks to maintain and exploit its self-serving political and economic positions.

This statement cannot be overemphasized. It's the same everywhere, including here in the US. It's my hope (my only real hope) that Americans put aside their petty differences and come together, as one of our cultural models (sometimes begrudgingly) from the "old world" have done, and hit the streets to stand up for what we want for our country.

What is it we want for our country? A strong middle class, sustainable growth, a clean energy economy, strong public education, fair elections, affordable healthcare, safe food and water, retirement with dignity, and many other things that at least 70% of us can agree on without thinking too hard.

The difficult thing is that we need to do it now.

That elite wants Sarkozy to

Wed, 10/27/2010 - 10:47 — MG (not verified)

That elite wants Sarkozy to preside effectively over a peaceful, docile, and profitable France, not one convulsed by such powerful oppositions. For them, he is not doing his job well.

Obama and Bush have been successful at this ONLY because we don't have a unified progressive movement which is also loud, and in their face. Progressives don't believe the TV crap for the most part, or the Christian Right's version of reality.

— MR On the educational

Wed, 10/27/2010 - 19:39 — Anonymous (not verified)

— MR

On the educational system, I've read in the Guardian various columns

Please don't believe anything you read in the Guardian....

...In a pretended DEmocracy,

Thu, 10/28/2010 - 11:12 — Anonymous (not verified)

...In a pretended DEmocracy, if the Law is Injustice for 80% of ten poeople, then Justice is to empeach that Law & suppress it. THAT is Democracy ! ...But IMBECILES decides OF ALL about EVERY THING by himself...Temporarely, and since about 40 yeqars, France is occupied by colons who came from Ageria. They came poor in a rich country, they are the richest in a poor country today: They took all to the french 1
...Hm...More dangerous than Hitler, this little Missié Sarkosoma we will push him OUT !!! "Heraus and schneller !, or, in a cooler way,' RESIGN, ASSWIPE ! ...And we will get rid of him !!!!
"...Worst President EVER ....!" Does it reminds you something ???!!!

THANK YOU !

We the American people are

Thu, 10/28/2010 - 15:22 — Disgusted by U.S. Apathy (not verified)

We the American people are asleep at the wheel the way the French were before the Nazis seized their country.

They understand the importance of action because the memory is still close enough.

If anyone was going to figuratively storm the beaches of Normandy these days, it would not be the people of the United States, but more like the people of France.

For shame America! You are the country killing most of the world and you cannot hold a candle, today, to the bravery of the French! They are the ones holding up the memory of resistance to real evils. While you are all getting fat in front of your FOX television propaganda, afraid to show up at any demonstrations unless that stupid guy weeping on his show shows up at the Lincoln Memorial to further disgrace the memory of MLK Jr.

France is broke. The

Fri, 10/29/2010 - 05:39 — Erich Von Freemason (not verified)

France is broke. The government won't be keeping its promises because it CAN'T. It's not a matter of political will or getting the right people in office. THEY'RE BROKE.

Guess what? We're broke, too.

@10:39 Just curious, since

Fri, 10/29/2010 - 19:40 — Anonymous (not verified)

@10:39 Just curious, since you think we're so broke, do you support the war in Afhganistan or how much we spend on the military? Also, given that this is your opinion, don't you think it's time for top incomes to pay taxes more along the lines of the 1950's and '60's?

Sat, 10/30/2010 - 00:40 —

Sun, 10/31/2010 - 22:24 — Erich Von Freemason (not verified)

Sat, 10/30/2010 - 00:40 — Anonymous (not verified)

The last US war I support was the War of 1812. We should cut the military budget by 90%; that would be plenty to prevent foreign militaries from invading. I also think that the income tax should be repealed and the size of government cut accordingly.

No, Erich, France is not

Tue, 11/09/2010 - 15:31 — Frances in California (not verified)

No, Erich, France is not broke . . . not by any comparison to, say . . . your bankrupt intellect.

Tue, 11/09/2010 - 20:31 —

Thu, 11/11/2010 - 19:06 — Erich Von Freemason (not verified)

Tue, 11/09/2010 - 20:31 — Frances in California (not verified)

"No, Erich, France is not broke . . . not by any comparison to, say . . . your bankrupt intellect."

MY bankrupt intellect? When are we going to see a logical, articulate statement of your position... a well-reasoned, thoughtful argument backed by provable fact? Every time you've replied to one of my posts, it's had all the intellect of a monkey flinging poo... nothing more than curses, insults, and wishing bad on me (in this life and in the next). Is that your ideal of intellect?

I was a union steward for

Sat, 11/13/2010 - 11:30 — jonnierotten (not verified)

I was a union steward for the Steel Workers in the early 1970's. I really did not have to take the job I took. I did not have to work at hard labor outside in any weather. I did the job and volunterred for union work because I believe in public service, and for me, a couple of years spent helping organized labor is time well spent.

If this strike in France had happened in the 70's there would have been more notice and maybe inspiration taken here in the US. Today, too many of us look for justice by defending the ruling class. That swift idea will take us back to medieval ways.

Pitiful.