For all those working or studying, the beginning of September means a true
rebirth. Everyone is preparing his own way, for his own sake; but no one can
forget that changes in the coming months in many aspects of the life of the
French depend on their ability to get mobilized for their collective point
of view to be heard: the fate of pensions is therefore largely conditioned
by the way in which unions succeed in moving to action their members and
beyond their employees, so they join large demonstrations planned for Sept.
7 against the Government Bill. The evolution of salaries in 2011 (which
appear doomed, and at best, stagnant while corporate profits have never been
so huge), depends on how the employees will assert their rights, company by
company , by syndicating, negotiating, and, if necessary, by strike.
Similarly, the fate of Roma and the « Gens du voyage » (two issues that have
in fact no relation) will also depend heavily on how the French will want to
act to prevent or at least slow, the expulsions of another age. Similarly,
resettlement of families inadequately housed depend on the possible
mobilization of those who wish to enforce in their commune the DALO law
(Right to Housing), which in theory ensures decent housing for all
residents, while respecting the environment, will depend on how everyone
will want and will take action to close this polluting factory or to enforce
that protective legislation. The preservation of a school, a hospital,
depend also on the ability of the users to be heard collectively.
In our country, this kind of battle may seem illusory: the French are
subjects, rarely involved in politics, they grumble, they vote and when they
are really not happy, they make a revolution.
In fact, few French are unionized, fewer still are members of a political
party. And, if a very large number of them are members of sports or cultural
associations, very few participates in the life of associations having a
real impact on the life of the city. The right wing takes advantage of this,
mobilizing its voters around the themes of security, without any need for
them to go down on the street: to demonstrate in favor of security, it is
enough to be barricaded at home.
As for the left wing, it is silent on these subjects, not to appear lenient,
and does not speak of the benefits of other issues, having no serious plan
for recruitment, or even mobilization, around its own topics: health,
pensions, purchasing power, employment. Thus begins, without saying so, the
presidential election campaign: in a demobilization of the masses of the
left-wing, and a mobilization of ideas from the right-wing.
In the end, it is always ideas that eventually lead the crowds.