When a tropical cyclone is formed, vortices come together and take the form of a large column of wind that rises according to helical motions around a protected area. We know almost nothing about the causes of these cyclones, where they are formed, how they move. We only know that they offer a respite to those who reside in what is called “the eye of the cyclone,” and we know nothing about the trajectory, speed and stability.
Strange time in this place: everything is quiet, when everyone knows, from weather announcements and what we see outside, that a wall of thunderstorms and wind threatens to ravage all and that, when the cyclone will be set in motion, if they do not take appropriate measures, their homes, their cars, all their possessions, their very lives, will be destroyed.
That is exactly how I feel today monitoring the French presidential election campaign. One talks about nothing there, but incidental considerations. Instead of preparing for the cyclone, and make very specific plans to face what is coming, put in place networks of solidarity, accommodate the population in the strongest places, prohibit transactions that may be harmful, our leaders, and the general public with them, seem determined to do nothing, but to admire the damage caused elsewhere by the storm. They do not want to see that France is largely in the eye of the cyclone. They think the country will be spared. They refuse to admit that France is surrounded by storms that could destroy it If it does not prepare for it; and if, in particular, candidates for the next Presidential election do not offer clear strategies to face them.
Indeed, we have before us countless storms, which will soon require some action: what shall we do if the Syrian government continues to kill its people? If Iran becomes a nuclear power with the stated aim of destroying one of its neighbors? If North Korea accelerates its nuclear weapons testing program? What shall we do if a country bordering the Mediterranean or Sub-Saharan Africa comes under the control of Islamist leaders determined to impose Shariah law at home and abroad? What shall we do when the financial crisis, asleep for a very short time, shall gain back its strength in Europe? What shall we do if Hungary becomes a dictatorship in February, if Greece goes bankrupt in March, if Italy fails to refinance its banks, if France fails to fund its deficit? What shall we do if our financial institutions reduce their credits to the economy massively and increase costs, while showing, through dividends and bonuses paid largely to their shareholders and their traders, their absolute lack of understanding of what is at stake? What shall we do when a state of insecurity, the decommissioning of graduates, the rise of unemployment, the closing of all doors to all initiatives shall drive the best equipped youth into despair and violence?
Of all this, nobody is talking; everyone is too busy not thinking about it.
Strange time, for which we shall pay a high price, if it lasts too long.