Sunday's French Election
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- Published on Thursday, 08 June 2017 23:45
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 1429 .... June 9, 2017
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Sunday’s French Election
Richard Greeman
The good news this May was that French voters rejected far-right Marine Le Pen by a two-to-one margin in the second round of the Presidential election. "At least the French are not schmucks as the Americans!" were the first words that passed the sweet lips of my Provençal partner Elyane when the radio announced Le Pen's defeat. As the Borowitz Report headlined: "French Annoyingly Retain Right to Claim Intellectual Superiority over Americans." Aside from this moral victory, the French people have little to be happy about.
The bad news was that France ended up electing Emmanuel Macron, an efficient technocrat who consciously incarnates French capital's need to eliminate the ‘French exception’ and level the wages, rights and benefits of... the French common people down to the average of the European Union (which includes Romania and Bulgaria).
Faced with Macron's calmly-worded, reasonable, deliberately transparent class war agenda, it should be obvious that France needs a united Left of parties, unions, social movements and local associations to oppose it -- the June during the legislative elections and later in the streets. Such a powerful coalition from below came together spontaneously against Macron/Hollande's pro-business Labour Law during the "hot" Spring of 2016, which included strikes, blockades, occupations and all-night discussions. Where is it now?
