Revolution – French style.
Bastille Day today, July 14th, the national celebration of how efficiently the French get angry.
France has staged six revolutions (1789, 1830, 1848, 1870, 1936 and 1968) in two centuries – not counting innumerable strikes, riots and demonstrations.
It is a curious fact of life, that whilst the English are characterised as ”The Angry Island’, they seem to get angry only with each other; the French, by comparison, get angry with their employers and politicians.
For the first time since the second World War, France’s eight trade unions were united for the May Day marches. On April 28th, doctors joined forces with university professors – who’ve been on strike for three months – to protest at what they see as the attempted privatisation of public health and education by Sarkozy.
Students are lining up to become politically involved again, as in 1968, the rectors of the universities of Orléans and Rennes, and the head of the Paris University services organisation CROUS, have all been taken hostage.
In Chatellerault, the workers in the ‘New Fabris’ factory have lined the walls with gas canisters and say they will blow up the factory if Renault and Peugeot, who accounted for 90% of the factories business do not give them redundancy payments of €30,000 each. The New Fabris workers, whose employer was declared bankrupt on June 16, claim that Renault and Peugeot paid around €30,000 each to 200 workers laid off from another supplier, the aluminium specialist Rencast. But both Renault and Peugeot said Monday it was not their responsibility to pay out compensation to the New Fabris workers.
The threat comes after a recent wave of “bossnappings” across France earlier this year in which managers have been held hostage by workers over factory closures. Most of the business executives who’ve been detained by workers facing factory closures were employed by subsidiaries of foreign companies (including Sony, 3M, Caterpillar). A French consultancy group now advises bosses about to announce bad news to carry a kit containing a pre-programmed cellphone, toiletry bag, change of underwear and a clean shirt.
The French already enjoy working agreements that would be the envy of the British. The Matignon Agreements in 1936 enshrined the right to a 40 hour week, and two weeks paid holiday, long before such notions had been thought of abroad. Every French employee has the right to a subsidised train ticket to his home commune once a year, to help families stay together. If your employer asks you to work further than, I believe it is currently 15 kilometres, from where your wife is dutifully preparing your traditional four course luncheon at 12 noon sharp, then your employer must give you a voucher to pay for a similar four course meal, including wine, at a local restaurant…..hence the proliferation of restaurants serving excellent food at 10 or eleven euros at lunchtime, generally the value of the vouchers!
Tolerance for violent protest is so deeply ingrained in the collective psyche that even right-wing politicians express understanding. Two years ago, when he was campaigning for the presidency, Sarkozy told Breton fishermen:
“Here, when you demonstrate, when you use violence, it’s not for fun; it’s not to harm others. It’s because you are deeply despairing, because you think you have no other recourse and you feel condemned to economic and social death.”
In Britain, we see an increase in knife crime as the citizens stab each other in the back – and front, we go online under pseudonyms and threaten to ’string up all the politicians’, we get drunk and break off a string of wing mirrors in a quiet side street on our way home, we employ our anger by proxy in voting off contestants from innumerable TV shows.
Next Tuesday, July 21st, your politicians take off for an extraordinary 80 days summer recess, they will not return until the 12th October, will not debate the great affairs of state, will not hold this government to account. This is in addition to the 24 days at Christmas, and the 11 days in February, and the 18 days in April, and the 10 days for Whit-sun, and just for good measure, the Bank Holiday of May 4th……….deduct the time they spend on their second jobs, the week-ends, the first class travelling time to and fro their constituancy, the time spent on sexual shannigans……..
Where is the British revolution, where is the refusal to be governed in the manner that we are? Why aren’t the British barricading parliament and demanding that they stay there until they have sorted out at least some of the problems?
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July 14, 2009 at 1:14 pm -
The Spanish also tend to take their anger out on employers and politicians…
I think this government has alot to answer for. They have actively campaigned for a social behaviour of “suspicion towards your neighbour” and 7 pubs a week shutting down hasn´t helped people meeting as a community should, to “chew the cud”…
That´s besides all the Political Correctness and Equality Bills that have created a climate of hatred and resentment amongst ordinary people for each other!
Perhaps that was the plan?
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July 14, 2009 at 1:27 pm -
Now there is a thought! Unfortunately, as you so rightly say, we are British – we don’t do things like that. Well, it is probably about bloody time we did! The political elite might just listen to us then!
I’m game……….Anyone else?
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July 14, 2009 at 1:52 pm -
there’s no real desire in the country to string up politicians. nobody cares anymore. it’s about food in the fridge, what’s on the telly and the soon to be football season.
I can’t say I’ve met anybody in the last 10 years in this country who is passionate about our way of life, angry enough to act upon it and articulate enought to argue the case until I met a lovely, retired woman who visited yesterday and is an active member of a local poetry group. she is keen to keep country walks as signified by poets and writers in the area free and accessible to all. she is livid about the way local farmers deliberately close down pathways and prevent the public from having access. she harasses them, writes to local councils and tries through her group to exert as much pressure as she can. she shows up many people, young and older, by her passion, enthusiasm and sheer determination to not let the politicos off the hook. she must be 75…..
for one who has been active in a various realms in his life this is a sad reflection on where we are as a nation – because I don’t actually believe things in this respect are as bad as they appear. there is activity across the country but it is diverse and diluted, splinter groups all over the place trying to achieve change but stimied by the systems that ensnare us. there is no sense of a collective will and even less notion of how to harness it!
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July 14, 2009 at 1:52 pm -
It is getting very very close.
Traditionally we have had little to revolt about in comparison. Where is the better example to demand from our politicians.
That is changing and changing fast.
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July 14, 2009 at 2:02 pm -
Perhaps because most of the people who might have joined the modern equivalent of the Eastern Association have moved to France and Spain or joined family in Australia.
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July 14, 2009 at 2:39 pm -
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July 14, 2009 at 4:07 pm -
Excellent writing as usual. After all these years spent here, I am still wondering why do the Brits never answer back. What (for FS) does stop them from speaking their mind when needed. All smiles in front and nasty backstabbing…
I used to shut up in front of the parents, no other choice available in those times !!! I zip it up in front of an employer as its pays me, I tend to keep it quiet in front of “Ze brats” for the mimimum of consideration I can expect from them.
Apart from maintaining one’s physical safety, what are the risks to sometimes act as “a big gob” ? You will have noticed “I am not a belonger” and prefer to speak my own mind than “being loved”.
It is also something very important here “the parading”, pretending to be what one isn’t…
Yesterday, I had to take my daughter to the dentist’s…Our dentist could not see her so we had to bear with the “difficult” one, this old chap is always “putting me down” because of the difference of his condition and mine…him being the “clever educated thing with the right kind of accent I only heard on the BBC”… me being “the stupid foreigner”. He asked questions, self-congratulated himself and being the paying (through the nose) customer…I answered back (it’s been a long time since I was a little girl), then he could not take it because he is so used to being “patted on the back” whatever he says and however he behaves and patronized. In case, he reads me and recognizes himself…I won’t see him ever again.
Rant over…
Fair enough France has such a quality of life and fairer conditions of work, they fought for it !!!They should carry on…
Valerie
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July 14, 2009 at 5:29 pm -
No one would barricade parliament, except the tamils, because a) they have the ability to organise it and b)most GCHQ workers dont speak tamil so they didnt know it was coming.
As for the indigenous lot They couldnt give a shit, Even I give a shit and yet my parents were not even born here, call it the product of going to private school thanks in part to the Labour government turning the grant maintained grammar schools into comprehensives.
Thirdly you’ll get arrested or filmed by the polis if you have a camera or film anything near westminster, I have been filmed when I filmed Old Holborn at the Palace gates with the Hazel Blears placard.
Fourth There are big fuck off concrete barriers to prevent the public from storming the place ( the usual excuse of terrorism is maintained ) but its to prevent us from storming it.
Five As long as some have their sky tv, and their diet of cheap drama they dont want to know
You will only get the public roused if you turn off the satellite and cable signals ……Permanently
Sorry am I feeling pissed off ? You betcha I have been at work since this morning and Ive been sent to sleep by some crappy meeting, and then because IT cant pull their fucking finger out I cant gain access to the NHS computers now that everything is paper free so of course I have fuck all to do. I splurged money on a netbook so I could surf my own computer at work, it was reduced in price by 130 quid. Thank fuck for carte de credit, but this weeks pay is almost all spent which is galling, Shows how much I have been going without since I became poor.
Labour party members involved in that too Its a fucking nightmare. If you have independent thought you are singled out and smashed
Here endeth the rant
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July 14, 2009 at 5:32 pm -
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July 14, 2009 at 7:05 pm -
Here’s a question for the great British public.
How many agree with spending in excess of 10 Billion pounds (and counting) for a glorified schools sportsday (fortnight)?
London 2012, they’re having a laugh.
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July 14, 2009 at 7:17 pm -
I’m up for a bit of violent protest. Many a time I fantasise about going nuts with the fork-lift at work and wrecking the place…
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July 14, 2009 at 7:52 pm -
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July 14, 2009 at 7:53 pm -
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July 14, 2009 at 9:47 pm -
Oldie but Goldie.
Type…. french military victories… into the google search box, and then hit, “I’m feeling lucky.”
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July 14, 2009 at 10:04 pm -
Protests are being planned as we speak.
The UK was notorious for its football hooligans. Don’t think for a minute that the army of a million that heads for the terraces every Saturday is in anyway happy.
It really is kicking off
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July 14, 2009 at 10:28 pm -
Thanks for the footie link….
Remember at school, whoever owned the best ball made up the rules. If you didn’t like it then there was the threat of them “taking their ball home”.
Gordon Brown is fast becoming a caricature of Brian Glover’s school teacher role in the film Kes. He has his own team of yes men and women, plus the greedy and not bothered, that he Bullies.
He is the self appointed “Bobby Charlton” and you WILL play by his rules or he will take his ball home.
David Cameron is looking on with an old leather case ball and Nick Clegg is trying to keep his beach ball from blowing away.
Still Gordon plays on.
Unfortunately, although it is scuffed and deflating rapidly, it still seems to be the best ball around.
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July 14, 2009 at 11:04 pm -
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July 14, 2009 at 11:10 pm -
Spot on, Anna, but what exactly will it take to get the Great British Public away from their TV & into the streets?
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July 14, 2009 at 11:12 pm -
Bonsoir, tout le monde. Joyeux quatorze juillet!
I was in Paris at the end of the riots in 1968. Pretty nasty stuff, with the brutal CRS, and all. Parisian dentists made a fortune replacing the front teeth of those students who had theirs removed by CRS batons.
Lady Killemall and I spend far too much time in France now; wonderful culture, wonderful food and wine to die for. What else? Oh yes, children are polite, and you can take them into a restaurant without fear of a tantrum. People tend not to eat in the street from a paper bag and not eveyone wears plimsolls and a stupid baseball hat. In shops, people greet each other with a polite “Bonjour”; not to do so is unthinkable as it is the height of rudeness. Simple good manners – wonderful.
The French are ALWAYS on strike for some reason or other; usually a one-day strike, just to make a point, and to be a nuisance for a day.
Most of all, the French LOVE to be French. They’re proud of their country, don’t want their language fucked up by the Yanks and they’re starting to piss off the Muslims.
I love ‘em.
We Brits have lost it; subservient to everyone, we’ve allowed the creeping state to take control of every aspect of our lives. Not for us Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. Eastenders, football and Britain’s Got Talent are all we seem to need.
Yes, the Casuals are stirring, but it’s too little, too late. The tipping point has been and gone, and we were too busy evicting someone from the Big Brother house to notice.
We should be ashamed of ourselves.
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July 14, 2009 at 11:21 pm -
Excuse me for coming back to the “French” …. Yes, they fought for their rights and they HAVE them. I had to lay off a French assistant for economical reasons. The whole procedure de “licenciément” is a complicated one and I would need to keep and pay her for another 3 months at a nice [overpaid, but I didn’t know that when I came from Holland] salary. Then she offered me to sign some forms, which would end the contract within 3 WEEKS, allowing her a guided integration track and 80% unemployment [instead of 57.5%]. I readily signed only to find out that, Yes! the contract ended July 2 instead of September 22, but ..I still had to pay the 3 months notice, PLUS compensation for 5 weeks holidays PLUS a compensation for letting her go. In short the 3 weeks after signing the convenant have cost me € 23,000. Oh …these French …
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July 14, 2009 at 11:44 pm -
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July 15, 2009 at 12:20 am -
Imune…? Maman should be soon too, after a big cure of antibiotics, paracetamol, steaming baths and lots of vitamins. I feared for her life last weekend. But she’s a tough cookie …;-)
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July 15, 2009 at 1:17 pm -
One does have to admire the French (no matter how obnoxious some are) because they do stand up for being, well.. French. No arguments. Le weekend? Non! Burkas? Non! Greenpeace? Non! Les Ros bif de dément ? Non!
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July 16, 2009 at 2:12 am -
Not so long ago, here in britain protesters of any kind, were always labled as loonie lefties, crusty punks with their dog – on – a – rope or work shy students. They were never given any national support.
The greenham common women where always taunted and being told to get back home and look after their kids, ‘fat, ugly, lesbians, blah blah . . ‘
The massive march against the 2nd Iraq war seemed to change some of that opinion.
Also workers strikes here don’t get much support either, even when tube train drivers in london are striking over safety issues, there is always bitching and whinning about their selfishness.
Mrs Thatch did a good job of making unions and strikers look like greedy, selfish, good for nothings. -
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July 17, 2009 at 1:43 am -
Reading the comments above about the ’security’ around Parliament these days, and the ‘paranoia’ that is Britain today, always causes me to think back some 25 years.
I was a young teacher in Germany and organised a class trip for my Oberstufe (17 year olds) to London. I walked them through Downing Street, bumped into Lord Carrington ouside the Foreign Office and said ‘Good Morning’ and continued to the Palace of Westminster. Arrived, chatted to a doorman and entire class just invited in without appointment or security checks.
That is what Britain used to be like.
The war had reinforced a strong identity which expressed itself in, what amazed my students, a laid-back, easy-going sense of rubbing along.This was a Britain that was comfortable in its sense of itself.
An Indian summer. No paradise but revolt was suspiciously ‘foreign’ Bad manners.
This has now suffered a sea-change.
We didn’t need ID because we were British and knew who we were.
With sadness,I believe we must know learn that that this past…half of my life is ‘another country’
We have lost identity and faith in our culture.
What kind of society legislates for ‘virtue’ and talks about ’shared values’
There has been a revolution in Britain, perhaps a bit of counter-revolution might clear the air.
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