French Elections: the disaster.
May 7 2007 00:03
Sarkozy, right wing, has just been elected "President de la Republique".
It's a confirmation that France is going righter and righter and is struggling to face the world and keep left.
I have not voted, I am an anarchist. I sometimes wonder, even after 10 years where I was always given the choice to vote, if I should have voted or not. Stubbing, I persist thinking that I will never vote and will always be acting in the background with my fellows anarchists. But is it reasonnable, could not things be stopped a bit through vote, when it comes to such a serious thing as having another right wing president, voted 53%, against 47% of voting french who now hate the other 53?
I wonder...
It is certain that the anarchist france is now gonna organise itself for a 5 years long internal fight. Some people think that France is always self punishing with a right wing commander to find the strengh and rebel massively, so whatever will happen will be rich in events.
x
May 7 2007 08:13
#2
i wouldn't wish sarko on anyone, but his style of taking on the working class has already failed recently (CPE, banilieu repression). he seems to like a fight, but not necessarily pick ones he can win. sego would probably have been more subtle, but had the same aims (breaking/diffusing militancy). with thatcher here, her government built up coal stocks for a year in advance of provoking the miners' strike, so keep a close eye on sarko to see who he's going to attack first. you can beat the fucker 
May 7 2007 10:44
#3
Hi Joseph:)
I reckon he'll have a go at the public health system, where we need the most people, and then privatise the public health system more and more, a bit like in the uk which has left NHS agonising and battling so hard to maintain some level of quality under the "management" of "quality control directors and administrators" who know f***K all about medecine!
Will keep an eye or two on Sarkozy, and I think that the comparison to Thatcher is very accurate.
xx
May 7 2007 13:25
#4
BBC24 was reporting last night that the government blamed riots against Sarkozy in Toulouse and Paris on "anarchists" - was there some sort of coordinated response? Or was it just media talking crap?
May 7 2007 13:26
#5
I saw a few black flags amongst the rioting shown on the BBC.
May 7 2007 13:32
#6
tbh if sarkozy wants to paint all his opponents as anarchists anarchism's going to have a boom period 
May 7 2007 13:43
#7
To requote an old adage: No matter who you vote for the government always gets in! Whilst on the subject of France, Reclus once said: " To vote is to give up your own power. To elect a master or many, for a long or short time, is to resign one's liberty....." Voting is an absolute abdication of self-responsibility. As anarchists we should remove ourselves from this self-deluding sham.
May 7 2007 13:51
#8
It's not exactly rioting it's more of a ritual 367 cars burnt is about the same as for the 14th of July, the french set cars on fire. The number of arrests, 270, is however very high. There were a lot of arrests in Paris relative to the number of fires (46 arrests, about 12 cars).
According to Le Monde the anti-sarko demos were organised by the extreme left anarchists and autonomists. I haven't seen any footage myself.
I'm not sure about Sarkozy losing. Villepin took the fall for the CPE and Chirac was hurt. A lot of people don't think he did 'lose' the riots, even though his policies have increased violence and made people less safe people still think he has a handle on law and order because of his confrontational style, logic doesn't come into it really. The spate of bus burnings only came to an end because someone was severely injured, I'm not sure the police would have been able to bring it under control themselves.
May 7 2007 15:05
#9
My French friend who I accompanied last night to drown his sorrows (he voted Sego in both rounds) was calling his mates in Paris to see if riots had broken out in the banlieus. Is that being hyperbolic or is the country really that fragmented?
May 7 2007 15:05
#10
Shit, read rest of thread.
May 7 2007 20:40
#11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Hc3J65QYQQ - Rioting after election results
http://www.anarkismo.net/newswire.php?story_id=5547 - Alternative Libertaire statement
May 7 2007 23:14
#12
Comrades,
I am very sad to see what is happening in France. 3 years ago when I was at the CNT, we were already preparing for the resistance against Sarkozy. The time has come now to pull the black flags up and and to be wise regarding the possible actions that can be taken. It might be the begining of a 5 years long fight, or it can be the begining of a very short fight where we will find half of the angry France released from Sarkozy's police cuffs. However the need and the urge to bring France some support through this major difficulty is there. When almost half of the french inhabitants are in the street and some are too scared to be in the street, all the signs of a "republican dictature" are there and there will be only two outcomes: submission and resignation or resistance and liberation.
Lets start thinking of an action here, lets continue using this thread to exchange our ideas about what is happening now and to suggest strategies to tackle the monster.
xx
May 7 2007 23:22
#13
Will he really be that different you think?
May 7 2007 23:29
#14
Oh yes I think he will be very different and very dangerous, there will be changes, big changes disguised in small insignificatn changes, those are the most changes ever, and he will blame the french for always resisting changes, and his government will treat their "subjects" like irresponsible people who do not know what they need, because of course, sarkozy, his government and his police know what is best for all. Keep an eye on it, it will proove true soon enough, and it has started since he's in the government: ppl sent back "home" in charters, early in the morning, ppl hunted and caught "cheating" on the crumbs the state give them, under the form of benefits, knowing that benefits become the last possibility to live on something in a country where the economy is so poorly driven that there is no work, or actually, there is work, underpaid, undervaluing, there are plenty of positions for modern slaves.
x
May 8 2007 12:31
#15
Left or right - the capitalist state is still intact. Voting turns us into isolated individuals herded together like so many sheep behind the bosses' parties. Yes things probably will get worse in France, but they got worse under Blair, and will get worse under Cameron or Brown. The starting point isn't this or that election but what workers can actually do for themselves, our discussions, our struggles. It's funny the number of anarchists who have this principle about elections, but still are tempted for the more left or liberal alternative rather than workers' self-activity
May 8 2007 20:16
#16
trenchone,
I can understand those who have this funny principle about elections, it seems obvious that some should question themselves and their beliefs when they feel less powerless when they don't vote than when they vote.
I have been told off for 10 years because I do not apply my right: voting.
I do not want to vote and I will never vote because I do not think anyone else can represent me but myself.
To those that disagree I often answer that the right to vote is also the right to not vote, that's as far as it should go, it's a right, up to anyone to use it as they intend to use it. By not voring I am using it as much as if I was voting.
May 9 2007 05:47
#17
Hell fellows at least with Sarkozy the ills of states and capitalism are right up close and easy to spot, hopefully leading to some real alternatives arising and some proper opposition. The man is a disgusting boor with the interests of the rich clearly written on his forehead.
If Royal was elected she'd hand out petty concessions to the workers until the cows came home and nobody would even think about challenging the legitamacy of the state.
If you really think that it is a "disaster" than one candidate should have been elected rather than another then, logically, you should have voted for the other one. I have in fact met anarchists in France who have done this in previous elections.
If, on the other hand, you think that "changing governments changes nothing" or that it is the workings of the capitalist economy not the actions of governments that dictates what happens then not voting for either of the candidates is the logical course of action. Meanwhile of course continuing to argue and agitate for a different society.