Why are the French ruling class so stupid?

Perhaps they're seeking a big confrontation, an attempt to smash the left, maybe?

Yeah, it could be they have a fair bit of clout. Hmmm are there any former Vichy regime types -or their nominees - still in parts of the government (unelected bits, like the security sevices/civil service)? This could explain some things...

Edit - that barracks thing has parallels with the Spanish Guardia Civil whose brutality escalated things a lot pre-revolution...

So I suppose the question then is why hasn't the French State reigned in the paramilitary CRS since they escalate everything they touch?

Then again, we talk about how CRS brutality provoked May '68 (well I did ), but high point though it was , we lost , so maybe they ain't so dumb if they provoke open confrontation and beat us, a la Thatcher? Didn't deGaulle deploy french troops in Germany to the border in '68 and the students shit themselves and the workers were stitched up by the union? As long as we're outgunned then open confrontation maybe suits them, even if it harms their 'democratic' credentials? (actually I read somewhere there were workers councils formed in the army too in '68 but wasn't widely known at the time? rambling a bit ...

yeah I suppose. can't have everything all at once i suppose

so I guess were back to ticking_fool's question: "why are the French ruling class so stupid?", or at least why don't they reign in the CRS?

EDIT: 1868?

They need the CRS.

Boot boys are required to hold back the banlieues.

The French govt took a gamble with the CPE and lost.

Offering up Villepin as a sarcifice is a little painful but not critical. Giving the CRS a chance to crack some heads never does any harm.

Identifying student radicals/leaders is always worth doing.

They may have underestimated the reaction but there is still a chance they'll win.

The legislation has already been passed it will take at least another month to force a retreat and that will bring down at least Villepin and possibly the government. Sarkozy isn't quite ready for that yet.

I reckon the unions will sell them out and they'll be a compromise, this isn't as significant as it would be here, not to say that it isn't important but it is less important than similar events here would be.

with regard to my post on the other thread, it is increasingly my opinion that this is all a byzantine power play between sarkozy and villepin. The cops let us construct a little set piece at the place de la sorbonne and were very hands off while we bent and battered their fence, smashed stuff etc. They explicitly opened an access which they had previously closed.

The risk is that the hands-off tactics of the CRS w/ regards to the students is a false-sense-of-security tactic, enabling the spectacular image of popular insurrection which is so politically useful for sarkozy, and then when the ti,e comes and the tide turns also the crushing of that insurrection.

I think we might be pawns in sarkozy's game, and I don't know how to escape that. General strike?

needs strikes right now before it winds down or gets crushed.

what's "wildcat" in french?

grève sauvage - according to google translate and my dictionary (literally strike wild/unauthorised/(savage!)

aristocracy bore the brunt, especially the stupid ones.

I think part of the reason why the right wing of the French bourgeoisie is so extraordinarily dim is related to its problematic transition from feudalism to capitalism. The French Revolution obviously exterminated the aristocracy and provided a clear ideological break - far more explicit than the English Civil War for example. But all this did was entrench the peasantry, with its love for small holdings on the land with the only force able to to turf them off (the aristocracy) wiped out. The weight of the peasantry (and now their descendents, the infamous French farmers) has always been a drag on France's attempts to industrialise and modernise agriculture. In the financial sphere, too, the French bourgeoisie were way behind the British - Napoleon's military success was built on plunder of the conquered lands, rather than the strong credit ratings that the English state used to bankroll its allies on the Napoleonic wars. Indeed, Marx coined the word Bonapartism to describe a situation where the ruling class was too weak to impose its rule over society and the state steps in to fill the gap.

Contrast this to the British bourgeoisie, who upon realising that they did not yet have the strength to truly dominate society, formed an alliance with the more progressive elements of the aristocracy. The French political system never really developed an intelligent and sophisticated right wing, tied to heavy industry or finance like the Tories in Britain.

Without this competent right-wing, the French bourgeoisie had great difficulty in bringing in the massive attacks that other countries unleashed on the proletariat in the 80s and 90s. Those that were brought in had to be carried out by the left, which has contributed to discrediting leftist forces in the eyes of the workers and radicalised them.

As a result, they're now stuck in a situation where they are carrying a massive welfare state, an ever growing deficit, have a working class radicalised by mass unemployment and the obvious betrayals of the left. The increasing pressure of the economic crisis is compelling them to act but they lack the room for manouvre (having left it late in the game) and the competence to carry these attacks out.

But don't underestimate the French bourgeoisie. The right wing may be dumber than a brick, but the left is far more sophisticated. And to paraphrase Marx, the bourgeoisie is never more intelligent than in a time of crisis. Despite the massive significance of this movement, we are not in a revolutionary situation - the working class is not sufficiently mobilised, nor is its consciousness advanced enough for that. And there's no way the bourgeoisie in other countries is just going to sit back and let French incompetence threaten the whole system either.

We should not have illusions. This movement will eventually be defeated and dispersed. Yet it will have ploughed a deep furrow in the working class and provide a reservoir of experience that will inform our future struggles, an important step on the road to the revolutionary confrontation with capital.

I think there is good reason for (cautious) optimism but although I don't know what the nature of the CGT is now, in 68 it's role was regressive and duplicitous. They and the UNEF are conducting negotiations or parleying w/ the State, whether or not these bodies are truly empowered or in the trust of the rank and file, I don't know.

The French students and the people behind them need their movement to spread non-heirarchical forms of organization, councils, etc., address this as not a single-issue beef but as symptomatic of the bankruptcy of the entire system. Communication is essential. At this moment, all the raw materials for a state of dual-power are present. If that manifests, then the State either capitulates-not likely, though it would have to seek the aid of foriegn power, smear the dissidents, etc- or civil war. and i don't think there's going to be any peaceful transition to Lib Commism.

But the Western press is ignoring and or misrepresenting this movement, because it is scared, it's hard to slur a massive, obviously inclusive WC movement with the usual Red or Anarchist baiting. So they are waiting for the right provocations or trying to cook up the best lies they can.

I'd like to know if the CNT have gone into overdrive in the Propaganda department, they should appeal to the WC in a non-denominational and passionate way. I can't read their website, no French here, heh, heh.

ALL POWER TO THE IMAGINATION

I don't think the repeal of the CPE would be a defeat in of itself...but along the way, the people are learning of/remembering/actualizing the immense power they have. Which they should continue to exercise. Remember, a lot of people are going to go down for this, repression and surveillance will tighten up, etc...detainments, murder-by cop...they may find themselves in a position where there's no turning back, and that there really is nothing to be lost by making the Social Revolution.

Or just, everything back to normal, still Capitialism with no gains, just no givebacks.

UNDER THE PAVING STONES, THE BEACH

The aristocracy survived, it took a hit and was psychologically affected by it.

If it asn't for the EU then they would have fucked them years ago.

French State has been much more interventionist, especially post war.

problem is that the French working class doesn't believe that it is middle class. They are far more united, that's why they can win and hold onto concessions. The economic problems France is facing are products of this.

French protectionism has meant that France itself is fairly stable/stagnant, but it cannot be colonised, even if the best way to get growth is to invest abroad.

Yes, I wouldn't say brink, I am optimistic, romantic, etc.

I don't see any signs of slowing down, tho.

Recomposition process is important, like I said...

I'd like to think that they are pissed not merely because they want the assurance of a decent job. More to life than a decent job.

Since 1936 I have fought for wage increases. My father before me fought for wage increases. Now I have a TV, a fridge, a Volkswagen. Yet my whole life I've been a chump. Don't negotiate with the bosses. Abolish them

Oh, here in the colonies, it's "Shit', not shite, heh.heh.