Paris – do we not all have happy memories of sipping a delicious cup of coffee in a cafe, maybe near the Arc du Triomphe, with floor-to-ceiling windows opening up to the pavement or sitting at a small table on that very pavement, people-watching included? The metropolis on the banks of the Seine became synonymous with and for quality of life, laissez-faire, fantastic food and many industry sectors occupying pole positions on a global scale.
Then think about culture, consider the music. A trip to the capital, or perhaps to the countryside instead, stood for a classy vacation or business trip paired with ample time for leisure pursuits. If there was one issue that never crossed our minds it was violent street protests, and clashes between citizens and law enforcement. Yet we better think twice; fast forward to the early weeks of 2023, or welcome to total chaos!
Have you heard "chacun à le droit de manger son bifteck"? It means "everyone has the right to eat their steak" – a literal word-by-word translation, same as with many idioms, would not get us anywhere near the intended meaning in the French language. French people use this term when they express concern that people are meddling in other people’s affairs. In short, mind your own business.
The reason for choosing this example is embedded in the above-introduced wording "laissez-faire," another French language favorite. There are two accepted interpretations. On the one hand, it refers to your private life, your own four walls, or your desk in a shared open-plan office; you basically go about your own affairs without taking too much notice of what your colleagues or neighbors are up to.
"Discretion" became a keyword not just for the baby-boomer generation but millions of French citizens before and thereafter as well. On the other hand, the term has a political and ideological connotation – simplified we might say, "as less government interference in the economy or daily life as possible."
Of course, there are many critics of this approach to running a nation. Ultra-conservative or ultra-free-marketeers might get away with employing laissez-faire only for their very own benefits – camouflaging their ulterior motives, officially promoting the right to individual freedoms yet, in reality, forcing a hard-core version of capitalism and added value creation with little advantages for the vast majority of ordinary citizens, especially the working classes.
There have been manifestations and demonstrations of course – freedom of speech is a post-World War II-French republic hallmark. Hence it did not come as a surprise when in 1981 François Mitterand was elected as president, a socialist who had promised far-reaching political and societal reforms.
But that change to more left-leaning policies went smoothly, with no clashes or violent street demonstrations. And after the era of Mitterand again a more conservative president and government came to power – one could almost applaud the French way of managing a democracy, and as a matter of fact over a fair number of decades.
Fewer states under center-right leaders, a lot of states under center-left leaders, and strong trade unions but still somehow all potential conflict among various segments of and in society was cleverly kept under the lid. Or was it? Actually, phrased more fittingly – was it clever to keep those potential fault lines under the rug, assuming the electorate is happy as long as they have their own share of "we can go about our daily lives any way we want?"
The biggest mistake French elites could ever make was to patronize its very own young generations hoping – and figuratively speaking – that "we give you your daily steak, garnished with laissez-faire" and in turn you let us politicians and elites do our own thing, aka let us get away with everything. Immense fortunes were amassed by very few individuals and the political class is a closed shop, including the unwritten rule that if you wish to become a top leader you need to pass through the elitist education of an extremely limited number of tertiary institutions, ENA one such case in point.
At some moment society did not gel anymore – the rich got richer, and the poor got poorer. Around the prosperous inner cities working-class suburbs grew, and with them grew conflict. Unemployment rose. Inflation went up. And politicians continued to govern France as if their ivory tower was unassailable, a kind of fortress shielded away from ordinary citizens. After all, did laissez-faire not imply not creating a nanny state?
France went to the other extreme – survival of the fittest. It was nevertheless the perfect ideology as long as everyone had enough pocket money to partake in that French dream.
To make matters worse the very young generation, the first post-baby boomer generation, eventually got more and more frustrated with established, traditional political movements. What’s more and so ill-fatedly fuelled by extreme-right wing nationalists’ sentiments trying to cash in on that anger among younger voters, as well as older voters completely disenfranchised with the traditional political classes and what they stand for, has become a recipe for disaster was in the making.
A new millennium entered the stage, first populism popped up in other parts of Europe, yet then for sure, it popped up in France, too. Unfortunately, many leading French politicians rode high on the wave of supporting that dangerous populism in the name of garnering more votes at the ballot box. Claiming to listen to the ordinary voter, what they really did was step by step erode the social welfare structure of the French state, which had been the only reason ordinary citizens for so many decades trusted their elected leaders and office holders. They let us get away with our way of life, so why not us doing the same, and vice versa our leaders?
French President Emmanuel Macron is unfortunately the shining light of how not to manage an all-inclusive, modern, multicultural, inspiring country. His way of government more than anything else led to the recent outbreaks of frustration and anger among the French public. It is not simply about extending the time span we all have to work by 24 months – in reality, French citizens already work until they reach age 67, and if not, they would leave their workplace without being able to benefit from the 100% pension ratio.
If explained pro-actively, taking a post-COVID-19 society into account, many French voters would perhaps have sided with their government.
But when ill-explained policies mixed with total arrogance and ignorance as expressed by the president vis-à-vis his population reign supreme it is no surprise that otherwise tolerant citizens roll up their sleeves and take to the streets, regardless of being a member of a trade union or a free politically or trade union wise unattached mover.
Soon the above-mentioned far-right extremists will want to cash in on Macron’s failures claiming "we know how to represent the will of the people, the young, the pensioners, the workers." Chances are that, same as in far too many other European countries, voters fall into that ideological trap.
The Sweden Democrats (SD), the Alternative for Germany (AfD), Austria's Freedom Party (FPÖ) ... the list goes on and on.
And the biggest threat to democracy is not claiming to represent ordinary voters, fair enough. The real threat is that those far-right populists camouflage Islamophobia by claiming they are representatives of the ordinary people. A toxic, dangerous road to further anarchy and chaos.
No ordinary citizens started this paradigm shift, no far-right parties invented it – traditional political parties both on the left and right have completely, totally lost sight of the plot. Immediate action is required, not just by highly paid spin doctors but by ordinary party members, too.
Street clashes in France, or shall we rather say, legitimate protests by angry voters mirror this commentary’s gist: Change is required, a change in government style, a change in how to address concerns of the people before extremists, racists and Islamophobia promoters take democracy away for good. Five for 12 in France, that is certain.
