Surviving Capitalism (Not) : French Fury in the EU Cage: "Work Harder to Earn Less"

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, October 22, 2010

French Fury in the EU Cage: "Work Harder to Earn Less"

by Diana Johnstone from Counterpunch.

While mainstream media in the US trivializes the protests is France by simply portraying them as simply protests against lifting the retirement age to 62, this writer tells the real story. The issues there are basically the same as here: the takeaway of all the social-economic gains that working people have achieved since WWII. It's working people fighting back against the neo-liberal agenda. It's naked class war. And once again we see the same divide and conquer strategies being used by the ruling class:

The government has subtly tried to pit one generation against another, by claiming that it is necessary to protect the future of today’s youth, who are paying for the “baby boom” pensioners. It is therefore extremely significant that this week, high school and university students massively began to enter the protest strike movement. This solidarity between generations is a major blow to the government.