The French are Revolting!

During the middle ages, perfume use in western Europe grew rapidly.   According to Wikipedia, “Between the 16th and 17th centuries, perfumes were used primarily by the wealthy to mask body odors resulting from infrequent bathing.”   That’s just part of the story, however.   Soap and other hygiene products simply didn’t exist at the time.   So, thanks to perfume, by the end of the 17th century, the French aristocracy (and many of the ‘well heeled’ folks of western Europe) began to smell much better.  C’est la vie!

Today, the citizens of France are revolting for an all together different reason.

Why you should care:  Across the globe, differences in political ideology are becoming more difficult to recognize.  When is a capitalist really a socialist?   Or can a socialist/communist actually be a capitalist?

It used to be easy to tell one from another.   In the US and around the globe.   Not today.   It’s clear from our unique US presidential contest, many of our citizens harbor abject dissatisfaction with current conditions within our economic system.   The meteoric rise of Bernie Sanders, an avowed Socialist, is all the evidence we need.

Taking action:  Well, if you’re going to France in the near future, pay attention.   These problems could have a serious impact on your trip.   If not, I think you’ll find this at the minimum interesting and thought provoking.

THE BLOG:  We certainly live in interesting times.   Who could have predicted that …

• … in this bastion of capitalism, the home of the Boston Tea Party, and the poster child of fervent self-reliance, an ardent, card carrying socialist is making a believable run for the US President.
• … in the Peoples Republic of China, a Socialist country run by their communist party, their hugely successful “open market” economic engine seems strangely familiar … to capitalism.   At least in some respects.
• … and in France, Francois Hollande, the President since 2012, the leader of the French Socialist Party, the man who won office with a socialist promise to increase the tax rate on the wealthy to 75% (this tax law passed…only to be reversed at the end of 2014) is now promoting very anti-socialist ideas.   One might <gasp!> even suggest they are somewhat capitalist!

And, as a result, the French are revolting.

1,600 gas stations around France are dangerously running out of fuel due to labor strikes and a ‘petrol blockade’ in response to recent changes in labor laws.

Per trade unionist Maxime Picard:  “The comrades of the refineries are on strike, they are blocking the roads, they stopped working.   Not one drop of oil goes out from their factory.  Until they withdraw the labour law, the workers will keep on occupying this site.”

Comrades?  And who is the “they” she’s referring to?   This is happening in France?

Hmmm…this doesn’t look good.  It’s hard – perhaps downright impossible – to drive a car from Paris to, say, the Champagne region, without gas.  Or even down to Burgundy.  Or to the Loire Valley!  Or anywhere!  Wine drinkers everywhere are shedding a tear!

So what’s all the uproar over this ‘labor law’ Maxime is referring to?

According the the Financial Times of London, about two weeks ago, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls forced thru a jobs bill designed to increase flexibility in the dysfunctional French labor markets.   They did this using ‘decree powers’ in order to bypass both a vote and the fierce resistance from their own Socialist party members.  According to Bloomberg, 100% of the main labor unions oppose the plan.

The reason for union and Socialist Party opposition is easy to understand.  The current system, they believe, is fine.   Business owners, however, disagree.    And, as a result, are reluctant to hire.  This comment in a recent New York Times article sums up the business-owner concern:   “You engage yourself practically for life when you sign a [employment] contract,” said François Asselin, a businessman who heads the confederation of small and medium-size companies in France.”

The unemployment rate in France is at 1o.2% and rising (As of March, 2016).  More than double the rate in Germany.  Hollande and his staff are convinced only radical change will fix the problem.

What does Hollande’s bill actually do?   Well, according to Bloomberg:  “Hollande’s bill essentially guts the law that limits the French work week to 35 hours.”   It also introduces a cap on what are called ‘redundancy payments’ – making it easier (and cheaper) to fire an employee.    This sounds downright capitalist!

How do the French people feel about this move?   Hollande’s approval ratings are now the lowest they’ve ever been at 17% (in March).  Ouch.

So, to recap, the Socialist French President Hollande jammed thru a labor bill modification without a vote.   One that every large labor union opposed.  One that requires a longer work week and offers less job security…the antithesis of socialist principals.    An avowed socialist insisting only capitalist inspired labor law changes will fix the French unemployment problem.   This has to be the text-book definition of ‘topsy-turvy.’

I’ll finish with this excerpt from The Guardian, a British newspaper:

“Kévin Poperl, 28, who has a master’s degree in economics, is founder of the ‘Nuit Debout’ economics and politics committee, which has drawn up a written opposition to the [new] law. He, too, says the protests are about much more than the latest reforms.

“This law was the last straw, but our goal is to change the capitalist mode of production more generally. It will take time. We will not solve 200 years of economic stalemate in a few weeks, but people are becoming more politicized, and this has not happened for 30 years. I am a communist, and we want to re-appropriate the economy. People feel we can have capitalism with a human face, but I don’t believe that is possible.”

Poperl, who describes himself as left of France’s hard-left Front de Gauche, says he will continue the protests until September, when his unemployment benefit will stop and he’ll have to find a job. “Then I’ll be here in the evenings and weekends,” he says. “I don’t know if it will be possible to have the change we want without violence: it depends on the position of the enemy. Violence is legitimate, but not always necessary.”

Yep.  The French are definitely revolting.   Yet again.  Travel carefully.

Terry Liebman