Wednesday, May 09, 2007

French presidential election: now for round three?

When François Mitterrand was first elected President of France in 1981 there was dancing in the streets. Last Sunday when Nicolas Sarkozy was elected there was rioting in the streets. Perhaps there would have been dancing again if Ségolène Royal had won. But, if so, it would have been as deluded as it was in 1981 – since within a year or so France had gone through three devaluations and the Mitterrand government imposed austerity on the working class.

As Socialists, who know from Marx’s analysis how capitalism works, we know that what is decisive in determining what happens to the living standards and working conditions of wage and salary workers is not the political colour of the party or person in office but the workings of the production-for-profit system. It is not governments who determine how the economy works but the capitalist economy which determines how governments act. Sooner or later capitalism forces all governments to put profits before people and to attack the working class on behalf of the capitalist class.

The only choice in Sunday’s French election was between somebody who said openly he was going to do this and somebody who’d be forced to it despite what she said. So our advice to workers in France was: it wasn’t worth voting for either, but as always keep your powder dry for the struggle on the economic field over wages and conditions.

Sarkozy is unpopular because he has made no secret of the fact that he’s going to impose austerity on the working class from the start. He has presented himself as a French Mrs Thatcher. Things, he argues, have been too comfortable for the French people; what they need, if France is to survive in the fiercely competitive arena of world capitalism, is not measures aimed to protect them from the effects of world capitalism (as Royal was promising, but wouldn’t have been able to deliver any more than Uncle Mitterrand could) but measures to adapt to and go along with world market pressures. The working week must be lengthened, the welfare state cut back, employment protection weakened – and, in addiction, the suburbs where immigrants live must be cleared of yobbos with a pressure hose.

Sarkozy has got a mandate for this, but only from 53 percent of those who voted. This will surely prove insufficient to push through these measures without resistance from the other 47 percent (and from those who didn’t vote). So, expect turbulent times in France over the next few years as the class war, initiated in this case by the capitalist class against the workers, hots up.

ALB

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Having just recently read two Wikipedia articles, of which one is called Libertarian socialism and another named Anarchist communism I have made the following observation, that the SPGB generally stands for libertarian socialism of the anarcho-communist thread. But my question is if those are really what SPGB is promoting, why doesn't it just say so? Could some party member read those two articles and correct me if I am wrong, please?

Mondialiste said...

Socialists don't think that "races" exist, only individuals. And we are equally opposed to "black" as to "white" racism. What you are talking about -- competition amongst workers for what's made available for them -- is a feature of capitalist society which artificially limits what is available. In a socialist world we'd be able to produce enough for everybody to access to satisfy their needs. So, there won't be any competition between different groups, nor any positive or negative discrimination in favour or against them.

gray said...

Hi Ferman

These sorts of labels are rather misleading.

For example, there are those, the anarchists, who say there is something called State Socialism which is nonsense given the state is a product of class society and will not exist in a classless society. Or there are those who call themselves democratic or libertarian socialists as if socialism could be undemocratic.

These labels exist because of mistaken notions that a socialist society will be created by the party, when in fact it must be the work of the working class itself, and that the state will exist in socialism. These labels exist because Social Democracy and Leninism has been regarded as socialism, rather than pseudo-socialist.

John said...

The following came via email in response to this article:

I'm French Socialist and i work for the Lyon French Socialist group.
I'm working too for human an helper association (FNDSA) ,an association who help people without house. Today we have a new président Nicolas SARKOSY since the 06 may 2007.
I'm afraid about this man, because since 5 years ,he was Intérior Ministry. At this "job" he makes lot of bad for foreigners (expulsion), for poor people and youngers on low quarters everywhere in France.He "works" for rich people and the bigs Society.
He is controlling all newspapers, tv; radio etc.
I'm a man who make lot of papers against his politic and now,in France ,lot of Socialist politic men are going with him,or if they don't go with and stay on our politic,evrybody are affraid.

I send you an SOS ,i'm very seriously.
I don't know how i can do.
Please , i need a help...I don't wanna stay in France cause ,that will be dangerous for me.

Thank you.
Gavroch HUGO