Emmanuel Macron’s Free Fall
EDITOR'S CHOICE | 13.12.2018
Ivan DARAKTCHIEV
In an article published eighteen months ago I wrote what became its title, “Nomenklaturocracy’s agony: the project “Emmanuel Macron,” international Nomenklatura’s last chance to delay the inevitable demise of the heavily discredited and mortally wounded EU idea.” Today the time came to announce briefly what the title above says in many words: Emmanuel Macron is in free fall!
During weeks of street protests by a spontaneous movement labeled “Gilets Jaunes” (yellow cardigans), to which the public was sympathetic while condemning the violence by gangs of delinquents which simply prayed on the organized action and plundered shops, set cars on fire, and even fought with the forces of order, spilling blood in the process, the French President was notoriously absent (busy with higher priorities on Jupiter, some would tell, adding that it amounted to visible contempt).
And then today he came back on Earth, putting up a theatric performance: handsome, eloquent and humble, promising to meet a few of the demands with crumbs – and everybody knows there is no money, the sovereign debt is anywhere between 110 and 120% vs a GDP that is around € 2 Trillion, and the budget deficit will have to exceed the cap required by the EC, i.e. more borrowing, i.e. continuing down the spiral the Nomenklatura promises to avoid, at every budget planning cycle, again and again…
Too little, too late: many protest groups, scattered throughout France, came on TV to state they will continue with the protests! But even if they give in, and this wave eventually subsides, the gravest damage any puppet-sold-as-a-political-genius could suffer is already done, and no remedy exists.
Macron went so far as to admit that his attitude was not adequate. His behavior has ever since the very beginning of his Presidency been haughty and arrogant, according to many, hence today he makes a U-turn. Perhaps his body language will sooth part of the public anger but today’s speech is an admission to at least part of the guilt: the opposition already formulated the blame – he promised changes to his predecessors’ policies, which changes were to bring the one time good life back, but instead his policies exacerbated the situation, and the poor got poorer visibly faster than before while the rich became richer even faster than that.
The French President declared “socio-economic emergency.” Good, but not good enough: (i) It would have served France well if such emergency were announced a couple of presidents before Macron; and (ii) There’s no money!
Above is basically a reminder, meaning that the Nomenklatura lives in its own cocoon and has no clue about the everyday life of their average citizen (let alone elsewhere in the world). Also, meaning Nomenklatura has no idea how to go about improving what they do not know needs improvement, and by how much at the minimum – so that the public is calmed down… France today is exactly where it was half a century, year upon year, when its ambitious leader, General Charles De Gaulle, had to resign following similar street activities and violence. The big question is, does the parallel end there, or we should look into the popular rage against Louis XVI, or Nicholas II…
The revolt by “Gilets Jaunes” has scored big, merely by the fact that Nomenklatura has given in. We will see if this truly popular, spontaneous, ex-politics, ex-ideology movement (a real “we the people”) will evolve further, now or after being calmed down, but in my mind it did already mark the beginning of the French revolution of 21st century… And that is not merely my own fantasy: among several observers who commented on the national TV the two or three most competent and most experienced ones called the protesters’ spokespersons “Trumpists.” It was basically to denote Donald Trump’s revolutionary attitude (paraphrased), “My people’s interest first,” in defiance to the Deep state’s line, which his predecessors duly followed, cheered by a servile united front of media-and-legislative-branch that today is carrying out an unprecedented anti-Presidential campaign. We, the European dissidents, have explained why Donald Trump should be regarded as the initiator and first executor of the American revolution of 21st century. The primary feature of his revolutionary portfolio, which resonates to the French protesters is his patriotism – the “Gilets Jaunes” complained that their plight has been totally neglected for years while the incoming immigrants are treated more generously (implicitly, at their expense; implicitly, if EU policy is defied and the flow of immigrants stopped, there will be more money for “own folk”). And it was Emmanuel Macron, this immature man whom they voted in (instead of “nationalist” Marine Le Pen) as President, who recently spoke on behalf of the EU about how the Europeans are not in favor of (US President’s) nationalism. They are certainly “patriots” but not “nationalists,” you see? So now the people on the street seem to be better acquainted with the fact that these two are synonymous of each other, and that “nationalism” is just being charged with a negative connotation by those who need to peddle someone’s propaganda. And they are proud to be “Trumpists” – that is, French patriots and nationalists at the same time – with demands that they be paid attention to, including by disregarding European directives that are depriving them from funding in order to fund more and more immigrants… Macron did not mention even once EU, its policies, the directives, the common goals, the warm welcome to any new immigrants till perpetuity…
The cracks in the European Union are becoming more and more – and wider as well.
posted by Satish Sharma at
21:27
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