The French Tyranny is back

French police abuse is extraordinary. France witnessed cops mercilessly assault nonviolent protestors to instill fear and deter further protests. Flashballs and hand grenades have injured many. Stopping yellow jackets or banning protests breaches the right to protest. Protest coverage in mainstream media favors the government. Emmanuel Macron is primarily responsible for this.

Macron the new King

There are reforms from which a government never recovers. Several million people have protested in France since mid-January against the president's plans to raise the retirement age. Now Emmanuel Macron has pushed through his reform, but how? With the help of a constitutional article, without having a majority in parliament for it. Worse, without the deputies of the National Assembly even having voted on the president's plans. The direction of the class struggle clearly points in one direction: Macron must go, and the French executive presidency, with its sweeping anti-democratic powers, must be abolished. At the same time as fighting to overthrow Macron, the working class must fight to build action committees to lay the basis for a new form of government. Macron has become the embodiment of the rule of finance capital and the focus of all the conspiracies of the ruling elite against the working class. "L'Etat, c'est moi" ("The state is me"), famously declared King Louis XIV, the founder of absolute monarchy in 17th century France. Almost 400 years later, Macron is imposing his diktat on the country, claiming that the financial markets will not tolerate a waiver of pension cuts. Some politicians may benefit from inflating concerns of violence or authoritarianism. Many a French election campaign has been won by promising peace after chaos. Despite the fact that violent crime has been declining for years and the murder rate has been consistent, more than four-fifths of French people say "insecurity" will impact their vote un the presidential election next year. In response to claims of tyranny, Macron stated, "If we empty words of their meaning, the risk is that we threaten our democracy itself."

What do the People think

People are not angry about pensions, but about the blatant and ever more rapidly increasing injustice. And because politicians are trampling democracy underfoot and instead are allowing themselves to be harnessed by a small, rich minority.  No society can function if a large part is treated unfairly - cheap wages with rapidly increasing dividends, for example. There have been several protests in France during President Emmanuel Macron's presidency, some of which have resulted in casualties. However, it's important to note that casualties can refer to both deaths and injuries. The most significant protests during this period were the Yellow Vest protests, which began in late 2018 and continued into 2019. These protests were initially sparked by fuel tax increases but evolved into a broader movement against the government and economic inequality. According to the French Ministry of the Interior, there were 11 deaths and more than 4,000 injuries, including police officers and protesters, as a result of the Yellow Vest protests. It's worth noting, however, that not all of these casualties were directly related to the protests themselves. There have also been other protests in France during President Macron's tenure, including protests against pension reform and labor laws, but the number of casualties resulting from these protests has been much lower.

Conclusion

Because the working class cannot rely on the established parties and trade union bureaucracy to oppose Macron and the executive presidency, it must create new struggle organizations: Action Committees that are independent of union bureaucrats and their "social dialogue" with Macron. Such committees can hold strikes and protests, coordinate support for workers targeted by the police, and stand up to the established parties' crushing influence. They will gather support from the increasing class conflicts outside France through the International Workers Alliance of Action Committees. This is becoming increasingly important as workers in Germany and the United Kingdom strike over pay inflation, train employees strike in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy, and teachers strike in Portugal and other European countries. Workers are objectively united in a collective battle in this regard: against inflation and social cuts, against disastrous military spending in the context of NATO's assault on Russia, and against police state practices.