[PEN-L:1746] Good News from France

[JDevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (James Devine)]

"The strike by transport workers and other public employees has
paralyzed France since Nov. 24 ...

"But what has really shocked President Jacquez Chirac and his
prime minister, Alain Juppe, is broad sympathy among ordinary
French citizens for the strike -- illustrated by the hundres of
thousands who joined more huge protest marches across the nation
Tuesday -- and the level of antipaty for the president they
elected six months ago.

"Instead of becoming angry at the strikers, most French are angry
at the government. Very angry. Candidate Chirac promised them
more jobs and higher salaries. President Chirac is demanding
major sacrifices in the sacrosanct state welfare system to reduce
its soaring deficit, and he has flatly refused to back down."

-- "Public Support for Strike Stuns French Leaders," by Scott
Kraft, L.A. TIMES, Dec. 6, 1995.

No only is this good news, but it suggests that Daniel Singer's
view that French politics became "Americanized" under Mitterand,
though seemingly right at the electoral level, is wrong at the
grassroots level.

in pen-l solidarity,

Jim Devine   jdevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Econ. Dept., Loyola Marymount Univ.
7900 Loyola Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045-8410 USA
310/338-2948 (daytime, during workweek); FAX: 310/338-1950
"Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way
and let people talk.) -- K. Marx, paraphrasing Dante A.