[PEN-L:1879] Re: Good News from France

[Behzad Yaghmaian <byaghmai@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I agree with you that the current French reforms do go back (at least
partially) to the previous "socialist" administration.  But this does not
change the question.

The main question, in my opinion, is the attitude of the left
towards this movement.  The workers and students are resisting the wholesale
implementation of neoliberal policies in France.  Neoliberalism is now the
dominant policy both in the Third World and in advanced capitalist
countries.  Workers' opposition to these policies and their struggle to
preserve the status quote is indeed important and needs to be supported.
Strikes and protests of such nature can lead to further politicization of
their participants and the movement in general.

We in the U.S. have been dealing with similar policies for almost 15
years.  But, frankly, we have not put up a good fight to preserve our
hard-won living conditions.  Relatively speaking, we still have a large
union movement.  But we lack a labor movement.  We lack a broad social
movement to resist the dismantling of the social wage.

In different parts of the country, folks are closely watching the events
in France.  We are facing major budget cuts in our institutions of public
higher education across the country.  Last year, students of public and
private colleges and universities in NYC waged a decisive battle against
these cuts.  There are more cuts in the cue this year.  We are inspired by
the actions of the French students and will work hard to organize a powerful
and effective student movement in NYC.


Behzad