The Left's Response to the French Riots

November 7 - So, France is burning. “The People” (in this case “The People” happen to actually be those that The Left oh so much enjoys claiming to speak for,) are rising up in an insurgency against racism, the police, the state, capitalism, etc. and, predictably, the response from the political left has been mediocre at best.

During the first few nights, the main response of The Left was to ignore the whole thing. With a few exceptions, much of The Left completely ignored the events in France. The events in Clichy-Sous-Bois are not controlled, inspired or organized by The Left, therefore The Left has little to gain from them. There are no consensus based meetings to decide what needs to be done, what committees should to be set up, what demands should be made, and who should become spokespersons. There is no need for any of these things. Everyone taking part in the riots knows what they want. Go to any ghetto of the world and ask the people what they want, and the answers will be the same as those of Clichy-Sous-Bois. There is no need to beg the government to fix things (AKA making demands.) Only the most profound moron would not realize what has led to the rioting. There is no need for statements, proclamations or letters of solidarity. The best form of solidarity possible is being shown in Marseille, Saint Etienne, Toulouse and the 300 other towns to which the rioting has spread. There are now reports that Germany and Belgium are starting to experience this same kind of unrest.

The rioters have no need of The Left. That is why The Left ignored the rioters. We all know that the only thing left-wing politicians care about is the exact same thing that right-wing politicians care about; power. It is often ignored that the same can be said of leftist political organizations. While individuals within these organizations may mean well, the organizations soon take a mind of their own. Like a corporation, whose only goal is to make profit, the only goal of these political organizations is to gain power. The claim being that power is needed to change the world. But all too soon, changing the world becomes secondary to building power.

As the days went by, and the riots spread, The Left was finally forced to say something about the riots. The only problem is The Left has no influence, let alone power over the rioters of France. If anything the power of The Left is just as much threatened by these riots as the power of The Right. These riots are showing that the people do not need bureaucratic political organizations to revolt. It is then no surprise that the Communist Party is doing it’s best to stifle events it cannot control, just like it did with the events of May 1968. “Lacking a political analysis (…) some young people are reduced to committing unacceptable attacks against the peace, the safety and the property of people who work for a living.”* (the left wing of the “CP” – the PRCF.) Leave it to the Communist Party to claim these riots are an attack on the working class. While thankfully the anarchist organizations are not as ridiculous as the CP, they too seem to be more concerned with moving the rioters into an area of struggle which the anarchist organizations would be able to at least influence. The CNT-FTE demands “more justice. In practical terms, this means secure jobs, decent wages, humane working-hours for the parents, adequate housing, an end to counter-productive police repression, necessary and adequate social services, and a truly libratory school system. This is how we suggest our colleagues and the parents of our students struggle.”* France is in a state of insurgent activity and the CNT-FTE is telling people they should beg for reforms and bread-crumbs from the government? Begging the government for reforms is something the CNT-FTE can influence and control. They can help create committees, have meetings, send representatives to meet with government officials, and other forms of bureaucracy that make their political organization a little more influential and a little more powerful, while boring to death everyone involved. The anarchist CNT-AIT is yet another example of an organization looking only to gain power for itself. They can hope for nothing more than “once the pressure lessens, this rebellion should organize itself, give itself a structure.”* The CNT-AIT no doubt providing this structure. We can see the inner struggle facing these organizations. How can they balance out their need for power with their claims of fighting for “The People”? And what if “The People” do not need these organizations?

Every day acts of insurgency are taking places throughout the world, and very rarely if ever do these acts have anything to do with bureaucratic political organizations. In these actions against capitalism, authority and oppression people are taking power over their own lives. Burning an SUV, either as a lone Earth Liberation Front action, or in the middle of a riot in the French suburbs these insurgents are showing they have as much need for the political Left as they do the political Right.

While the organizationalists of the world are sitting in their boring meetings trying to decide how best to enlarge their bureaucracies, everyday rebellions are happening throughout the world. The insurgency in France has been going on too long and has spread to an area too large to be ignored. The question that The Left is now asking itself is how it can take control of these events away from the rioters and use it to enlarge itself? The answer is it can’t. These acts of insurgence have nothing to do with the organizational Left. That is why the response of the Left has been so dismal.

--the black mole--


*All quotes stolen from http://sketchythoughts.blogspot.com/