French Students are Revolting

Among my fondest memories are the days I spent on the Left Bank of Paris, educating passersby on the merits of global socialism, while relaxing with a baguette, a cigarette (French cigarettes are healthy!) and le frommage du stinque. And in my ultimate dreams, I am joining with students in a spasm of violent resistance of draconian laws imposed by the fascists.

Last week, my dream arrived, though without my presence.

French police clashed with youths protesting a government jobs plan yesterday in an hours-long melee in the French capital that left nine officers injured, one hit in the face with a paving stone, officials said.

The students resist! The fascist police are attacked! The people struggle! How I weep with joy!

The law in question would permit employers to fire people within their first two years of employment. This is insane; why would any company give a job to someone who they can later fire? And why would anyone want to have a job without complete job security? Believe me, as a tenured professor, I can attest to the value of lifetime employment without interference from the enemy classes. Lifetime employment with the freedom to realize your own career vision is not a luxury – it is a right! Keep resisting, my French brothers and sisters! You are the jewels of our Planet Earth; without France, we are nothing.

And so, over the weekend, hundreds of thousands were protesting all across the great French nation to protest these vile laws.

Organisers estimated the turnout nationwide at 1.3 to 1.4 million, with up to 400,000 of them in Paris. As usual, the official count was lower -- the Interior Ministry reported 503,000 nationwide, with 80,000 in Paris.

The protesters demanded Villepin withdraw the "First Job Contract" or CPE, which lets firms fire workers under 26 without explanation in their first two years on the job. He launched it to spur wary employers to take on new staff.

But the unexpected then took place when…

Unexpected violence broke out in Lyon when a march of about 2,500 Turks protesting against a memorial to Armenian victims of a 1915 massacre in the then Ottoman Empire crossed paths with the anti-CPE demonstrations.

Struggle and resist, all of my French comrades! You are entitled to the riches that the capitalist class expropriated from you. And you are entitled to not be offended by a memorial to the alleged “genocide” victims of Armenia.