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Article Deconstruction (vol. 5) - French fear | 26 comments (26 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
Re: Article Deconstruction (vol. 5) - French fear (none / 1)
He made the quite obvious remark that those in power now are those who ingrained the contradiction of  Mai 68 into french society, that these people know nothing about the Low Cost Generation that in turns knows nothing of continued growth. His conclusion, then, was that we could really see what was going on right now as the consequence of a generational conflict, in which the clear loosers are the young. They have less purchase power, less capacity to get property [a year of average salary could buy 9m2 in Paris in 1970. Today, it can buy 4; numbers' his].

However, he warns against a sort of new Mai 68 that would simply move the burden away from the young and not actually solve the true problem, being generational conflict.

I wouldn't call that a generational conflict. I would call that a conflict between the gospel of continued economic growth and the reality of reaching the limits of growth. The younger generation knows about this, but the older generation is in denial, a denial that goes back to 1972.

Half a lifetime away, as a teenager, I started confronting my parents about the fact that the worldview that they ('68 generation as well, but in Spain) and society generally was trying to pass on to my generation (including expectations about life, career, and so on) was completely in contradiction with what I could already see looming. It's not a generational conflict, it's a reality check. But, as some prominent scientist (or philosopher of science) said once, the way new (presumably better) theories about the world are accepted is that the old scientists die off, not that they change their mind.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Mar 24th, 2006 at 08:27:07 AM EST
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Re: Article Deconstruction (vol. 5) - French fear (none / 1)
However much I would agree with the 'reality check' that you talk about, I think that there a distinction to be made between a generation that has a common experience and a generation that has the same opinion about this experience, that has the capacity to be united by a political party, etc. I have not seen yet any proofs of a widespread prise de conscience about the greater picture. Thus, most people see themselves as fighting a political order that just harms them, not a political system that is crooked in itself.

Louis Chauvel, as you have guessed, it for the CPE under the fallacious pretense that, if it doesn't pass, trying to help the youth will be considered too dangerous by politicians and that therefore the real problems won't be solved until 2016, or in his own words, 'maybe even in 2026'. He basically makes the bet that if the CPE passes, the right will be there to implement the other reforms we desperately need.

Rien n'est gratuit en ce bas monde. Tout s'expie, le bien comme le mal, se paie tot ou tard. Le bien c'est beaucoup plus cher, forcement. Celine

by UnEstranAvecVueSurMer (holopherne ahem gmail) on Fri Mar 24th, 2006 at 08:42:35 AM EST
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Re: Article Deconstruction (vol. 5) - French fear (none / 1)
Oh, there is clearly no prise de conscience, we're at best in a state of collective cognitive dissonance. The consequences of truly being at the limits of growth are too scary to consider.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Mar 24th, 2006 at 08:54:17 AM EST
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Re: Article Deconstruction (vol. 5) - French fear (none / 0)
Now you are really scaring me Migeru. Are you my doppelganger? My entire life has been dominated by my gut understanding that the conditions of life have changed compared to those assumed by previous generations.
by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Fri Mar 24th, 2006 at 09:57:11 AM EST
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Re: Article Deconstruction (vol. 5) - French fear (none / 0)
It's a generational thing.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Mar 24th, 2006 at 10:11:35 AM EST
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Article Deconstruction (vol. 5) - French fear | 26 comments (26 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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