Ça n'arrive pas qu'en Afrique

La dernière fois que François était venu au pays, c'était il y a deux ans. Novembre/décembre 2010. Son pays, la Côte d'Ivoire était en plein marasme politique, du aux résultats d'un deuxième tour d’élections présidentielles qui entraînait le pays inexorablement vers une guerre civile. François n'arrivait pas à comprendre comment et pourquoi il est toujours difficile pour « les africains » de comprendre des choses aussi simples qu'une élection. Établir une liste des électeurs, faire un rang, marquer son bulletin, le glisser dans l'urne, compter les voix, les additionner, proclamer et ensuite publier les résultats. Pour lui.. « l'homme noir, c'est pas la peine ». Il est mieux là bas, en France..

Nous sommes le 23 novembre 2012, François est en congé.. et Coulibaly vient le voir , histoire de prendre « les nouvelles de la France ». Et aussi voir comment va son ami de longue date...

Coul : Alors petit français ca va ?

Frank : Beh.. oui, on ne se plains pas. Et toi ?

Coul : On est là.. le pays reprends petit à petit..

Coul : Dis, cette affaire de l'UMP, c'est comment ?

Frank: Quelle affaire de l'UMP ?

Coul : Comment ça « quelle affaire de l'UMP » ? C'est pas ton parti en France ?

Frank : C'est bien mon parti, et alors... ce n'est qu'un truc qui va se régler .. vite

Coul : Ah bon ? Ca n'a pas l'air hein..

Frank : Que est-ce que tu veux dire par la ?

Coul : Mon ami, tu vois pas la crise qu'il y a là ?

Frank : C'est juste un truc qui va se régler.. vite

Coul : Entre temps, qui est le Président de l'UMP, qui a été élu ?

Frank : Bon, écoute.. ça finira par soit Copé soit Fillon..

Coul : Soit une scission, soit une implosion …

Frank :C'est pas du pessimisme aîgu ça ?

Coul : Non, c'est un constat..je connais le scénario..

- Vote – fraude – bourrage d'urnes – résultats – contestation – votes non prises en compte – déchirage/non acceptation des résultats – deux camps en armes – médiations à n'en point finir..

Frank : Noooon.. mais tu trouves pas que tu fais un amalgame là ?

Coul : Quel genre d'amalgame ? Dis moi, Monsieur de l'UMP, Pourquoi les votes des 3 territoires de l'Outre Mer n'ont pas été comptées ? Je me demande même si on les comptait avant.. n'eut été pour la situation qui prévaut on aurait pas su..

Frank : Mais m**de alors... vous voyez du racisme partout..

Coul : Pas si vite.. j'ai seulement demandé pourquoi...

Frank : Pourquoi.. oui pourquoi.. pourquoi vous les africains.. vous fourrez vos nez dans les affaires qui ne vous regardent pas.. l'UMP c'est juste un parti politique.. c'est pas toute la France, voyons..

Coul : Mon ami, détrompe toi, c'est la moitié de la France, ouais.. Avec ça.. on peut déjà prévoir la situation pour 2015 et 2017.. C'est ça qui est là..

Frank :Pardon... tu oses..

Coul : Ouais ouais.. ça n'arrive pas qu'en Afrique.. ou bien.. vous croyez que l'amour du pouvoir, les fraudes électorales, le déni des droit ça n'existe qu'en Afrique... mais voilà que vous vous fourrez le doigt dans l'œil.. en directe.. avec manière même..

Frank : Casse toi, pauv' con

Coul : Voilààààà

Can the French beat the Structural Adjustment Programme by striking

The heat is on in the whole of France. I mean we know those guys can strike.. but this time around the French people are really striking.

I have seen strikes in France. Employees who are striking against their management for salary increase or to demand one or more considerations are the workplace. Most recently the strikes were because of relocations, closures and mergers! This one, people were angry because they were losing their jobs. So they are striking 'to be able to remain on the job'.

But this one of this week, folks are striking to be able to "stop working".

And they are not striking against an employer, but against the government! No, in fact, it is against the law makers. The people voted to carry the voice of the people! C'est bizarre, non?

The bone of contention is retirement age. So far, it is retirement at 60. But the government is seeing that 'under the present circumstances' we can longer afford this. Why?

First because the older folks are living longer, thanks to good health care and increased life expectancy. So if a guy worked for 30 years, retires at 60 and lives to be 100, he will be on pension for 40 years!

The second reason is that the people to contribute to the pension system are getting less, thanks to reduced births and also emigration! Here is a government faced with a big chunk of its population getting older and not seeing the youth that will replace them... that will contribute into the social security so their pensions can be paid!

One other issue (Call it a reason if you please) is that the young people that France actually have are not the 'bons français' as a Minister called it recently.

So who is a good French? A good French is the one that is not of African origin, not of Maghrebin origin, not of Asian origin. If he is European, it should not be of the "roaming, wandering and nomadic" type.

I do not envy the French lawmakers. I dont envy the citizens either. I just feel pity for both. First they started hunting down people of the first group - people of African origin and started repatriating them or packing them up in retention camps. That was okay.

Then people of Asian origin - mainly Pakistanis and Afghans, who have escaped from the war were also dislodged. The official reason was that their places of abode were dangerous and they could not stay until they could afford better housing.

The "roaming, wandering and nomadic type" have raised a lot of issues within the EU community. Up to the point that the French government needed to remind Vivian Redding which part of the EU she comes from and how small that part is and how little it ACTUALLY counts!

There is a current bill that will soon be voted. That one will take care of the Maghreb folks. Because those ones are 'officially French', the law will allow for their citizenship to be removed, then...

So all of this 'structural adjustment' is going on. And the working class here are surprising me by their failure to see it coming! If you want to remain who you are, then you should be able to remain who you are!

The government is telling people truth that they know. And folks think that if they strike for a day, immobilise the system, and probably bring the government to its knees, things will change. No, they wont. The law will now require you to work until you are 62. And if you did not begin work early and have not contributed enough, you work till you are 65!

I listened to a man the other day. He is an asbestos victim. This means that medically, he is in the group of the people whose life expectancy is reduced. To that effect, there was a law that 'had retirement mercy on those who will die early'. So this man was asking about himself. How long will he have to work? Will this new law take away 'the mercy law'? I felt for that man!

In the 80s, the economic prospects of many African countries was hazy, and the IMF administered the SAP pill mercilessly. Governments had to drastically reduce spending, put its citizens in dire situations to be able to meet up with standards of the IMF. The recent IMF reports shows that economic outlook in Africa and Asia is bright and actually lists an African country - Nigeria - as one of the most progressive economies. But things are looking gray in Europe.

We had Iceland, then Greece and many more are on the brink. Countries like Germany and Norway have always had a kind of ongoing SAP in small doses. But for some other countries, like France, a big dose is unavoidable! And that is what the law makers are expecting the people to understand. Maybe the communication work was not well done or not done long enough.. but well

I am not sure that people striking will get much out of it. Whether the strike lasts a day, a week or a month, it will not in any way change the economic outlook of the country. Politicians may lose their offices but the next ones will face the same situation.

The one person who has gained something is Bruno Laporte, a guy who tweeted "Dans le metro. Coincé contre une jolie metisse aux yeux bleus. Je soutiens la grève. :P"

"I am in the Metro, pushed up against a beautiful half-caste with blue eyes. I support the strike"