France in the face of chaos

The scenes of destruction in France, the looting of businesses and the assault on public buildings have little to do with the students' demands, and everything to do with a desire to hit the symbols of the Republic and destabilize a European democracy. The disastrous day of October 17 will take time to forget. What began with a peaceful call for conditions in secondary education and purchasing power led to acts of unusual violence caused by a minority. Images like that of the Limoges City Hall in flames will remain in memory as the moment when chaos took over a country. The events of these days can be attributed to the inaction of the Government in the face of social and student demands, to the paralysis of Emmanuel Macron who, after a decade in power, is a lame duck with no room for maneuver and viscerally detested by a part of society, or to the blockages in a political class that for decades has postponed reforms to get the economy out of the morass and reduce social gaps. None of these debates should hide the essential thing today, which is that protests are legitimate and, in many points, justified, but violence never is.

France has already accustomed the world to these images that would be unacceptable in any other democracy. It is enough to remember the mobilizations a few days ago in Spain over the housing crisis to understand that it is possible to express discontent in the streets and demand social improvements without resorting to violence, and it is also possible to channel them into political debate. Another French peculiarity is that of police forces with a long history of using excessive force and that on other occasions, as happened on Saturday, have failed to maintain public order and avoid lack of control. There is also an entire revolutionary mythology that re-emerges in each social movement, such as the protests against the pension reform in recent years or the yellow vests, and refers to moments that have marked the identity of this country, from the storming of the Bastille in 1789 and the Paris Commune until May 1968. When violence exhibits the nihilistic nature of this weekend and attacks public institutions, there is a corrosive effect that not only damages causes and demands. fair, but it directly affects coexistence and civil peace.