“The Frenchman, more than anyone else, is
the embodiment of the dispossessed, the destitute. His hatred of foreigners is
based on his hatred of himself as a foreigner. [...] We have arrived at a point of privation where
the only way to feel French is to curse the immigrants and those who are more
visibly foreign. In this country, the
immigrants assume a curious position of sovereignty: if
they weren’t here, the French might stop existing.”
The
invisible committee, The coming insurrection
Your debate on national identity stinks…
Here's why:
Because
French nation is, like any other, a
mere social construct. Nationalism created
nations, not the other way round.
Because the “our
ancestors the Gauls” is just a big joke...but a die-hard one. The ancestors of
the 65 million people living in France today were all but Gauls.
Because the
proponents of French national identity haven't even read the author (and a damn
reactionary one) whom they claim to get inspiration from: Ernest Renan. Ernest
Renan said: “The
oversight, and I would even say the historical
mistake are essential factors of the
build of a nation.”
Because this debate
allows Sarkozy to make shameless lies. He said: “Nothing is less dangerous for
democracy and freedom than the Republic, even a united and indivisible one. For
two centuries, except the bloody experience of the Terror, no totalitarianism
has threatened our freedom. Because French culture is
unbending to totalitarianism”.
But wasn't Nazism a totalitarianism who threatened our freedom? Didn't it killed hundreds of thousands of people in France during the
Occupation? Would the President have something against History?
Because all this
political and journalistic hustle and bustle about national identity only aims
at getting back the votes from the FN in the next local elections.
Because the site www.debatidentitenationale.fr
launched by the government is appalling. We can find there racist remarks,
praises of colonization and monarchy and demented speeches on “French
blood”. As a side note: the “purer” the Frenchman pretends to be, the less
he actually knows how to write proper French.
Because there is an
economic crisis and the bourgeoisie wants us to forget that its capitalist
system is the only cause. The crisis increases the discrimations against
minorities (Blacks, Arabs...).
Because, speaking
of xenophobia, the left wing widely prepared the ground for the right wing.
Nobody forced the “Socialist” Guy Mollet to support French
Algeria nor Mitterrand to build the first centers to incarcerate illegal
immigrants. And you can't make much more chauvinistic than the French
“Communist” Party.
Because
the traitor unions also take part in the defense of national identity. The CGT and CFDT
unions didn't even need the police to push away the illegal immigrants staying
in theirs buildings: their security services dealt
with them.
Because
our “identity” isn't national but proletarian and revolutionary. We do not care
about borders. We will always feel closer to a worker on strike, even if he
lives in Beijing, than to a businessman, even if it's our neighbour.
Because we are at
war, and we'll never be on the same side as Éric Besson, Jean-Marie Le Pen or
Marie-Ségolène Royal.
For all these
reasons, and a few more, your debate on national identity stinks…
…And we won't be a part of it!