RUMBLINGS ON THE FRENCH LEFT
Bloch-Michel, Jean
tionals whose only citizenship is that of tho balance sheet have strong pecuniary reasons to preserve the viability of the leading trading nations. For these self-serving arguments, thz...
...initiation of long-promised penal reforms...
...The United States assured Greece a prosperity that, out of ignorance and stupidity, the military junta managed to destroy in seven years...
...Kissinger and the American government will seek to treat Europe as it has treated Chile, Greece, or the Dominican Republic...
...Kissinger, in refusing to prevent the Turkish invasion of Cyprus-which the Turks had atHAVE YOU MOVED...
...New York 10017 0 Allow three weeks for change to become eflectivr I tempted once before and which the mere presence of the Sixth Fleet could have stopped -ruined whatever trust his country still enjoyed in Europe...
...Perhaps it had first to overcome its disappointment at having missed out by so narrow a margin...
...0 Jean Bloch-Michel Rumblings on the French left Paris The French Left has seemed strangely silent since its defeat-which was so nearly a victory-in the election of May 1974...
...No doubt he acted for what he considered viable strategic reasons (Turkey having greater military importance than Greece), but such reasons are hard not only for the Greeks but for European public opinion to swallow...
...No doubt the resultant economic aid helped Greece to get back on her feet and to emerge from underdevelopment...
...Nothing allows us to hope with certainty that they are right...
...And so it turns out that, in several European countries, the concept not only of a Union of the Left, as in France, but also of Communist participation in government has become plausible even to those who fully recognize the dangers...
...purposes...
...A sort of Graeco-Latin Southern Europe is being formed whose political, if not also economic, evolution separates it increasingly from Germanic, Anglo-Saxon, and Scandinavian Northern Europe...
...In chasing out Makarios and trying to set up a trigger-happy vulgarian as their man in Cyprus, the colonels and the CIA committed an error whose consequences extend far beyond Greece...
...Translated by ADRIENNEFOULKE0 14 COMMENTS AND OPINIONS is a sign of the times that an Italian Socialist of impeccable standing should express himself in these terms...
...and even of preserving world peace...
...In a recent editorial in France Observateur, Jean Daniel phrased an answer that seems close to the mark...
...Kissinger and the American government will seek to treat Europe as it has treated Chile, Greece, or the Dominican Republic...
...Nor is emotion unknown in Western politics...
...Kissinger, in refusing to prevent the Turkish invasion of Cyprus-which the Turks had atHAVE YOU MOVED...
...The changes include: establishment of the right to vote at eighteen...
...In associating more closely with the Communists in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece, they perform a sort of turnabout, while at the same time they would like to convince themselves that they will lead this association toward a new politics that will not be the realpolitic of the Communist bloc...
...Tough old system that it is, contemporary market capitalism will probably resume economic growth at a pace fast enough to distribute acceptable new benefit5 to middle- and working-class families...
...For these self-serving arguments, thz Germans and the Americans will continue to bail out the Italians and the English, at thstrong urgings of business leaders in all th-: countries involved...
...financial austerity intensified and more readily accepted because more fairly shared...
...What is even more to the point, the politicians and businessmen at the head of affairs are perfectly awarc of their situation...
...financial austerity intensified and more readily accepted because more fairly shared...
...All in all, if compelled to bet on the future, I’d offer odds of, say, 3-2 that five years from now capitalism will be doing business at the same old stand, though with a product somewhat differently packaged...
...These shifts in the makeup of the power structure do not, as I have said, concern all of Europe...
...The ideological emoFans and territorial ambitions of such medieval types as King Feisal and such megalomaniacs as the Shah of Iran enormously complicate th...
...The problem faced by the European Left is whether Dr...
...0 Jean Bloch-Michel Rumblings on the French left Paris The French Left has seemed strangely silent since its defeat-which was so nearly a victory-in the election of May 1974...
...also, in the near future, possibly a reform of military service regulations, and, assuredly, a liberalization of the abortion law...
...The fact that he did so in the name of an official European organization is even more significant...
...As to the great powers that are of primary importance in Europe-the Soviet Union and the US.-whatever upheavals their own societies suffer, they appear to us firmly in the hands of conservative gerontocracies...
...But the new government can boast of being partly responsible for this silence...
...I rather think that if events are controlled by the rational perceptions of OPEC and its customers, capitalism is likelv to survive to exploit another day...
...All in all, if compelled to bet on the future, I’d offer odds of, say, 3-2 that five years from now capitalism will be doing business at the same old stand, though with a product somewhat differently packaged...
...Businessmen stop investing...
...higher taxes on the profits of large corporations...
...Nonetheless, Giscard d’Estaing has taken it upon himself to change something in France...
...Translated by ADRIENNEFOULKE0 14 COMMENTS AND OPINIONS...
...Not only for critics of capitalism but also for its friends, this is a messags of qualified optimism...
...One would have to have seen the extent of American installations on Crete and in the entire area around Athens to be aware of how much of their sovereignty the Greek governments from 1945 on yielded to the US...
...purposes...
...Although it is against the long-term Arab and Iranian interest to destroy Western prosperity, it is unwise to discount the impact of sheer fanaticism...
...their political classes are not moved to question the principles of their imperialist policies even when events oblige them to change tactical course...
...The fact that he did so in the name of an official European organization is even more significant...
...Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Scandinavian countries, and, of course, Great Britain are not involved...
...And so it turns out that, in several European countries, the concept not only of a Union of the Left, as in France, but also of Communist participation in government has become plausible even to those who fully recognize the dangers...
...111 IN THE END even that apocryphal Texas teacher had to tell his class something about the shape of the planet...
...The seeming evolution of the Communist parties in the West favors this trend, which has also received new support-and gained new impetus-from the recent events in Cyprus, which have not only brought grist to the mill of “right-wing neutralism” but may prove compatible with “left-wing neutralism” as well...
...Tough old system that it is, contemporary market capitalism will probably resume economic growth at a pace fast enough to distribute acceptable new benefit5 to middle- and working-class families...
...The ploy of the liberal Right has always been to change “everything” without real change-a 12 COMMENTS AND OPINIONS whose only citizenship is that of tho balance sheet have strong pecuniary reasons to preserve the viability of the leading trading nations...
...higher taxes on the profits of large corporations...
...tionals whose only citizenship is that of tho balance sheet have strong pecuniary reasons to preserve the viability of the leading trading nations...
...New York 10017 0 Allow three weeks for change to become eflectivr I tempted once before and which the mere presence of the Sixth Fleet could have stopped -ruined whatever trust his country still enjoyed in Europe...
...Nothing quite persuades us they are wrong...
...In associating more closely with the Communists in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece, they perform a sort of turnabout, while at the same time they would like to convince themselves that they will lead this association toward a new politics that will not be the realpolitic of the Communist bloc...
...Not one concerns the country’s economic structure...
...Although it is against the long-term Arab and Iranian interest to destroy Western prosperity, it is unwise to discount the impact of sheer fanaticism...
...Consumers cease to spend...
...What is even more to the point, the politicians and businessmen at the head of affairs are perfectly awarc of their situation...
...One would have to have seen the extent of American installations on Crete and in the entire area around Athens to be aware of how much of their sovereignty the Greek governments from 1945 on yielded to the US...
...A sort of Graeco-Latin Southern Europe is being formed whose political, if not also economic, evolution separates it increasingly from Germanic, Anglo-Saxon, and Scandinavian Northern Europe...
...Whether Giscard d’Estaing has acted out of true liberalism or whether, in thinking ahead to the 1976 elections for the legislative assembly, he must take into account the wishes expressed by more than half the country, the fact remains that the new President has responded promptly to certain hopes for change...
...He pointed out that the new government has merely caught up with the 15-year time lag in France caused by Gaullism...
...If the British desert the Common Market, an operative force is likely to be long-standing English dislike of the “wogs” across the channel...
...But we must bear in mind an important fact: all these reforms relate to social habits and merely give legal sanction to current behavior...
...In a recent editorial in France Observateur, Jean Daniel phrased an answer that seems close to the mark...
...He pointed out that the new government has merely caught up with the 15-year time lag in France caused by Gaullism...
...No doubt he acted for what he considered viable strategic reasons (Turkey having greater military importance than Greece), but such reasons are hard not only for the Greeks but for European public opinion to swallow...
...The seeming evolution of the Communist parties in the West favors this trend, which has also received new support-and gained new impetus-from the recent events in Cyprus, which have not only brought grist to the mill of “right-wing neutralism” but may prove compatible with “left-wing neutralism” as well...
...When uneasiness turns into panic, economic behavior turns irrational...
...initiation of long-promised penal reforms...
...Dr...
...Not only for critics of capitalism but also for its friends, this is a messags of qualified optimism...
...enforcement-at last-of the law concerning contraception and abortion...
...A wild card is popular uneasiness about the stability of banks, large corporations, and the economy at large...
...Nothing allows us to hope with certainty that they are right...
...Businessmen stop investing...
...their political classes are not moved to question the principles of their imperialist policies even when events oblige them to change tactical course...
...The ploy of the liberal Right has always been to change “everything” without real change-a 12 COMMENTS AND OPINIONS I It is a sign of the times that an Italian Socialist of impeccable standing should express himself in these terms...
...I 0 Send both old and new address to DISSENT: 509 Fifth Avenue New York...
...Not one concerns the country’s economic structure...
...But what...
...enforcement-at last-of the law concerning contraception and abortion...
...All these reforms also had been part of the Left’s program...
...The major trading n3tions are interdependent...
...I rather think that if events are controlled by the rational perceptions of OPEC and its customers, capitalism is likelv to survive to exploit another day...
...Rational calculation is not the only influence upon events...
...All these reforms also had been part of the Left’s program...
...111 IN THE END even that apocryphal Texas teacher had to tell his class something about the shape of the planet...
...prospects of resolving the energy crisis...
...In chasing out Makarios and trying to set up a trigger-happy vulgarian as their man in Cyprus, the colonels and the CIA committed an error whose consequences extend far beyond Greece...
...A wild card is popular uneasiness about the stability of banks, large corporations, and the economy at large...
...The ideological emoFans and territorial ambitions of such medieval types as King Feisal and such megalomaniacs as the Shah of Iran enormously complicate th...
...For these self-serving arguments, thz Germans and the Americans will continue to bail out the Italians and the English, at thstrong urgings of business leaders in all th-: countries involved...
...Nonetheless, Giscard d’Estaing has taken it upon himself to change something in France...
...If the British desert the Common Market, an operative force is likely to be long-standing English dislike of the “wogs” across the channel...
...and even of preserving world peace...
...The joint forces that, from within and without, are easing the Communists into governmental power structures in many European countries-if they have not already been ensconced-are momentarily difficult to contain...
...From now on, the law will no longer be in absolute contradiction to social customs, and France will find herself on the same footing England, the US., and Germany have enjoyed for the past 20 years-not to mention Holland or the Scandinavian countries...
...The United States assured Greece a prosperity that, out of ignorance and stupidity, the military junta managed to destroy in seven years...
...Rational calculation is not the only influence upon events...
...The major trading n3tions are interdependent...
...But what...
...The joint forces that, from within and without, are easing the Communists into governmental power structures in many European countries-if they have not already been ensconced-are momentarily difficult to contain...
...The problem faced by the European Left is whether Dr...
...prospects of resolving the energy crisis...
...also, in the near future, possibly a reform of military service regulations, and, assuredly, a liberalization of the abortion law...
...These shifts in the makeup of the power structure do not, as I have said, concern all of Europe...
...Nothing quite persuades us they are wrong...
...Dr...
...Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Scandinavian countries, and, of course, Great Britain are not involved...
...Consumers cease to spend...
...Whether Giscard d’Estaing has acted out of true liberalism or whether, in thinking ahead to the 1976 elections for the legislative assembly, he must take into account the wishes expressed by more than half the country, the fact remains that the new President has responded promptly to certain hopes for change...
...From now on, the law will no longer be in absolute contradiction to social customs, and France will find herself on the same footing England, the US., and Germany have enjoyed for the past 20 years-not to mention Holland or the Scandinavian countries...
...No doubt the resultant economic aid helped Greece to get back on her feet and to emerge from underdevelopment...
...The Greece-Turkey debacle seems to prove, rightly or wrongly, that the United States intends to use NATO for its sole interest and is ready to sacrifice the best and most faithful of allies if that serves U.S...
...But the new government can boast of being partly responsible for this silence...
...Once more, democrats, liberal socialists, and all those whose idealism and “weak sense of reality” are so easily put to scorn are unhappily aware that realpolitik-whether directed by Hitler, Papadopoulos or, making all due allowances, by Kissinger-can lead only to war and that in the end it achieves only the opposite of what it promises to do...
...When uneasiness turns into panic, economic behavior turns irrational...
...As to the great powers that are of primary importance in Europe-the Soviet Union and the US.-whatever upheavals their own societies suffer, they appear to us firmly in the hands of conservative gerontocracies...
...But we must bear in mind an important fact: all these reforms relate to social habits and merely give legal sanction to current behavior...
...The changes include: establishment of the right to vote at eighteen...
...I 0 Send both old and new address to DISSENT: 509 Fifth Avenue New York...
...The Greece-Turkey debacle seems to prove, rightly or wrongly, that the United States intends to use NATO for its sole interest and is ready to sacrifice the best and most faithful of allies if that serves U.S...
...Perhaps it had first to overcome its disappointment at having missed out by so narrow a margin...
...Nor is emotion unknown in Western politics...
...Once more, democrats, liberal socialists, and all those whose idealism and “weak sense of reality” are so easily put to scorn are unhappily aware that realpolitik-whether directed by Hitler, Papadopoulos or, making all due allowances, by Kissinger-can lead only to war and that in the end it achieves only the opposite of what it promises to do...
Vol. 22 • January 1975 • No. 1
