We are stuck in Montpellier this weekend. The buses trams and trains are not running - ostensibly because of a weather alert, and - I think - because the government is very afraid of demonstrations this weekend.
In the interval, I have thought what book I would advise someone to read about what is happening in France. The book I'd choose is Ryszard Kapuściński's Shah of Shahs. Written in 1979, it is a portrait of a society - that of Iran under the Shah - in the last stages of rot. Pourrisement. Melenchon's term for the regime of Macron is exactly right. In the end, one is left with a ambiance of low level gangsterism. Except of course that under the plutocracy, the laws are changed to reflect the absorbtion of gangsterism in good business practice. Surely there is a McKinsey white paper recommending this floating out there somewhere.
McKinsey-ism is my term for what France has undergone. It is especially interesting that education is the hot spot that is causing all the ruckus. From the beginning,, there has been a pipeline from McKinsey to Institut Montaigne to whatever suit is running the Ministry of Education and Secondary Education. There was a scandal about this long long ago - from 2023, in fact. That is when Laurent Bigorgne, the head of the Institut, was accused of drugging his sister in law in order to rape her. In his defense, he claimed that for the last couple of heady years at the IM, he'd kept himself prepped by extensive use of cocaine.
Here's their nifty program to get education out of the old rut of being run by the state - heavens! - and into the new world of the networks! Here's the story of Laurent Bigorgne, close associate of Macron, whose star was leading him to the appointment as minister of education when, alas, that oopsy moment of date rape drugging and cocaine put a temporary end to his ambitions. Education - especially dismantling public education - is very dear to the heart of Macron. And really, how appropriate that a date rape drug user/cokehead should have headed up the initiative to propel France's education system into the 21st century of AI and the need to create good servants for rich people! Macron, Macron, whose heart was always in, well, taking away a public service for stinky workign folk who don't deserve it! Macron, whose government promises to rebuild the Hotel de Ville in Limoges and has never made a move to rebuild the lycee Paul Eluard in Seine-St. Denis!
Macron's heart...
May he suffer the heartburn he has earned!
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