Here I go again, the French Council Comunist/Libertarian Marxist, with my very own two cents' worth of social commentary.
1) Polanski is officially a French citizen, which explains why "France" is so upset about his arrest. 2) Polanski is sort of "caught up" in the midst of a major France/Switzerland row at the moment. Sarkozy wants to end tax evasion and has demanded the Swiss government give up the names of all French citizens who give their money to Swiss banks. Given that, since the 18th century, Switzerland has always attracted the money from 'tax-weary' French citizens (about 60% of all the money held by Swiss banks comes from France), it is no wonder that Sarkozy's insistance on "transpirency" would cause a great uproar. 3) Polanski has a "chalet" in Gstaat in Switzerland, and he goes there every winter. He has never been arrested before by the Swiss authorities. 4) The Swiss chose to arrest him during an international Film Festival, instead of waiting for his annual winter retreat. 5) He had sex with a 13-year-old back in 1977 (he was then 42, he is now 77). He consistently maintained that he was unaware of the girl's true age when he had sew with her. The victim, Samantha Gardner, has publicly forgiven him, has withdrawn all charges (in 2003) and has even expressed dismay at his recent arrest in Switzerland. ________________________________________________ YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com