I'm saddened to see Bill Mitchell taking the line he has on France. This conflict isn't about the specifics of Juppe's proposals, which are quite mild by US standard. As Daniel Singer told me, everyone recognizes that these are the "thin edge of the wedge," the overture to a long process of making the EU more like the US, with "flexible" labor markets and a crummier welfare state. It may not be like the romance of '68, and the unions might not be exemplars of political sophistication, but this is a struggle over real stuff that's important on a global scale. It may be crude to reduce one's position on the strikes to a binary for/against choice, but sometimes politics is that way. Sorry to see that Bill is trying to straddle the virgule. Actually I don't really know what position the French unions have taken on immigrants, but I don't doubt that immigrants will be worse off if Juppe's austerity plan goes through. I also don't know the details of the French fiscal situation over the long term. I do know that the dire projections of the US being swamped by dependent geezers in 2020 are highly exaggerated, and part of a long-term plan to chip away at our public retirement system. I'd be very careful about believing official projections uncritically. But even if they're true, that doesn't mean that Juppe's approach is right, does it? Aren't there democratic & egalitarian ways to solving this problem that may not really exist? Doug -- Doug Henwood Left Business Observer 250 W 85 St New York NY 10024-3217 USA +1-212-874-4020 voice +1-212-874-3137 fax email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> web: <http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/LBO_home.html>
