The farmers are restless

[Deleted]

This is what greeted us coming to work this morning on the Champs Elysées.

[BigIain]

Should I expect Calais to be blockaded by lunchtime too?

[Deleted]

They've been blocking things all over the country... Toulouse, Clermont Ferrand, Poitiers... And of course they are blocking the autoroutes: Metz, Fontainebleau...
Rennes and Nantes are on the list for later in the day.

In Paris, the radio is saying that the have moved on to the Esplanade des Invalides.

[Deleted]

What is this all about?
Suicides,fires,what is happening over there?

[Deleted]

Farm prices have dropped too low apparently.

[lagatta]

Yeah, I heard this story and immediately thought of kerouac. I know many people in Paris, but none of them are currently working around there.

[Deleted]

The bulldozers were still picking up the hay at noon.

[bixaorellana]

Yaaaay ~~~ to the barricades!

Any idea why they picked this particular time to demonstrate? Were their problems not addressed by the legislature? Is Parliament currently in session?

[fumobici]

I'm torn- part of me admires the initiative of organizing direct action to leverage one's influence, and part of me wonders about the political capital that must be lost by using blockades and inconveniencing everyone else to drive home a point. Are these demonstrations allowed by the criminal code? Are the organizers held legally liable? And if not what is there to prevent every single special interest group from blockading roads and highways to try to change policy to their own benefit? I could see butchers, barbers, cooks, construction workers, nurses, teachers etc. etc. all taking their turns stopping traffic if it is thought an effective tool for influencing policy.

Perhaps farmers can count on a reservoir of goodwill from the electorate or influence with the political parties to shield them from too much blowback.

[Deleted]

Obviously the demonstrators can be arrested for what they are doing. There are a zillion laws from disturbing the peace to littering to arson to disobeying police orders that can be used against them. However, the government has to take in consideration public opinion and the French penchant for revolution. French public opinion has almost always been surprisingly supportive of civil disobedience... until the backlash effect sets in.

[bixaorellana]

Interesting -- but can you answer my questions in #7, please?

[Deleted]

The legislature is in session but oblivious to what is going on in France. They are living on clouds with the Care Bears. There is no particular reason to have chosen this time of year except that it is propitious to protest, before the holiday season gets too close.

And Sarkozy has never been more unpopular for a variety of reasons: his trophy Minister of Culture Frédéric Mitterrand suspected of gay pedophilia and sexual tourism in Thailand*, his attempt to enthrone his 23 year old son at the head of an extremely important commission, even though he is a 2nd year law student, who failed his classes the first time around, while the position calls for a jurist with at least 10 years of experience**, and a number of other goodies.

* F. Mitterrand (the former president's nephew) claims that they were all of legal age.
** The defense being used for this is that people are being intolerant of the young and that this is a sinister case of discrimination against brilliant young people.

[bixaorellana]

Thanks, Kerouac. It seemed logical that the farmers must have gotten fed up with the legislature, thus the demonstration.

[bjd]

The farmers' demonstrations have nothing to do with the legislature being there or not. Their tactics (as well as everybody else's) is to make their opinions and problems as public as possible. In the summer, the farmers tend to spill fruit or vegetables on the roads near the Spanish border to prevent trucks from bringing in produce from Spain.

The morning we left for the airport to go to Italy a few weeks ago, the airport was blocked by workers from a company that was closing. We nearly missed our plane, even though we left home earlier just by chance. Lots of other people missed their flights. After 4 hours of the airport being blocked, and enormous traffic jams in the city of people trying to get to work, the riot police came in and arrested the blockers.

Yesterday, Toulouse, as well as some other cities, were blocked by farmers driving in with their tractors. They drove, slowly, to some administrative offices which are right downtown, then blocked the access roads to the ring roads around the city. I think farmers do indeed have more public sympathy than some other demonstrators, but the problem in France seems to be that you don't get listened to unless you create havoc. So, first the mess, then the discussions. Ideally, there would be discussions, and if they fail, then some mess.

Mind you, when we were in Rome, there were teachers demonstrating in front of the Ministry of Education, and on the Saturday, there was a huge demonstration for freedom of the press.

[fumobici]

Trenitalia actually keeps a separate strike schedule for the inevitable sciopperi. Work stoppages are allowed for and institutionalized into the system.

[bixaorellana]

I am very interested in how all this works in various countries. Coming from the US, I had never encountered across-the-board stoppages before. They are very common here, and can be fairly infuriating.

The demonstrations in Oaxaca in 2006 were partly regular work stoppage, but aimed to show that there was "ungovernability" in the state. (go here for more on that)

[Deleted]

France has the worst reputation in Europe for "the powers" not consulting the base before making decisions, so the commando operations have become inevitable.

[bixaorellana]

Aha! That's the kind of information I wanted.

That is surprising about France, since it does so well on providing services to the people. Does that mean "the powers" are simply good at benevolent paternalism?

[Deleted]

Absolutely. They study everything thoroughly because they think that if they do that there is no need to waste time with the little people.

It's sort of how the U.S. thought the streets of Iraq would be lined with ecstatic citizens waving American flags after the American invasion.

[Deleted]

So, is Paris still burning or what? What happened to the farmers?

[Deleted]

Oh, it was just a one-day event. Farmers cannot leave their farms for longer than that.

[bjd]

I heard on the radio today that the Ministers of Agriculture are meeting in Luxemburg today and are going to allocate some money to the dairy farmers. That's the way it works -- make enough noise, create enough disturbances and your problems will be dealt with.

[Deleted]

Yes, Luxembourg was scheduled to be invaded by dairy farmers from across Europe today.

[imec]

I don't know what it's like where everyone is, but I'm really concerned that the price of food where I live is too low and someone is getting screwed. I do know that in some geographies (I was horrified at the price of meat in Britain for instance) food is too expensive and the consumer is getting screwed but I suspect the farmer is too. I'll start another thread about this.

[Deleted]

Good for those farmers!
I.,please do,I have words to contribute about the local shrimp industry here. Thanks.

[Deleted]

They were already in Luxembourg in June, so clearly it wasn't enough.