Friday, May 15, 2009

All Is Not So Well . . .

I took these pictures on the way to work yesterday. Prices rising, profits rising, purchasing power plummeting. All is not so well here in France, alot of people are fairly well pissed off. Alot of noise in the press about the large oil company Total which earned record profits last year but has been firing people. . . The message on this poster says to the effect of "Those that govern are lying, Total is lying" . . . social unrest is around the corner and just down the road. Remember what happened in Greece last Fall ???
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The rich should pay for their crisis, it should be forbidden to fire anyone, and 300 euros a month more salary, says the New Anti-Capitalist Party . . .
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14 comments:

Steve said...

Powerfully militant and rather alarming but I'd be hard pressed to offer a cogent argument in return.

PeterParis said...

With statistics you can prove almost anything, but I believe that here there is something true!

Laurie said...

Not wishing to be alarmist, but just think what'll happen when the water runs out and all the bees are gone. On second thoughts, perhaps not - for the moment, at least!

Loulou said...

All is not so well, you are probably right. On May 1st, I was walking in Paris and there was the traditional national strike. Their motto was "Rêve Générale", instead of "Grève", which was optimistic to me, and so different from the common image of the French people always moaning...
Living far away now, I have the sense of current pessimism still and the way people are "pissed off" as you mentioned... Media don't help on that matter for sure.

See you,
Loulou

Dave-CostaRicaDailyPhoto.com said...

It is amazing how patient people are at having their financial future affected so much by circumstances out of their control and seemingly out of much control of anyone.

Your blog is a fascinating combination of photos and commentary. Thank you for signing up as a follower on my blog and thereby giving me the trail to find and follow your blog. Your photo a few days back of the outhouse over the river is priceless.

English Rider said...

Wah! Wah!

jeff said...

Comme si la crise arrivait maintenant...! Cela va faire quelques années que nous sommes passés dans un pouvoir féodal et il y a des "neuneus" qui veulent nous faire croire que faire payer les riches va arranger notre quotidien ! Et tout ça avec des slogans d'un autre temps !
Le "pouvoir" a toujours été dans la rue ! Il faut du temps pour "éveiller" les consciences... mais pas avec des slogans...! quand il n'y aura plus rien à bouffer dans toutes les assiettes !
Et puis, qui se sent concerné par la crise...
Hugh !
No passaran !

Bergson said...

crise de murs

French Fancy... said...

This lovely country we've chosen to live in is officially in recession now. Oh dear - lots more unrest on the streets I guess. I've got no answers, I don't think anyone really knows what to do next.

Trojan Gordon said...

It just shows how things are so similar around the world. What that poster says could be placed on hundreds of wall around the world and people on the street will connect to the message. It is truly scary times especially in Europe!

Margaret Pangert said...

Ca ne va pas ici non plus! Chrysler and GM are closing down dealerships right and left; GM is thinking of exporting cars to the US from China! How ironic is that?! and that's the party anti-capitaliste!

Owen said...

Guess there are no easy answers for anyone these days... thanks for all your perceptive and pertinent comments !

Dave, glad you liked the outhouse from a couple posts back !

Margaret, remember Mike Moore's first movie Roger and Me ?

FF, yeah, I heard that R word today too...

English Rider ... Oui oui ! or maybe that should be : wee wee !

Loulou, saw that Reve Generale, it was like "les Enfants du Paradis" to me... am happy to see you are back safe and sound !

J34, bon, on va rendormir les consciences donc... avec un peu de tisane !

Laurie... yeah, let's hold onto the bees and the water a while longer yet, ok? Still have a few more blog posts to do before I'm ready to go...

Peter, right, graphs can prove anything... what I really liked in these posters was the "jeu de mots" in the "Le Gouverne ment, Total ment"... creative mind working there. Enjoyed your posts about the "puces"... there might be an interesting piece to do about all the impromptu sidewalk "markets" springing up all over Paris's poorer quarters these days, where people show up with plastic bags full of produce or goods like yoghurt or applesauce (often out of date) and sell them there, until the police chase them off...

Steve, at this time of night I'm all out of cogent arguments too... but "hard pressed" is the way the authors of these posters are feeling apparently....

And a GREAT weekend to all, come on over for coffee, or wine and cheese later in the day...

Margaret Pangert said...

Thanks for reminding me about Roger and Me! This hypocrisy has been going around a long time. GM bailed before? I like how Laurie and you share. Fun!

Catherine said...

Ta première photo me fait penser à une chanson de Massilia Sound System ♫ Tout le monde ment (bis), le gouvernement ment énormément ♫.
Bien sûr qu'ils mentent, les gouvernements, ils en conviendraient s'ils étaient honnêtes.