Last month, Alternative Libertaire looked at the neo-reformism embodied by La
France insoumise. This month, we take a closer look at its economic andecological program. ---- A major component of its program L'Avenir en commun,published in 2017 (and revised since), the economic line of La France insoumise(LFI) was largely taken up in June 2022 by the electoral coalition New Popular,Ecological and Social Union (Nupes ). This programme, which aims to " in-depthtransformation of society " , highlights LFI's specificity in terms of theeconomy. Where the PS and EELV remain attached to social-liberalism, Jean-LucMélenchon and his teams seem to carry a more radical discourse (" Another worldis possible ").The economic question is transversal to the whole program, and concerns a largepart of the 694 proposals. Its backbone is " ecological planning ", the successof which today goes beyond left-wing circles, since Macron briefly took it over.In short, LFI frees the left from social-liberalism and initiates a neo-reformistturn, a reinvention of the managerial reformism of the 1970s, in that it does notwant to break with capitalism, but claims to govern it in an ecological andsocial direction [1]. This shift is accompanied by strong nods to the radicalleft [2], but remains ambiguous on the strategy for applying the program oncepower has been conquered.Welcome measuresFreezing of prices, net minimum wage at 1500 euros, retirement at 60... We find,in L'Avenir en commun, the great classics of a reformist program. More ambitiousthan those of the PS or EELV programs, these measures would provide a welcomeminimum for many. The proposed measures are however rather oriented towards theupper fringes of the proletariat or the lower fringes of the middle class,including civil servants, who benefit from stable employment. As soon as we leavethese categories - of voters loyal to the left - L'Avenir en commun becomes lesstalkative.It evokes little, on the other hand, the social minima or the family allowances,whereas they are important resources for the most precarious fringes of theproletariat. No reform of these benefits, on the transparency of the calculation,the administrative simplification, and the abolition of the systems associatingthe benefits with the patriarchal hearth rather than with the people (familyquotient) ! The proposed " guarantee of autonomy " would be insufficientbecause it would not take into account the diversity of situations.Faced with Macron's Universal Activity Income (aggregate of old benefits reviseddownwards and de-individualised), LFI plays small arms. The " employmentguarantee " and the timid reinforcement of unemployment insurance do notcompensate for such a shortcoming. We could take other examples, such as thequestion of housing and the Boutin law that LFI does not call into question, andwhich prevents many precarious people from applying for an HLM. If LFI supportedthe yellow vests, it could well see them again... on its landing !LFI assumes to spend 250 billion euros more per year for public services, the "ecological bifurcation ", employment... " whatever the cost ". The new taxresources would be provided in part by the consumption incentive made possible bythe public expenditure itself. There are here the elements of a left Keynesianism.Apart from a few renationalisations (SNCF, EDF), the program sticks to a kind of" citizenisation " of the company.Photo: DR" Financialized capitalism "If it is possible to spit out more money from the country's rich without scaringthem away, the effect of " filling the order books " has been much discussed inthe debates preceding the legislative elections. The liberal camp (in particularthe think tank Terra Nova, close to the PS) panicked over the spending program ofLFI, accused of " razing for free ". The real question, however, remainswhether LFI is able to apply it. Because if LFI refuses to put in placeanti-social policies, the creditors of the French state and companies could alsocome knocking on the door...No problem ! LFI proposes to " cancel the public debt ", in fact to transformthe debt of the States of the EU into perpetual debt at zero rate. For LFI, thisconfrontation with the EU authorities can be a winner, because " France is notGreece ". It's true: France is richer, but as a result many more capitalists aredoing business there ! There will doubtless not be a second Greek tragedy, butperhaps the risk of a Molière-like farce... LFI in power, we should remainvigilant to the threat of social setbacks, all the more so as the party alreadysupports questionable measures today, such as the " Zero unemployed territories ".Defeated or not by the EU, LFI could even initiate the revival of the capitalistmachine in crisis ! Trapped in the governance of capitalism, previous reformistexperiments (in 1981, in 1997) systematically betrayed the "hope " they hadraised. However, in the program of LFI, neither the property nor the market arequestioned, nor the socialization of the means of production and exchange. Apartfrom a few renationalisations (SNCF, EDF), we stick to a sort of " citizenisation " of the company.Within the framework of the market, and leaving the means of production in thehands of the capitalists, the promises of ecological planning, minimum income andguaranteed employment remain at best untenable, at worst recoverable by a capitalwhich has known by the past digging into the claims of struggles to perpetuateitself. Criticism of " finance " alone is convenient for winning votes, but itshuts down any prospect of a break with capital.The promise to nationalize " certain " banks also illustrates thecontradictions of LFI. The law of the market and the requirement of valuationwhich is imposed on each company and each State leads them to intensifyexploitation under penalty of loss of competitiveness (this is not a fictioninvented by the right !). How can we imagine that by transferring ownership fromthe private sector to the State, this iron rule will cease to apply ? Is statemoney magical ?If the crisis in which we are (and which the opposition between LFI and capitalcould deepen) leads us to take back in hand the activities necessary for ourlife, it is likely that LFI will not help us, stuck as it is in the statefetishism. Capitalist restructuring or revolutionary rupture, this party couldquickly find itself overwhelmed by events that its economic dogmas (promising thebutter of social progress and the money of capital) do not allow it to anticipate.Benjamin (UCL Grand-Paris South)To validate[1] Read " Libertarians facing neo-reformism " , Alternative Libertaire, June 2022[2] Jean-Luc Mélenchon, " There is a changeover, it is now that it is played ", Ballast, January 14, 2022https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Programme-de-LFI-Gouverner-le-capitalisme-dans-un-sens-ecologique-et-social_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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