1,800 wealthy business owners siphon billions in public subsidies and
practice tax evasion, while their supporters refuse any debate about
aligning their taxes with the rest of the population. In short,
separatism of the privileged. ---- Two events marked the same date this
summer, July 8th: on the one hand, the Duplomb law was promoted to meet
the profit demands of agribusiness at the expense of life and
sustainable agriculture; on the other, a Senate report was published to
shed light on the cost of public aid to big business - the conservative
estimate is EUR210 billion per year in public subsidies to companies and
their shareholders!
Two seemingly different events, but in both cases, the law of profit,
the supreme capitalist virtue, is brought into the spotlight in the most
blatant way. A few days later, on July 15, François Bayrou, then still
Prime Minister, presented his budget austerity plan for 2026.
Enough is enough.
This plan demands a drastic EUR44 billion cut to public finances. The
austerity ambitions of the French government were no secret, but the
degree of violence against the majority of the population-those who have
only their labor to live on-is extreme. The government's arrogance even
extends to insult and contempt, declaring that workers don't work hard
enough to justify eliminating two public holidays.
Appointed, dismissed, reappointed... Lecornu remains the faithful
executor of an inflexible neoliberal policy.
RED PHOTO LIBRARY/MARTIN NODA/HANS LUCAS
Meanwhile, the petition to repeal the Duplomb law is breaking records,
with over two million signatures in just a few days on the Senate
website, "unprecedented." This initiative may have fueled another: calls
to block everything on September 10.
While the Solidaires trade union and some CGT unions called for
September 10, the inter-union call only mentioned September 18 and then
October 2.
One of the striking developments since this summer, despite the
limitations of the various initiatives, is that they have ultimately
given resonance to a basic idea of justice: that the bourgeoisie should
pay its dues! Certainly, this is not the end of capitalism, but with the
"Zucman tax," the public debate shifted for several weeks to a
protest-oriented angle directly targeting capitalists.
The Zucman tax or the Socialist Party moment?
Let's be frank: business leaders, their allies in power, the far right,
and their mouthpieces hated this sequence of events. But business
leaders weren't fooled: they reacted within the framework of the power
dynamic inherent in the class struggle, notably with the announcement of
their major rally (ultimately postponed due to the charade of Lecornu's
resignation). The government, with its Macronist and Republican
components, is beating the drums of the red menace, which threatens to
bring down the country's economy. The far right is starting
counter-fires, including one launched by Bolloré's fascist-leaning media
sphere, which is circulating a reactionary petition on "rejecting
immigration" that has "gathered" over 1 million signatures... including
bots and unverified email addresses. The strong resonance within society
of this notion of "taxing the rich" cannot be dismissed out of hand by
revolutionaries.
Even if, with the Zucman tax and the supposed suspension of the pension
reform, the Socialist Party finds an unexpected platform, bolstering its
electoral ambitions... and its "balance of power" in the negotiations
for a non-censorship of the new government.
It should be remembered that taxation leaves the State as the arbiter of
its use. Under the current government or that of the far right, nothing
will prevent, even if such a measure is implemented, the funds collected
from being redirected to subsidies for businesses, arms dealers, or
other capitalists.
Bourgeois democracy, a field of ruins
What does this scene tell us? It involves taxing less than 0.003% of the
population, the wealthiest, and merely aligning them with the same tax
level as the rest of the population.
A rising star, Gabriel Zucman is putting forward a not-so-revolutionary
proposal: asking the ultra-rich to pay the same taxes as everyone else.
SUPERPANTON
For capitalists, that's already too much! Even suggesting the idea is a
challenge to the ideological hegemony they impose; implementing it would
be even worse! This clearly demonstrates that this capitalist hegemony
can crack and reveal cracks. The bourgeoisie no longer wants to be
burdened by representative democracy to consolidate its power.
The far right is openly endorsed by these capitalists in order to
maintain and expand their privileges by destroying the few remaining
checks and balances.
The current institutional deadlock could offer the far right easy access
to power. However, the parliamentary charade orchestrated by the
government highlights, by contrast, the centrality of the struggles.
Even Elisabeth Borne's self-serving talk of suspending retirement at 64
demonstrates the continued public pressure to abolish such an injustice.
Not content with paying nothing, capitalists also benefit from billions
of euros in corporate subsidies.
JPROMANI
What response from our side?
Many envisioned September 10th as a new impetus for the Yellow Vests;
the reality is quite different. The general assemblies preparing for the
movement indicated a very different dynamic. Despite this, we can only
regret that the inter-union alliance called for a different date. Yet
the equation seems clear: calls from the inter-union alliance are
insufficient, as are calls from outside the alliance. How can we
establish a balance of power against the capitalists?
Hiding behind accusations of betrayal by "union bureaucracies" to feign
radicalism offers no answer, only self-satisfaction. What mobilizing
power does this discourse bring? Isn't there, first and foremost, a
problem of grassroots mobilization, on the ground, in companies and
services? A concern linked to union deserts? A difficulty in organizing
employee meetings, whether they are called general assemblies or not?
It is the self-organization of workers that is at the heart of the
analysis and the stakes of action for our class.
In practical terms, simply noting the absence of general assemblies and
their widespread disengagement is pointless if it doesn't lead to
tireless, daily efforts to find ways to prepare for them. We must
maintain the very purpose of union, community, and political engagement
everywhere, and this is a daily task. There are many obstacles, but it
is essential to equipping ourselves with the tools to combat
exploitation and the misery it engenders.
One might think that spontaneous action from who-knows-where will do the
work; but it is undeniably safer, even if more difficult, to prepare and
create the conditions for the self-organization of our social class,
while also waging a multifaceted counter-offensive of ideas that break
with capitalism.
UCL Nantes
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Taxe-Zucman-Le-separatisme-des-bourgeois-au-grand-jour
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
practice tax evasion, while their supporters refuse any debate about
aligning their taxes with the rest of the population. In short,
separatism of the privileged. ---- Two events marked the same date this
summer, July 8th: on the one hand, the Duplomb law was promoted to meet
the profit demands of agribusiness at the expense of life and
sustainable agriculture; on the other, a Senate report was published to
shed light on the cost of public aid to big business - the conservative
estimate is EUR210 billion per year in public subsidies to companies and
their shareholders!
Two seemingly different events, but in both cases, the law of profit,
the supreme capitalist virtue, is brought into the spotlight in the most
blatant way. A few days later, on July 15, François Bayrou, then still
Prime Minister, presented his budget austerity plan for 2026.
Enough is enough.
This plan demands a drastic EUR44 billion cut to public finances. The
austerity ambitions of the French government were no secret, but the
degree of violence against the majority of the population-those who have
only their labor to live on-is extreme. The government's arrogance even
extends to insult and contempt, declaring that workers don't work hard
enough to justify eliminating two public holidays.
Appointed, dismissed, reappointed... Lecornu remains the faithful
executor of an inflexible neoliberal policy.
RED PHOTO LIBRARY/MARTIN NODA/HANS LUCAS
Meanwhile, the petition to repeal the Duplomb law is breaking records,
with over two million signatures in just a few days on the Senate
website, "unprecedented." This initiative may have fueled another: calls
to block everything on September 10.
While the Solidaires trade union and some CGT unions called for
September 10, the inter-union call only mentioned September 18 and then
October 2.
One of the striking developments since this summer, despite the
limitations of the various initiatives, is that they have ultimately
given resonance to a basic idea of justice: that the bourgeoisie should
pay its dues! Certainly, this is not the end of capitalism, but with the
"Zucman tax," the public debate shifted for several weeks to a
protest-oriented angle directly targeting capitalists.
The Zucman tax or the Socialist Party moment?
Let's be frank: business leaders, their allies in power, the far right,
and their mouthpieces hated this sequence of events. But business
leaders weren't fooled: they reacted within the framework of the power
dynamic inherent in the class struggle, notably with the announcement of
their major rally (ultimately postponed due to the charade of Lecornu's
resignation). The government, with its Macronist and Republican
components, is beating the drums of the red menace, which threatens to
bring down the country's economy. The far right is starting
counter-fires, including one launched by Bolloré's fascist-leaning media
sphere, which is circulating a reactionary petition on "rejecting
immigration" that has "gathered" over 1 million signatures... including
bots and unverified email addresses. The strong resonance within society
of this notion of "taxing the rich" cannot be dismissed out of hand by
revolutionaries.
Even if, with the Zucman tax and the supposed suspension of the pension
reform, the Socialist Party finds an unexpected platform, bolstering its
electoral ambitions... and its "balance of power" in the negotiations
for a non-censorship of the new government.
It should be remembered that taxation leaves the State as the arbiter of
its use. Under the current government or that of the far right, nothing
will prevent, even if such a measure is implemented, the funds collected
from being redirected to subsidies for businesses, arms dealers, or
other capitalists.
Bourgeois democracy, a field of ruins
What does this scene tell us? It involves taxing less than 0.003% of the
population, the wealthiest, and merely aligning them with the same tax
level as the rest of the population.
A rising star, Gabriel Zucman is putting forward a not-so-revolutionary
proposal: asking the ultra-rich to pay the same taxes as everyone else.
SUPERPANTON
For capitalists, that's already too much! Even suggesting the idea is a
challenge to the ideological hegemony they impose; implementing it would
be even worse! This clearly demonstrates that this capitalist hegemony
can crack and reveal cracks. The bourgeoisie no longer wants to be
burdened by representative democracy to consolidate its power.
The far right is openly endorsed by these capitalists in order to
maintain and expand their privileges by destroying the few remaining
checks and balances.
The current institutional deadlock could offer the far right easy access
to power. However, the parliamentary charade orchestrated by the
government highlights, by contrast, the centrality of the struggles.
Even Elisabeth Borne's self-serving talk of suspending retirement at 64
demonstrates the continued public pressure to abolish such an injustice.
Not content with paying nothing, capitalists also benefit from billions
of euros in corporate subsidies.
JPROMANI
What response from our side?
Many envisioned September 10th as a new impetus for the Yellow Vests;
the reality is quite different. The general assemblies preparing for the
movement indicated a very different dynamic. Despite this, we can only
regret that the inter-union alliance called for a different date. Yet
the equation seems clear: calls from the inter-union alliance are
insufficient, as are calls from outside the alliance. How can we
establish a balance of power against the capitalists?
Hiding behind accusations of betrayal by "union bureaucracies" to feign
radicalism offers no answer, only self-satisfaction. What mobilizing
power does this discourse bring? Isn't there, first and foremost, a
problem of grassroots mobilization, on the ground, in companies and
services? A concern linked to union deserts? A difficulty in organizing
employee meetings, whether they are called general assemblies or not?
It is the self-organization of workers that is at the heart of the
analysis and the stakes of action for our class.
In practical terms, simply noting the absence of general assemblies and
their widespread disengagement is pointless if it doesn't lead to
tireless, daily efforts to find ways to prepare for them. We must
maintain the very purpose of union, community, and political engagement
everywhere, and this is a daily task. There are many obstacles, but it
is essential to equipping ourselves with the tools to combat
exploitation and the misery it engenders.
One might think that spontaneous action from who-knows-where will do the
work; but it is undeniably safer, even if more difficult, to prepare and
create the conditions for the self-organization of our social class,
while also waging a multifaceted counter-offensive of ideas that break
with capitalism.
UCL Nantes
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Taxe-Zucman-Le-separatisme-des-bourgeois-au-grand-jour
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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