Daily Times

Niccolo’ Machiavelli’s The Prince is an intense study on the nature of power and the course he should take when ruling a country .

Despite the widely -used phrase ‘Machiavellian ‘, with all of its negative connotations, his elaborative treatise remains a classic text.

According to Machiavelli, “the Prince -“the ruler” ought to have an eye not only upon the present but future incommodities, and to redress them with all possible industry.”

The warning for crises was there, but Parisian elites intoxicated with power, paid no heed. French thinker, social geographer and author Christophe Guilluy , warned the ruling elite as early as in 2014, saying that a sharp” economic divide” in France would split the country.

The ruling class ,Guilluy warned, will , either have to begin listening to the French People, or adopt a” soft totalitarianism” that will strip away the right to assemble, and other civil liberties Just as many Brexit voters pinned their anger on London elites, the French vented theirs on Macron,  who  is accused by the majority to be the “president of the rich”.

Fuel tax ignited already-existing discontent  against political framework  that is deaf to rights and the needs of working class and  ordinary people, and against “neo-liberal” global capitalism presided over by   President Emmanuel Macron and   his top-down style of  governing (as a result ) ; public anger against eco tax  has snowballed into a grass roots’ anti- government –  Yellow Vest “movement      named after high florescent jackets – leading to Paris paralysis by the the jilets jaunes largely made- up of modest earners from rural and small -town France demanding greater economic equality.

“Nicole ,a 52-year-old home care worker ,says the measures aren’t enough, so she’s still protesting. “I have a salary of 1,200 euros. I don’t run out of money by the 15th of the month, I run out of money by the 6th of the month. I can no longer manage to survive. That’s why I’m here, because nothing is moving, nothing is changing,” she added on the Champs-Elysees- the epicentre of public outrage.”

Protesters have a   “do more” that  includes    reinstatement of wealth tax on the rich that       Macron had abolished after his ascendancy to presidency , and “referendum initiative ”  direct democracy , the very demands the president is unwilling to go along with,  resulting in stand off.

Macron has blamed certain national social media outlets linked to Russia behind his jilets jaunes predicament.

The reality is otherwise: “Nicole ,a  52-year-old home care worker ,says the measures aren’t enough, so she’s still protesting. “I have a salary of 1,200 euros. I don’t run out of money by the 15th of the month, I run out of money by the 6th of the month. I can no longer manage to survive. That’s why I’m here, because nothing is moving, nothing is changing,” she added on the Champs-Elysees- the epicentre of public outrage.”

Macron’s crises in France is a canary the in European elites’ coalmine.

Economic divide and economic insecurity   faced by people in France ,caused by a globalised economy; and disillusionment   with the established political framework  is the same across  Europe because  the same economic model is being implemented not only across the Europe but also the western world and elsewhere.

European countries are grappling with debt and job crises. The unemployment rate across the 17 European countries that use euro hit a record 12.2 percent in April.  Debt crises has led governments to slash spending and raise taxes. When taxes are raised , it is the poor who suffer most.

According to the UK Centre for Cities thinktank , the poorest areas have borne the brunt of council spending. Its study finds that the deprived northern regions were worst-hit by UK austerity. The report suggests there is a “city and country divide”.

Austerity measures have hit the poorest regions, and the poorest citizens.

Very recently, anti-austerity demonstrations were held across Europe.

The protesters took to the streets in Spain ,Portugal, Greece and Germany to vent their anger against the International Monetary Fund  (IMF),the European commission (EC)and the European Central Bank ( ECB) for their institutional role in pushing for austerity cutbacks in order to fight the continental debt crises. These public demonstrations speak volumes about the economic hardships faced by people in those countries.

The French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe believes that the Yellow Vest demonstrations have thrown light over Europe -wide anger over financial woes faced by the people, and government indifference .

“People in France demand spending capacity be improved and their voices be heard but it is true for other nations as well,” Philippe said while speaking in the German city of Cologne”.

“There are parts of society that feel they are not being heard or seen or even represented any more.These are people that feel they were left behind .And we need to face that “,he added.” Actually, People wanted a “social Europe” ; they got “a “Europe of ruthless capitalism” .

The way forward is egalitarianism. Parisian elites ignored a warning (as a result ),Paris is mired in crises.

If European elites acted imprudently , the day is not far when they like Macron would be under siege by their own people .

Christophe Guilluy is of the opinion that no system can remain if it does not integrate the majority of its poorest citizens.

The writer hails from Larkana

Published in Daily Times, February 11^th 2019.