Last November we spent three weeks in France. We had the distinct impression then that people were more stressed than in previous visits. Smoking more, smoking harder, body language tense and closed. The complaints about their lives, more bitter.
And then Nov 13 the terrorists attacked. The city came together, as it does. The motto of the city of Paris is "a ship that is always buffeted, never sunk."
This spring we spent a month in France, three weeks in the Vendée, the most conservative region of the country - anti-immigrant, pro military and pro-church. Every village has a life-sized calvaire, a cross with a Christ. The entrance to every village has a hand-scrawled sign - Agriculture in Distress or Livestock Raising in Distress.
And back in Paris, the mood seems different. Less stressed it seems but everyone is fed up. Something has to give. The system just isn't working. Young people have no opportunities. Immigrants and the grandchildren of immigrants are locked out of the mainstream. Business is stifled at every turn by a bureaucracy whose only function seems to be to stifle business.
And still, we see a thousand ways that Parisians help each other get through their days. The large back man who automatically lifts an elderly woman down from a bus. The Uber driver finds a handful of coins for Syrian beggars. The small kindnesses and courtesies that make life a bit more tolerable.
But the government is at an all-time low 20% approval. Socialist government that chooses neo-con decisions at every turn - Libya, Syria, the economy.
The state of emergency after the November attacks is not lifted. It is extended and extended. The police have the right to break down any door without warrants or habeas corpus. So far over 5,000 raids of homes, offices, and mosques have been conducted. People roughed up. 5,000 doors broken down, . Results - 2 arrests. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have each documented physical and psychological abuse of the Muslim minority.
A community is being terrorized in the name of anti-terrorism.
I talk to a friend in the ministry of finance, a very senior official. Something has to give he says. He uses the word revolution, either of the left or the extreme right.
And now nuit debout. If you've heard about it at all through the 24/7 cacophony on Donald Trump, you probably heard it is a protest against labour reforms. That is a bit like saying WWII was about Poland or global warming is about polar bears. Perhaps you heard nuit debout is 'like' Occupy.
Nuit debout - to rise up in the night, the rising that does not sleep. Unlike the normal French protests and demonstrations, nuit debout is not run by the organized labour movement, peace groups or other mainstream lefty organizations. It appears to be run by no one. Unlike regular French protests, nuit debout does not start or stop at scheduled times. It runs all night.
Nuit debout has spread to sixty French cities and several other countries.
On Sunday afternoon we visit the Place de la Republique. A few thousand people are there with tents, stands, and makeshift structures. In a tented area, several hundred people sit on the ground. One by one they talk about their issue of choice - education, immigration, the state of democracy in the Congo. The listeners signal approval, disapproval or boredom with hand signs we cannot decipher. Someone passes us handmade snacks.
In another area a sign says to come back at 3:00 PM for a debate with several economic professors.
Tables are set up with a food line for all comers.
At five Monday morning, the police arrive to clear the square. They say they can not allow structures to stay. They say they can not guarantee security. Monday afternoon the protesters return.
In another section of Paris, at the headquarters of UNESCO, a different kind of revolution is being presented. Thousands of people view an exhibition on Buddhist scriptures - the Lotus Sutra, our Universal Spiritual Heritage. The Lotus Sutra's message of equality and humanism seems especially apropos today.
