I recently completed my first year living in France (after nearly 58 of them in the US.) For me, it has been a solid time, getting my bearings, with the wonderful help of my beautiful (French-born) wife. I’ve taken French language classes, French civic classes, and had my one-year VISA turned into a (as of this writing temporary, awaiting-final-documentation—in the classic French bureaucratic tradition—credential) two year residence card. With my mother-in-law chugging along rather healthily, it seems a given those two years will be spent here in full, with more likely to come after that.
I’ve decided that this is where I’m going to discuss that, and what it means to be here as a child of the US empire living in a vassal-state that hasn’t fully recognized itself as such. Hopefully, France WILL recognize itself as such—and soon—and this chronicle will be detailing my experiences of that change from the front lines. Yes, I live on the Cote d’Azur, so much of the internal problems France is experiencing—and WILL suffer in the future—will likely not land directly on my doorstep. Still, the ground under my feet is my home, and I will support it as I can, and with what is necessary. For now, I believe that what is required is a sober assessment from a foreign eye as to what is happening here.
For this opening, let’s state the obvious, and let (your) questions frame what future observations will be discussed: France is in trouble, and that trouble is compounded by its elites “support” of Ukraine. Everything—from food to petrol, energy to insurance—is more expensive here now, over and above the already expensive environment native to France (yes, high taxation, and a waste of public monies, has a lot to do with that.) The energy that drives France—nuclear power—is as troubled as the country itself, perhaps more so, and its flickering light may result in rolling blackouts this winter (which is looking to be a LOT colder than all those “global warming” environmentalists promised.)
None of the noted above has moved the French state in any way but what the EU controllers want, as they fight (well, a Parisian slow clap) to the last Ukrainian, while the hinterlands of the Jura and such are shivering in the dark. French citizens, as privileged and presumptuous as they may actually be, and certainly act in their day-to-day affairs, are rarely factored into the political calculus of this country’s leadership. After all, France, and of course the entire EU itself, must demonstrate their virtue signal (servitude?) to their American/British overlords with flag-waving, overt support of the grand democratic cause of preserving Nazism in Europe. The current president of France, Immanuel Macron, owes his position in office more to the French peoples’ embarrassed aversion to electing a potential “far right” Le Pen than any recognition of political acumen or personal fondness for Macron (he is still the only political “leader” to get a well-deserved slap from a pleb that I’ve ever seen. Viva la France!) Mr. Macron is a globalist who happens to be French; his three masters—himself, the EU/globalist cause, and France, in that descending order of observance, with the last being a distant-over-the-horizon third—preclude him from acting on French interests as experienced and lived by the people (search for Yellow Vests and Macron to get a feel for how he hates the people he allegedly represents. He also expressed desire to rub shit on the Covid unvaxxed—it’s true. Frankly, given his history and mine, I’m probably more French than him, and I’ve lived here but a year.) I don’t hear the trumbrils squeaking into position (yet), but this is France, and maybe a cold winter without modern convenience will change that.
Meanwhile, on the ground, the French state, as personified by its bloated bureaucracy, moves glacially, if that, to service the people, even those who are endeavoring to be here by choice (as I kinda-sorta am), with little regard for you as a person, liberte, egalite, fraternite be damned. In other words, France is still French in attitude, if not in actual spirit. Again, if not this winter, then perhaps next (which, yes, I’ll be here to report on, too), which is supposed to be even worse than this one is turning into, may see la guillotine get dusted off.
The takeaway here: there is misery here today beyond what the average French-person inflicts on themselves, and these things have limits before they change. I’ll try to capture some of that, as well as my own “alien” viewpoints of the happenings, in subsequent posts.