TOUT CE QUI BOUGE N’EST PAS ROUGE – EVEN IF IT PRESENTS ITSELF AS RED

Welcome to the desert of the real,

If you desire the comfort of neat conclusions, you are lost in this space. Here, we indulge in the unsettling, the excessive, the paradoxes that define our existence.

So, if you have the means and value writing that both enriches and disturbs, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Let’s start with a simple recapitulation of facts, as biased as they may be. Protests in France that began on September 18, 2026, are being driven by widespread student and labour anger over chronic underfunding, staff shortages, and poor infrastructure in the country’s public high schools. A series of demonstrations and blockades by lycée students has been taking place in France and, later, to a lesser degree, in Belgium, Italy, and even Albania. On October 6, the protests developed into a nationwide mobilisation involving students, teachers, parents, and trade unions. Unions estimated that 450,000 people participated nationwide, while the French government put the figure at 250,000. The movement is marked by blockades of high schools, gatherings, and demonstrations. As reasons for participating in the protests, students have cited teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms, exhausting timetables, run-down buildings, and stress linked to the university application website Parcoursup, as well as classroom temperatures that reached up to 40 °C during the 2026 European heatwaves.

Throughout October, parts of the movement were engaged in violence against police and some management staff, especially headteachers; the French Interior Ministry reported that thousands were arrested. The French government has accused the far left of stirring up the unrest for political gain: the radicalised and criminal minority of the protesters started the violence. Protesting groups and parties, meanwhile, contended that the movement was spontaneous and accused the government and right-wing parties of engaging in conspiratorial thinking. On October 19, a curfew was announced for Place de la République and the streets around Les Halles in Paris, from 20:00 GMT until 04:00 GMT, while the city of Nice imposed a curfew affecting only minors for a similar duration. Lille and three other northern towns – Wattignies, Douai, and Denain – have imposed two-day curfews starting at 18:00 GMT. In neighbouring Italy, army units are already deployed in the centre of Milan.

The reactions of the leading politicians are the saddest aspect of the entire affair. Marine Le Pen blamed far-left immigrants and issued calls to restore law and order by all means necessary; Mélenchon issued a series of dubious proposals with no clear idea of how to implement them; and Macron’s public statement was a clear sign of his utter disorientation – a Clintonian “I feel your pain” to protesters, a call for freedom but within the confines of law and order, all this spiced up with an escape from France (a convenient trip abroad when his presence in France would be crucial). Among the utter stupidities, let’s mention just Marine Le Pen’s reiterated demand that the retirement age should be lowered – here is Paul Krugman’s comment:

“You don’t have to be a conservative to see France’s early retirement as unsustainable, especially given that French life expectancy at age 65 is about 87 years of age, 2 years longer than in the US. Thus the fiscal pressure caused largely by France’s very generous government pension plan has led to cutbacks in other spending, notably on education. France is effectively handing over large subsidies to older French at the expense of everyone else. Mass national student demonstrations should come as no surprise.”