Most people hardly seem to realize that there are have been huge railway strikes in France recently.

I’ve been paying attention because French is my favorite Western (IE) language and the culture is one I am interested in. Here’s an article (in English as English can be) about the strikes.

I’ve been reading the discussions in French and it’s clear that the neoliberal side is slowly winning there by attrition. Of course, with the election of Macron via the false dichotomy created with Le Pen, this was inevitable. French society and culture is being dismantled and replaced with neolib structures.

This discussion is essentially a long argument where people are asserting on one side that railway workers are well-compensated layabouts and the other side arguing that all jobs have their own difficulties, that railway work is arduous and one can be called away on holidays often (réveillon), and that workers should show solidarity (a very loose paraphrasing/translation).

This shows that divide and conquer is working.

Les infirmières, employés de grandes surfaces, pompiers, policiers… EUX AUSSI ont des horaires à la con et ne font ch… personne! Alors que les cheminots se la ferment !! MARRE de les entendre se plaindre dep 50 ans !

Nurses, supermarket workers, firefighters, police…they also have shitty hours and do not do that…nobody! While the railway workers are shutting down! Enough to hear them complaining for 50 years!

So, solidarity is broken in France. Neoliberalism has effectively won. Another one bites the dust.