Joyous and playful, the people of Paris are marching

TODAY saw a 75,000-strong march of students through central Paris whose atmosphere was joyous and playful. Teachers, parents and senior citizens joined in in solidarity. They were cheered along by uni

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TODAY saw a 75,000-strong march of students through central Paris whose atmosphere was joyous and playful. Teachers, parents and senior citizens joined in in solidarity.

They were cheered along by unions, notably the communist-aligned CGT.

Everyone knows the slogans that ripple through the vast crowd like catchy riffs: “Young people detest the cops;” “We are bored sh*tless by the National Front,” along with jugglers, brass bands and dancing superheroes atop the bus shelters.

This was the students’ “extention” to Thursday’s general strike when the students cheered the unions, and the latest in a series that enacts a convergence, and a mutual political education between different sectors in society.

There were no speeches, but everyone understands the agenda: this is a crisis of capitalism and a celebration of left solidarity.

In contrast to the Palestine solidarity marches in Britain that express moral outrage at imperialist crimes, this is about the economy, and every second placard contains a specific grievance and an achievable aim. “Link salaries to inflation” for example.

It was entirely peaceful, if heavily policed, and any representation of it as violent is totally misleading.

Our own unions, student unions and anti-war protests would profit from the shared experience, and it’s worth a trip to Paris, right now.

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