In parlous economic times, the French pull together...to tear France apart (Hat tip: Hervé).

FRANCE FACING A TIDAL WAVE OF PROTEST

PARIS August 25, 2005 (Guardian) - "We may not have the 2012 Olympic games, but I can assure you there is going to be plenty of sport in France starting in September," Bernard Thibault, secretary general of the Communist-led CGT union federation, warned earlier this month.

France could face its worst period of social unrest for a decade, analysts and commentators warned, as Dominique de Villepin's centre-right government returns today from its summer break.

With petrol prices soaring, economic growth hesitant, trade unions furious, public confidence in the country and its political leaders at rock-bottom and a string of unpopular reforms still lying ahead, conditions are ripe for what one analyst, Gerard Mermet, called "genuine social upheaval".

The first mass day of action will be in late September and will mobilise more than 1 million French workers, he said - although the first teachers' strike is scheduled for next week.

Le Monde warned in a recent editorial that the "rentrée" will Mr de Villepin's "first real test". The sociologist Mr Mermet was more pessimistic: "Things will radicalise," he said. "There is a real risk of explosion: we are in a pre-revolutionary situation."

The arithmetic on France is not difficult: 10% persistent unemployment + 20% of the work force employed by the state + busted Stablization Pact + record €11.193bn (US $13.78bn) deficit = Nous sommes trahis !

And just who are the betrayers of France? Well, best stop the whole nation and jump on the barricades and shake your fists. The guilty parties will be shamed into stepping forward and confessing all. And if they cannot be shamed forward, they will be assisted.

PFFT (What is this?): Genuine social upheaval 1 | Shake, rattle, and roll 4 | Rayonnement français 0