In order to make us accept more and more sacrifices, Prime Minister Bayrou has been explaining extensively through the media that with a deficit reaching 3.3 trillion euros the country is on the brink of bankruptcy.

Well, since we’re talking about so much money, let’s set a few facts straight! Yes, the deficit has skyrocketed since 2017. But there were 39 billionaires back in 2017 and now there are 145. The 500 richest families have doubled their fortunes, which combined together reach a total of 1.1 trillion euros.

State funds have been drained and the coffers of the big bourgeoisie have been filled up—and this didn’t just happen by chance!

Prospering off the exploitation of workers is not enough for major shareholders. They have drained state funds with the complicity of Macron and his successive governments. More than 211 billion euros in government funding have gone to company owners every year. And this money hasn’t been used to increase wages, hire more workers or invest in company development!

State funds have been drained to fill up the coffers of big bosses, financiers and major shareholders instead of financing hospitals or schools. That’s outrageous enough but when on top of that the prime minister blames the workers because they don’t work enough, the sick because they get too much treatment, the unemployed because they can’t find work fast enough and “boomer” retirees because they’ve supposedly lived the good life, well that’s simply unbearable!

These attacks won’t stop when Bayrou steps down or even when Macron leaves office, because this class war is the very basis of the big bourgeoisie’s existence. And it will intensify because capitalists are faced with an increasingly competitive market and the global trade war is becoming fiercer.

The capitalist class is capable of working us to death and destroying the environment in order to preserve its profits, markets and dominance. It is also dragging us into a new world war and already massively preparing for it. All the political parties — PCF (French Communist Party), LFI (Unsubmissive France), PS (Socialist Party) and RN (National Rally) — are getting ready to oust Bayrou and claim they would present a fairer budget if they came to power. But they all agree on spending billions of euros on Rafale fighter jets, on combat submarines and army tanks. Yes, we face many more serious threats than losing two bank holidays.

But there is no reason to accept an ever more barbaric society as the only future possible. The bourgeoisie is entirely responsible for the economic, political and moral crisis into which society is sinking. We must fight the bourgeoisie and fight back against its attacks, oppose its power and economic system, in other words, we must aim to overthrow it! With this goal in mind, workers must engage in collective struggle once again and this is something we can widely talk about as the summer season comes to an end.

Some workers have decided to mobilize and express their anger on September 10 following the call to action that was launched on social media, although many are wary of politicians using the struggle to their own advantage—and rightly so. Because we should certainly not let politicians cash in on the struggle so that they can take Bayrou’s spot and beat down on workers just the same.

Meanwhile, the trade union confederations, which dread protests that escape their control, haven’t called workers to action on September 10 but on September 18 instead. By doing so, they have provoked further hesitation and division, and have proved once again that they aren’t willing to engage in a determined fight to defend the vital interests of workers. They can’t be trusted any more than politicians.

But none of this should lead workers to stand on the sidelines. On the contrary, we must take action by giving ourselves the means to control our own struggle and lead it ourselves. We can do this if we organize our own working-class action committees, allowing all workers — unionized or not — to collectively define their demands and choose their representatives, their strategy and their actions.

One thing is certain: only those who put up a fight can hope to be heard. And for that, workers have a weapon far more powerful than any online petitions, boycotts or blockades: they have the power to strike. That is what big business really fears and the working class must recover trust in its collective strength in order to put up that fight.

Nathalie Arthaud