Dear Elias, Thank you for this gentler response, (at least you do not resort to hateful remarks.) I also appreciate the nuances you present vis a vis the French unemployment problem. I do not agree with your insistence that most people,( everywhere) find their work alienating and harsh. This depends on your orientation and your job, and we, in America, are very mobile, even though this has its obvious downside.We quit and move on more easily perhaps. Elias, in some ways the modern world has never regained its equilibrium after the demise of the agricultural period and the beginning of the industrial revolution, with all its positive and negative impact. Every human being no longer needs to plant his food or own his cow, but he has to find his way in a world where he must make his own identity. It can be an identity he keeps forever (think of the ’notaire’ in Balzac’s works), or it can be a comedien who performs on stage, or whatever..the possibilities are infinite and are shaped by geography, sheer good luck, guts, pluck, opportunity, etc. Yet the French ideal that the State has to care for you because you cannot care for yourself in my mind creates cripples. If France has 55 million people and not enough good jobs then one has to be willing to travel if one wants the work to on a level with one’s college degree. A national cnscription could provide training and train young men and women for new jobs. A Peace Corps, such as the one created by John F. Kennedy, could send thousands of young French to French-speaking Africa to build roads, schools, and hospitals. The possibilities are endless ! Your description of the personality of PM de Villepin as messianic is from your viewpoint only, remember, we do not all share this view. He was made a minister to lead, not to follow. It is assumed he has the brains and the ability to do this. No where in his job description does it say he must go sit in cafes on Boul Mich, or in St Denis, and ask students what they think it best. This is not his job, this is the job of journalists.

As Americans we were surprised, and some were angered, when he refused to support a war against Iraq. But when we read why he refused, we understood. We also understood how akward his position was, but that as he saw things, he had to follow his conscience.(Now, 3 years later, we see he was absolutely correct.) I think 3 years from now the French may view your CPE debacle, and re-read the law, and see he was correct. So I disagree with your portrait of him as a wannabe-messiah. On the contrary I intuit that he would probably like to escape from the current acrimony and live his life in peace, not villified by the Socialists.But I thank you for illiminating how complex the ’chomage’ issue is, in kinder, gentler terms. Best regards, Claire