Dear Claire,

I had some great time working, and enjoying myself. Some of my jobs were also grueling experiences that I sincerely hated, and did not want to work extra hours.

Most young people have to switch from nearly internships to internships after finishing their studies, before they find their first good job (and this is usually not well paid).

These are terrible experiences. Because you cannot move out of your parents. Because you work hard without getting decent pay. That is the reality of work in France. Good, entertaining, well paid jobs are tough to find.

The CPE is a bad idea, because it transforms young people into a reservoir of interim workers. When your wages are not guaranteed by a stable job, you do not get loans, in France. You cannot rent a flat. In fact, you have to stay at your parents. That means that, since the CPE is much more flexible than the limited term contract (CDD), all the interim work is going to switch from the current interim worforce (who can rent and get loans because they have some savings) to young people (who do not have savings).

Moreover, ther is no guaranteed jobs in France. It is not that hard to fire anybody, even on the praised CDI. I have the feeling that lots of Americans are persuaded that we live in a communist country in France. It is not the case. The conservatives have been in power for most of the 40 last years (Even during the long Mitterand presidency, lots of the governments were hard-right adminstration keen on restricting civil liberties) .

There is not going to be any job creation, just a switch on who is unemployed. Job creation needs hope in the future. If you see disaster looming, you do not create jobs. THe CPE works for two kinds of employers : people who recruit for interim purposes (as I said, it is more flexible than the actual CDD), or people who have no faith in the future.

It is wrong to think that people in France do not want to work, that they are subsidized by the state. On the contrary, it is particularly hard, in France, to fight yourself in the jobmarket, rather than out. Any mistake can be a real setback. That is why it is wrong to marginalise a part of the workforce that is already vulnerable. If we were such a country, we would probably be in a dictatorship such as Cuba, or North Korea. It is definitely not the case.

By the way, altough they are much reviled, unions are not « evil » in France. They defend themselves. Worse, the current government has betrayed the largest and the most moderate of the unions, who was trying hard to create real dialogue. They do not use teamster tricks of violence. They are not linked with the maffia. Something that cannot be said of political elites.

I read some american columnist on this subject. All I see is gross ignorance of the problem. People in France are not against capitalism, they just feel that it needs some state legislature to correct the inequalities it creates (that was the result of the famous survey. Actually, more Chinese people think that it needs such legislation.).

As for the War in Irak, I do not think it is a wrong thing to unseat such a bloody dictator as Saddam Hussein, an utterly vile person. What I regret is that Bush had probably no clear plan of what to do after the victory. That is the real reproach you can make to the US. Unreadiness.

Elias