You Can't Hide Here

I sat down to read some BBC news while eating my baguette sandwich today before heading out to Lyon, and a few of the articles really caught my attention.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8027884.stm < article
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8028861.stm < photos

Today is, as you all know, May Day. The first of May has much different connotations in France than it does in the United States. May Day is similar to Labour Day, but unlike in the US, May Day is very much a political holiday. As the BBC article explained, the French have become increasingly angry about recent economic woes. The May Day holiday only fuels these angry sentiments. According to BBC, demonstrations and protests have popped up all over the country. As one Parisian student was quoted saying, they want their voices to be HEARD.

Now, we're all American citizens. We respect our government, and our democracy, and our respective "voice" in the government. However, when I was living in the United States, I really didn't feel like I had that much of a true political voice. Yes, I voted, and yes, I got into one or two political scuffles with some of my more conservative neighbors, but other than that, I really didn't feel as though I was politically active. In Athens, I could hide. I read the news that reported on celebrity eating habits as much as Obama's administration. I watched the news with Kelsey once or twice. But for the most part, I was sucked up into an intellectual world. Spenser, who died four centuries ago, was more important that the economic crisis. I spent more time analyzing the gender issues of Rosalind/Ganymede in Shakespeare's "As You Like It" than looking about reports about Proposition 8. Of course I care about the economic crisis, and of course I care about homosexual rights, but in the face of a difficult political situation, it was so easy to slink into the confines of the library.

Here, I can't hide. When I go to school in the morning, I have to break through a blockade of students protesting Sarkozy's new educational policies. They have been on strike for nearly three months. I actually see people...significant amounts of people...protesting and demonstrating. People often joke that the French function politically through strikes...and it's kind of true. It's somewhat irritating that all our classroom doors are locked, and it's kind of scary that actual violence went down a few weeks ago on campus, but at least they're DOING something. They're raising their voices against Sarkozy, even though it poses an actual threat to their education and their livelihood.

The situation here is somewhat reminiscent of the 60s and early 70s, when students across the country demonstrated and protested against the war. Certain scenes from Across the Universe come to mind, actually. Ohio University itself was one of the most vocal campuses in the state. I've seen pictures and footage from the early 70s in Athens (my Aunt Nancy was even in one of the videos!). It was a scary and tumultuous time, but at least the students were moving, and thinking, and speaking. Where has that gone?

Of course there are political groups on campus, and sometimes demonstrations outside of the courthouse. While walking to Donkey one day I was handed a little flier about Proposition 8. I promptly lost it.

Please understand, I'm not trying to say that France's political scene is better than the United States'. Actually, French politics are kind of (quite) chaotic. I just wanted to point out that, although it's scary, we need to have a voice again! Maybe that won't come in the form of a strike or a protest. Maybe it will just be in the form of a simple conversation.

Oh, I beseech you...PLEASE stop posting close-minded, one-sided political rants on Facebook. They accomplish nothing, and they only serve to unnecessarily anger your friends. Just as I hid in the forest of Shakespeare's "As You Like It" or in the back room of Donkey, posting those types of notes on Facebook is hiding just the same. If you have something to say, by all means, say it. But PLEASE, don't forget to listen too.