Bureaucratic suffocation
Francois de La Vaissière, Vernon (Eure)
What a great idea to dedicate your cover to the grip of bureaucracy on our lives. The contributions of Jérôme Fourquet and David Lisnard are edifying on the urgent need to drastically simplify our normative environment. The in-depth analysis carried out by these two chroniclers teaches us that the abnormal abundance of 5.6 million civil servants, who are nevertheless incapable of providing efficient and sustainable public services, is the root cause of our misfortune. What politician will manage to curb this suffocation? And can this objective be displayed in a democracy that functions without a parliamentary majority? (“bureaucratic burnout“, L’Express of May 17).
Let’s delete the departments!
Alain Reynaud, Eclassan (Ardeche)
I congratulate you on the quality of your analysis and that of Jérôme Fourquet on the evolution of bureaucracy in France. I am all the more sensitive to this as I served as mayor, from 1971 to 2008, in a town in northern Ardèche, Saint-Victor. One can, for example, wonder about the usefulness of the departmental councils which assume competences in matters of colleges, roads and social issues. For this last item, which constitutes the heaviest bill in the budget, it is he who pays the bills but he does not vote on laws or regulations. In terms of roads, the State has discharged the network it maintained and the departmental funds are largely insufficient. As for the colleges, they could be the responsibility of the regional council in the same way as the high schools. (“bureaucratic burnout“, L’Express of May 17).
Macron, from Ricœur to resentment
Claude Gisselbrecht, Metz (Moselle)
In his way of governing, Emmanuel Macron, Republican monarch, gives the impression of remaining deaf to the expectations of his people who, for the moment, are content with “pans” and whistles to express their anger… He was supported in the beginning by many intellectuals, and not the least, who saw in him a kind of “Rastignac of politics”. They quickly became disillusioned because they were often “taken from above”… From Ricœur to resentment, there is only one step! The loneliness of power, very real, is here transformed into a tragic confrontation with oneself – mirror, my beautiful mirror… -, the outcome of which remains more than uncertain. (“Macron at 8 p.m.: the risks of the verbal avalanche“, on Lexpress.fr).
Middle classes and tax cuts
Laurent Opsomer, Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (North)
Emmanuel Macron recently promised a tax cut for the middle classes without defining them or the terms. For my part, rather than a (hypothetical) tax reduction, I would prefer to keep the amount of my income tax as it is so that this public money helps finance the higher education of children from the middle classes, in particular by granting of university scholarships, housing or mobility aid, reduced-price meals… Devices from which the famous middle classes are too often excluded. (“The middle classes, this vague concept on which politicians surf“, on Lexpress.fr).
The western world always attracts
Hervé Rogazy, Geneva (Switzerland)
Political scientist Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer assures him: “Today we are witnessing the collapse of a Western myth.” That seems excessive to me. Failing that, how can we explain the waves of migrants that are surging in Europe but also in the United States? I don’t see anything similar happening in China, nor in Russia! For some time, I have been helping a young Iranian refugee to integrate in France. After many years under the yoke of the mullahs, he tells me he feels like he is living a dream. It is obvious that the western world and democracies are not perfect. But it is without a doubt, humanly speaking, the least unhealthy place on Earth.. (“Global South: ‘Today we are witnessing the collapse of a Western myth‘”, on Lexpress.fr).
L’Express rewarded for its coverage of the war in Ukraine
The editorial staff of L’Express received two awards at the Grand Prix Strategies for Innovation 2023, awarded on May 24 in Paris. The outstanding number “We, the Ukrainians” won the gold award in the category “Best special issue, special number”. On August 24, 2022, the symbolic date of National Independence Day in Ukraine, L’Express devoted its entire edition to the resistance of the Ukrainian people, with an exclusive interview with President Volodymyr Zelensky (the first for the French written press ), insights from personalities and the testimonies of those who experience the conflict and resist on a daily basis. In addition, the front page “How far will Poutine go”, published on January 20, 2022 and harbinger of the war in Ukraine, was also distinguished by the jury of the Prix Strategies: it won the bronze prize in the category “Best Front page of press”.