France is sinking
Jacques de Pesquidoux, Authie (Calvados)
Give Abnousse Shalmani all my admiration for his hard-hitting and courageous columns, the opposite of ready-to-think. “We will wake up one morning to find that Macronie was a mincer of intelligent minds, a sieve of qualities, a factory of failed clones, a waste of time.” What style ! Because yes, a waste of time, it’s the tragic feeling that has gripped me for several years now, and France that is sinking. Macronie after Holland, Sarkozie, Chiraquie, Mitterrandie, Giscardie… Were we talking about “De Gaullie”? No, we were talking about France. (“Pension reform: imbecility everywhere, reflection nowhere”, by Abnousse ShalmaniL’Express of February 23).
Cacophony at the National Assembly
Guylaine Remeur, Cagnes-sur-Mer (Alpes-Maritimes)
How do you expect our children and grandchildren to be able to listen to adults and respect authority when they hear of this cacophony in the long debate on pensions in the National Assembly? A day may come when our dear deputies (whom we still elect) will sit around a table to discuss, argue while listening to each other in a peaceful, soothing climate, worthy of an intelligent human. Is it utopian? (“Pension reform: imbecility everywhere, reflection nowhere“, by Abnousse Shalmani, L’Express of February 23).
Defense of civil servants
Frederic Bergero, Bordeaux (Gironde)
The reader who criticizes the pensions of civil servants is obviously unaware of all the mechanisms in force. Civil servants would be happy to contribute on all of their bonuses! But, for that, the government would have to raise taxes. I doubt your reader will agree. As it stands, it is therefore impossible to change the six-month rule if the entire salary is not included in the calculation basis. (“Letter from readers“, L’Express of February 16).
The weight of inheritance
Marian Ion, Paris
Reiner Zitelman speaks of a very high jealousy coefficient in France. However, the report “Rethinking the heritage” of the Economic Analysis Council specifies that heritage “represented 300% of national income in 1970, against 600% in 2020…” And that the share of the 1% of the highest fortunes in total wealth increased from 15 to 25% between 1985 and 2015… As a result, inheritance is once again becoming a determining factor in the constitution of wealth. This might explain that ! (Rainer Zitelmann: “How many jobs did Ruffin create?”L’Express of February 23).
The Constitution of Israel is the Torah
Lionel Cohn, Israel
I am surprised to see a sociologist dare to write: “The State of Israel, until today, does not know who it is”. The Jewish people survived in exile thanks to its constitution, the Torah, and only its attachment to being Jewish gives its specificity to this people. The entire theory of Danny Trom does not mention the divine dimension of Jewish history, the only element that unites this people with a cement that has transcended the centuries. (“Danny Trom: “Until today, the State of Israel does not know who it is”L’Express of February 16).
Memory from Oradour
Jean-Pierre Sother, Zermatt (Switzerland)
I am Alsatian, son of “in spite of us”, my father having been conscripted by force in 1942, at the age of 17, before deserting the German army. I am surprised by your article devoted to Oradour-sur-Glane and the alleged wound between Alsace and Limousin. I have never felt any animosity between our two regions or so, you will have to explain to me the animosity between the descendants of the militiamen on one side and the descendants of the resistance fighters on the other in this same Limousin! And what about the judges who allowed themselves to convict young Alsatians because they wore the German uniform when these same magistrates had pledged allegiance to Vichy? And who is responsible for the debacle of 1940: the Alsatians? (“In 1953, the failed trial of Oradour-sur-Glane, a murdered village”on Lexpress.fr).
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