Governing differently
Gilles Blanc, Saint-Jeoire-Prieure (Savoie)
Reading your front page title, “The fault” […]I come to wonder if the Enlightenment has not lost its mind. Whose fault is it, if not the incorrigible misery of our political life for forty years, made of renunciation, compromise, cowardice, lies and… lack of courage. The fault lies in all these electoral promises made to conquer and keep power.
There is no need to be a fortune teller to understand that, after July 7, we must govern differently, legislate differently, and remove the barriers that are plaguing social relations, political, economic, educational, family, artistic, media and legal life. […]. We must learn what other democracies have long learned: no single party has the truth or the solution, only a coalition with a backbone of indestructible values – liberty, equality, fraternity – can lift the gathering clouds. (“The fault. Our story and the analyses“, L’Express of July 4.)
Let’s find joy again
Bruno Lonchampt, Dole (Jura)
And now? Everything remains to be done! We were told about a dissolution for clarification, nothing has been resolved yet. We are keeping relative majorities with fragile coalitions. Is it still possible to build shared projects, to live together, to pacify politics, to bring tenderness and respect to the assembly? As voters, these elections oblige us and we expect in return that politicians work together. Can we learn the lesson of the urgency of a peaceful and caring society? Let us be republicans, secular, attached to public service […]. Everything remains to be done, let’s rediscover the joy and pleasure of saying yes and building together. (“After the second round, the time for reconstruction has come“, L’Express of July 11.)
Macron diagnosed
Romain Bacqué, Paris (Ile-de-France)
I am a little surprised when reading the interview with psychoanalyst Geneviève Delaisi de Parseval on Emmanuel Macron. How can a mental health professional make a diagnosis of the disorders that a person may be suffering from without having consulted them directly? We already know that psychiatric assessments ordered by the courts are unfortunately not infallible, while experts have free rein to question the “expert”. In this case, we are given a portrait of a tormented president, which is plausible, but without supporting it with anything tangible. (“Macron and the dissolution”. L’Express of July 11.)
From theory to practice
Claude Gisselbrecht, Metz (Moselle)
At the end of the second round of the legislative elections on July 7, there was no “brown wave”, but a National Assembly that had regained its colors, going from blue to pink, and from red to green! What are these deputies from the three dominant blocs going to do, without an absolute majority? “Republican Front”, “left alliance”, “presidential coalition”, are terms that we often heard during the express campaign, but, from today, we will have to move from theory to practice, and we know, alas, that this will not be easy! It will be necessary to find common ground so that a pragmatic policy can be carried out at all levels. In France, words like cooperation, understanding, pact, union, have too often been overlooked because they are not an integral part of our political culture… Now, in the higher interest of the nation, it is urgent that they be put back into service and followed by action! (“France after“. L’Express of July 11.)
Positive discrimination
Louis Robin, Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône)
In the race for the White House, societal issues occupy a prominent place. And among them is so-called “positive discrimination”, defended by Joe Biden’s party and which has contributed greatly to fracturing American society. Because the reason given (helping minorities) is doubly fallacious. First, because it is not about minorities but about some of them, very militant. Then, because it excludes from universities or certain jobs competent people whose only fault is to belong to the supposed “majority”. “Positive discrimination” is therefore positively… discriminatory. It is, moreover, only the visible part of a reverse racism in the process of institutionalization. But the Republican Party is not a model to follow either. Whatever the result of the elections across the Atlantic, the societal future of the United States will be bleak. (“Biden clan closes ranks“The Express of July 11.)
Like a need to breathe and change pace. After a stifling political period where France was often torn apart, L’Express is throwing open the summer windows. To take the time to read, be surprised and always informed, the editorial team is mobilizing to offer you five major series that will accompany you until the end of August: the “lunches and dinners” that changed the political life of our country; the “iconic places” where the brands that are today the flagships of our economy were born; the “repentants” of scientific fake news; a zoom on the United States in the middle of the election period with the history of American presidents and their rock stars. Not forgetting a play by Robert Littell on the world after October 7.