For the past few weeks, the French media are telling the world that young people in France are angry. Yet, when I look at social media, what I see is young people dancing and singing in the streets of the nation’s major cities.
I see young people who want to be recognized as human beings. In fact, to be human above all, has to do with the freedom of chosing ones’ future and the conditions he or she want to live in. The youth doesn’t need a political party or an ideology that will dictate them how to think and how they should act. Plain and simple, they aren’t stupid and they understand that their future is blocked!
They sing of the hope for a better world and dance to open the doors of their future—doors that are firmly shut and guarded by those who hold power and wealth in France.
Admittedly, there was some destruction—as is often the case in massive demonstrations. The opportunists seize the moment to commit vandalism, loot shops, set fires, and cause chaos.
In fact, rioters don’t need a cultural revolution to cause chaos; people in Montreal know this all too well—whenever the Montreal Canadiens win or lose a playoff series, the city center becomes a total chaos, vandalized by troublemakers who often aren’t even hockey fans.
But in France, these youth-led demonstrations are remarkable for being non-violent even if major media are telling us an other story. Young people dancing and singing in the streets – it’s mostly disturbing for the French authorities and law enforcement. These entities are accustomed to protests driven by well-organized ideological struggles (whether from the left or the right), which are easily infiltrated and manipulated by state surveillance services or other forms of outsider influence.
Enough of the defeatist and fatalistic futuristic projection
Today, young people all over the world are rising up, declaring: enough of the defeatist, fatalistic attitude toward the future. They understood that people in power used fear of the future to rob youth freedom of choice. This generation is the future in motion. By singing and dancing in the streets, they show the world that they aren’t afraid to take their future into their own hands!
It’s truly cool—and subversive!