bigger evil

An eventful week is coming to an end. On Tuesday, another 24-hour general strike and day of social action brought millions of French students and workers to the streets. Contrary to my best intentions, I was not one of them. While the sun shone and photo opportunities were probably plentiful, I was confined to the lab where I had just started mentoring an undergrad who's getting his first exposure to the real world of bench work, far removed from barricaded universities and locked-out classes.

Thus occupied I missed out on the day that was a watershed for the current struggle. The demonstrators finally gained the upper hand over the increasingly inept and uncoordinated government that's busy disintegrating.

President Chirac saw it fit to come back from virtual retirement to announce, live on TV, complete executive chaos. Prime minister de Villepin has lost all power and credibility but refuses to retire and slumbers on, while Interior minister and presidential hopeful Sarkozy works overtime to benefit from the turmoil and assert himself as the true leader of France.

This erratic (and riveting) maneuvering could easily distract the politically interested from the true core of the story, which is economic. A new law intending to stem French youth unemployment, at 23% more than twice that of the general publication, triggered the present disarray. Yet the resistance, anger, even infuriation of the masses is directed only against the law and the precariousness it allegedly causes by making hiring and firing easier. Nowhere in any demonstration, TV show or news report have I seen any outrage at the underlying unemployment or any plausible strategies for its reduction. Even the young themselves, the pupils, students and trainees out in the streets, aren't mobilizing against the glaring lack of chances. It seems that opportunities and risks are infinitely more frightening than the warm couch of unemployment.

Luckily, my student seems of a different mold. New to lab science, he is ready to assert himself in an intimidating environment where leaning back and slacking doesn't get you anywhere. He might just advance my project in the process.