“The NFP [New Popular Front] is following a similar path today [as the 1936 Popular Front], with ambitious policies to improve the purchasing power of poor and lower-middle-class people. These reforms include a substantial increase in the minimum wage, wages indexed to prices and free school lunches. Most importantly the NFP wants to prioritise investment in the future by increasing public spending on infrastructure – throughout the country, including in isolated rural areas – as well as in health, education and research.”
Oh dear! Clearly the French left has yet to realise that this type of reformism can’t work. For a start, where’s the money going to come from to increase the purchasing power of the lowest paid and to increase spending on public services and amenities? There is only one source — the profits of capitalist businesses. But profit is what drives the capitalist economy, so this would just slow down accumulation and make things worse. Mitterrand tried this in 1981 and it was a complete flop.
It’s a recipe for disaster which risks further fuelling the advance of the far right. Mind you, if that lot come into office they will of course fail too to make capitalism work in the interest of the majority class made up of those excluded from ownership and control of the means of living. That just can’t be done.