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The Ghosts of 1968

February 14, 2018

The Ghosts of 1968

The hope of 1968 that public demonstrations can actually change the power structure has been lost.

1968 was a tumultuous year globally and domestically. The Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia–a very mild form of political and cultural liberalization within the Soviet bloc–was brutally crushed by the military forces of the Soviet Union.

The general strikes and student protests of May 1968 brought France to a standstill as demands for social and political change called the entire status quo into question.

On the other side of the planet, the Cultural Revolution was remaking China’s still-youthful revolution, to the detriment of the political status quo, the intelligentsia and the common people.

The U.S.was convulsed with assassinations, civil unrest and mass demonstrations against the war in Vietnam and the political status quo (the Democratic Party convention in Chicago).

Ironically, much of the world was benefiting from two decades of rising prosperity and the demise of colonialism. When expectations exceed actual opportunities, discontent is the result. When the power structure is deaf to the discontent, a cycle of repression and disorder feed on each other.

Fifty years on, the ghosts of 1968 are still with us. With the advantage of hindsight, 1968 was the culmination of the belief that it was still possible for the common people to change the political and social order in a positive fashion– to remake the status quo power structure into something more humane, accessible, just and fair.

The Western status quo bent but did not break. Nothing in the developed-world power structures actually changed. The status quo did break down in China, but the breakdown was not liberating; it was a catastrophe of injustice and destruction without precedent.

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The Coming French Revolution of 2020?

October 18, 2015

The Coming French Revolution of 2020?

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QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; Thank you for coming to Paris. You said the civil unrest would rise in France going into 2018 and there was a risk of another French Revolution in 2020. You mentioned that when surrounded by many people on the Champs–Élysées. Since then  I have paid attention and there is a rising discussion about capitalism and socialism that is becoming regular. Can you explain more?

ANSWER: Each country has its own unique cycle. There was a very major turning point in France that nearly became a revolution. Even Charles de Gaulle secretly left France for a few hours after fearing for his life and a revolution. The civil unrest began with a series of student occupation protests against capitalism, consumerism, and traditional institutions that manifested in a cultural revolution. This deeply rooted clash between freedom and capitalism contrasted against the social state to suppress the rich and industry has infected French society.De_Gaulle-Charles
That year was a tremendously volatile period of civil unrest in France. May 1968 was highlighted by demonstrations and massive general strikes. Students, not the elderly, staged occupations of universities and factories across France. The uprising virtually brought the economy of France to a dramatic halt. The civil unrest had reached such a boiling point that political leaders feared civil war or revolution.

The social revolution of May 1968 had a profound impact upon French society and was the turning point that catapulted French May 68 Revolutionsocialism to the forefront in French politics. This shock wave has rippled through French society for decades ever since. Alain Geismar was one of the leaders of that time and characterized the uprising as “a social revolution, not as a political one.” (Erlanger, Steven. “May 1968 – a watershed in French life”. New York Times. August 31, 2012)

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The French socialist state is now collapsing under Hollende. Civil unrest will erupt moving into 2017 and then there is the risk of another major cultural revolution as the youth do not share the same values as the socialistic elites who are in control. We will see that risk erupt by 2020 or 51.6 years from the May 1968 cultural revolution.

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