Macron and his government are in war mode. Last week, they brought weapon manufacturers, bankers and investors together to organize the fabrication of more gun powder, canons, missiles, tanks, fighter jets, drones...
The government said there was no way it could come up with 20 billion euros to finance pensions. And now, it says it needs to find 50 billion in order to increase the military budget to 100 billion euros per year—after having already doubled it since 2017!
According to Defense Minister Lecornu’s calculations, the army would need 20 to 30 additional Rafale fighter jets, three more warships, different types of drones and a twofold increase of the military reserve, from 44,500 soldiers to 100,000.
As for the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen is planning to allot up to 800 billion euros in military spending. The German Parliament has just approved the new chancellor’s fiscal "bazooka", allowing for hundreds of billions of euros to go towards military defense.
This is an incredible godsend for arms dealers. According to the CEO of Thales, a company which produces radar systems for fighter jets including the French Rafale, it could represent "a decade of growth, maybe more".
Many economists are already rejoicing over the boost in the economy thanks to the arms race. Yes, the stock-market shares and profits of Dassault and Thales will shoot up yet again! But for those who work in the sector, this will mean added pressure and increased exploitation. And if some factories do expand and jobs are created here and there, it’s nothing to rejoice in because a growing arms industry is a push closer toward full-out war.
If war does break out, parents may have jobs, but their children will be sent to fight—just like they have in Ukraine and Russia. And, as is always the case, working-class children will be the ones on the front lines. The army is already recruiting left, right and center. And who enlists? Young people from working-class neighborhoods, tired of going from one small poor-paying job to another.
All this preparation for war is in complete opposition to workers’ interests. We must resist this militarization.
The government is not preparing to “defend the country” as it claims. If that were the case, then why invest in warships designed to "ensure a strong naval presence on several strategic fronts, from the Red Sea to the Indo-Pacific Ocean, and from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean" as Lecornu has said?
The government and army generals are in fact preparing for a much broader war and for military operations thousands of kilometers away. Why? To defend France’s place in the world as an imperialist power and to protect the interests of the French bourgeoisie.
In recent decades, the French army has participated in many military operations and wars, especially in Africa. Not to defend France from an invader or to protect widows and orphans in Mali or Chad, but to secure France’s right to plunder natural resources and so that French companies like Total, Bolloré and Saint-Gobain can continue their exploitation and others like Vinci, Orange, Schneider Electric, and Alstom can earn more market share.
Today, the government’s motives are still the same. The reason it is concerned about the war in Ukraine is no different from the US: it wants to ensure that the French bourgeoisie gets its piece of the pie.
What will we, the workers, gain if SFR wins over the telecommunications market in Ukraine or if a group of French companies secures contracts to rebuild the country? Can we expect more jobs and better wages? Of course not!
The wars waged by world leaders are a continuation of the policies they carry out on an ongoing basis: they serve capitalist interests.
Those who defend the bosses are already rubbing their hands with glee and constantly insist on "the war effort". They see it as an opportunity to force us to work harder and to get rid of what they call the "French social model". Using the war effort as justification, some say they want to see France be "put back to work"—as if workers weren’t already working themselves to the bone!
So, not only must we defend our wages, pensions, and working conditions, we must also oppose all this conditioning for war. We must oppose increased military spending and the march toward war, all the craziness behind it and everything that will be wasted by it.
Their wars are not our wars! We don’t need Rafale figher jets or army tanks—we need more housing and doctors! We mustn’t stand in rank behind Macron, Bolloré, Arnault, or Michelin, those who spend their time attacking our living conditions!
Nathalie Arthaud