“We’ve shovelled a crazy amount of money into social assistance and the poor still can’t get by”. Macron's vulgar declaration, deliberately leaked by his Public Relations advisors last week, was particularly provocative, coming from a president who keeps showering the rich with “a crazy amount of money”.

It was a way of thumbing his nose at those of his followers who were hoping for a more social-oriented agenda, and of sending out a supportive message to all those who, like him, scorn the workers. If anybody had any doubts up until now, it couldn’t be clearer: Macron’s policy is and will remain a policy against the working class.

There is no need for Macron to state the obvious. Yes, poverty and unemployment are on the rise despite social assistance programs. Yes, millions of men and women have trouble paying for rent and medical care. No single social measure will ever make up for all the damage caused by the capitalist system. Capitalism creates inequality. In the capitalist system, the majority must be impoverished so that the ruling minority can increase its wealth. It’s the way the system works.

French supermarket giant Carrefour has also recently made the headlines. The company announced 2,100 job cuts and at the same time the board of directors showered shareholders with gifts and offered a bigger retirement bonus to the former CEO. The scandal started to have a negative impact on the store’s name so the CEO had to give up a few millions. But, even so, he’s still leaving with his pockets full!

And then there’s Ford, another multi-million-dollar company, which is closing down its plant in Blanquefort (in the southwest of France) and throwing a thousand factory workers out the door to be left high and dry. Not to forget General Electric, who would prefer to continue exploiting temporary workers rather than create the thousand jobs they promised. As for Peugeot, it’s forcing longer working hours on workers in Vesoul (in the east of France) with no financial compensation, a change which will probably apply to all Peugeot factories in the future.

By pointing fingers at the poorest sectors of the population, Macron would have us believe that we live in a society based on merit where individuals are free to make their own choices. Are we free to learn, train and work wherever we choose or retire whenever we choose? It’s all nonsense, aimed at misleading and crushing workers even more.

There have never been and never will be equal opportunities so long as the capitalist system is in place. Capitalism is founded on the private ownership of capital and the domination of the capitalist class over the whole economy. The capitalist system is based on the existence of two social classes with opposing interests: the capitalist class makes all the decisions while the working class has no say in anything at all.

Macron’s cynical attempt to make the jobless and poor feel responsible for their situation reminds us of Sarkozy and echoes Laurent Wauquiez, a conservative right-wing politician and leader of Les Républicains (LR), who calls social assistance a “cancer”. Macron takes the liberty of lecturing workers on their personal responsibilities, which is rich coming from a man who began his presidency by offering the bosses more freedom to lay off workers and aggravate their working conditions.

So what changes will he make to social assistance? Will he get rid of the 494€ monthly allowance given to jobless workers who no longer qualify for unemployment benefit? Will he do away with the social security benefit that allows the most casual workers (those who go from one small job to another and who have to go through frequent periods without work) to simply make ends meet?

Nothing has been officially announced yet. But Macron’s policy will continue to crush workers no matter what. Whether it be through pension reform, social assistance reform of a reform of the State, all workers—active, unemployed, retired or otherwise—will be targeted. Poverty is spreading and all Macron wants to do is give more to the rich.

Workers who haven’t given up may be wondering what it will take for a huge social revolt to occur. Railroad workers, have started to fight back. They ask themselves that question every day because they know that nothing but a massive collective reaction will make the government back down.

Nobody knows exactly where the spark will come from. Will it come from Macron or another bourgeois politician whose provocation just goes too far? Will it come from a big boss who gets paid millions while cutting his workers' wages and bonuses? The working class can bear the brunt a long time but not forever. One day, things will change and there will be a social eruption.

When that happens, the workers will be able to confront their exploiters and claim their right to a dignified existence. Above all, such an explosion will enable workers to start thinking together about how to emancipate themselves: by overthrowing the bourgeoisie and its lackeys and rid society of all forms of human exploitation.