July 29, 2024 editorial of the New Anticapitalist Party-Revolutionaries (NPA-R) in France, translated from French
With the opening ceremony, the organizers of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games wanted us to live the dream of a mythical and inclusive France. They succeeded, much to the chagrin of all the fascists and bigots, by evoking the great female figures of French history and portraying a mixed and tolerant French society… The boos directed at [French President] Macron are a reminder, however, that the reality is far from idyllic!
Crazy money [an allusion to an old Macron quote about social benefits that had provoked outrage]
The figures are staggering: the ceremony alone cost 122 million euros (about 131 million dollars), three times more than the London 2012 Olympics. As for the official budget for the Olympics, it reached 9 billion euros, 11 billion if we add indirect costs such as cleaning up the Seine (1.4 billion euros). When it wants to, the State can provide itself with colossal financial resources. Much to the delight of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and its sponsors, who are lining their pockets. Leading the way is LVMH (the giant France-based multinational conglomerate), which has found a way to turn the Olympics into a non-stop advertising spot, from the opening ceremony to the medal awards!
With such an outpouring of resources, there would be enough to keep all the public services, schools, hospitals, transport and municipal sports facilities, which are often in a state of disrepair, running smoothly.
The other side of the coin
The whole point of staging the Olympics is to make people forget the reality in which we live. Starting by hiding the poverty that is so widespread in France. A group of associations called “Le revers de la médaille” (“The other side of the coin”) counted over 12,500 people evicted in the Paris region during the run-up to the Olympics. Camps destroyed, emergency accommodation places abolished, the most precarious have been the victims of these operations, with the aim of making them invisible. Over 3,000 students were forced to leave their residence halls over the summer. And all it took was for the cops who were supposed to occupy them to become indignant about their unhealthy state, and they were immediately disinfected and de-ratted, despite the fact that young people had been denouncing this situation for years!
The truce, he says? No way!
Macron keeps proclaiming that the Olympics are a truce. Starting with the fact that he’s not even appointing a government (since his party lost the national election) and is putting off any decision forever, under the guise of Olympism!
But the dancers had threatened to strike during the opening ceremony, to demand better pay. Employees of the Hotel du Collectionneur, privatized by the IOC for the duration of the Games, went on strike, displaying on their placards: “Luxury hotel, starvation wages.” The various protests taking place during the Games are a reminder that social struggles continue and will continue, because defending oneself is a vital issue for the world of the working class. So it’s rather the opposite of what Macron is hoping for: it may even be the Olympics that will revive our demands, particularly those concerning wages. Starting with the JO bonuses we have sometimes been offered in sectors such as transport and health, which are awarded according to such restrictive and unequal criteria depending on the position held, that many employees risk not receiving them, or receiving them only partially.
The unity of France extolled by all the commentators on these Olympic Games? It’s rather the unity of the world of the working class, in the forthcoming mobilizations in defense of our rights and living conditions, that we’re going to have to build.
