French press review 11 February 2010

by Michael Fitzpatrick

Article published on the 2010-02-11 Latest update 2010-02-11 08:51 TU

Greece dominates this morning's front pages, as the rest of Europe tries to decide how best to save Athens from going bankrupt.

Libération says the crisis proves that Europe and the euro don't work, warning that asking French and German taxpayers to bail out incompetent Greek politicians is likely to lead to revolution.

Catholic La Croix looks at the problem of violence in French schools, as teachers refuse to work in some establishments, simply because it is too physically dangerous.

Communist l'Humanité gives pride of place to Nelson Mandela, released after 27 years in jail in South Africa exactly twenty years ago this 11 February.


Those of us here in France who complain about Nicolas Sarkozy should spare a thought for the happy inhabitants of Venezuela. For years now, they have had hours-long Sunday TV broadcasts from their president, Hugo Chavez, in which the great man gives forth on every subject under the sun, and a few that have never seen the light of day.

Now, Chavez has launched a radio programme, so that he can address his waiting subjects at any moment of the day or night, as soon as he has an idea of national importance.

The new slot is called, roughly, "Suddenly, Chavez", and it will be interesting to see if it results in an increase in industrial accidents and car crashes as the nation switches attention from the job in hand to listening to the latest from the Commander.

A book review in Le Monde looks at what the rest of this 21st century has in store for us. The first ten years haven't been exactly great, and I'm afraid the prospects for the remaining ninety are dodgy, to say the best of them.

The author is a professor of economic history at a Paris university, and he's the sort of guy the moneymen call upon when they want to know what is likely to be happening to the price of wheat or petrol next week, next month, next year. He decided to write the book as a birthday present for his grandson, born in February last year.

There are a few near-certainties: there are going to be a lot more of us, 10 billion human beings by the year 2070, two-thirds of them living in mega-cities, more than half of them over the age of 65.

How they're all going to be fed and watered is a difficult question, as basic resources become ever more scarce.

We won't be using petrol any more, because there won't be any left. And the real power will be in the hands of those who master the very small world of nanotechnology, the miracles of biotechnology, and the inescapable computer.

The United States will still be the world leader in just about everything, Europe having gone asleep at a crucial moment.

The Muslim world will continue to send out sparks and fumes, without ever being sufficiently united to constitute a real political bloc. China and India will see their phenomenal economic growth continue, but with several major crises brought about by the greed of speculators.

In other words, it'll be a bit like now, only more so.