BY BORIS KAGARLITSKY
"The Yellow Vest movement dumbfounded not only the French ruling elites, but also the left intellectuals throughout Europe.
...
Why cannot their demands be met?
Yes, Žižek makes an
important qualification: the demands cannot be met “within the existing
system”.
But even here he is absolutely wrong. Most of the demands have
been realized in the past by Western capitalism, but after the victory
of neoliberalism these social advances were abolished.
In other words,
the protesters are just trying to win back the gains of the working
class, which they lost in the last 30 years. Of course, it is impossible
to return into 1960s and 70s. The practical work on the restoration of
the welfare state would be successful only if it creates new forms and
new possibilities for its development.
However, we are talking here
about something else: the thesis that social reforms are impossible
within a capitalist system is just not true.
It’s a whole another story
that these reforms never result from a good will of the ruling class,
but are rather won through the working class struggles.
