The "prostitutes", young ecologists against Mac …

From Paris

The system has the Internet, networks, finances and power, while others have imagination and courage as flags of political protest. A young generation of French activists has invaded the public space with an idea that has brought its members to justice, while generating sympathy for the audacious profile of the initiative. They are called "dropouts". His mode of action is to take the portraits of President Emmanuel Macron from municipalities and other state agencies, then to protest with them to protest the absence of the ecological policy of the President. The sequence is also laughable: the youth was demonstrating in the street with presidential portraits at the same time as the president was propelled to the international level as an environmental squire attacking the president pyroman of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, during his incendiary policy in the Amazon. In the name of this, he even asked about France's approval of the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur. And as no one in Mercosur has been able to respond with height, diplomacy, elaborate speech and sovereignty, Macron has built an ecological image as the youth of his country questioned him in the streets.

Justice reproaches young people for "stealing the portrait of the President of the Republic". The story that is stopping today in the courts with the sentences handed down against 8 "unhooked" activists took place twice and led to the action under the slogan "Climate and social justice, Macron is unplugged, let's take "(Climate and social justice, Macron picks up, let's go for it). The first begins at the end of 2018 when four badociations (Greenpeace France, Oxfam France, Foundation for Nature and Man, Our Affaire to all) launched the petition "The Case of the Century". The text, in which he questions Emmanuel Macron on threats to climate change, is signed by more than two million people. As nothing was done, on February 21, the badociations filed a complaint against the French State for "lack of default". From there, the group of pickup portraits began to form to denounce "the void of climate and social policy." The objective was to set up a campaign of "civil disobedience" with the aim of going to the municipalities and "recovering" the portraits of the French president. "As Macron leaves a void in its history with its ecological policy, we decided to leave a void where its image was," said Pauline Boyer, spokesperson for Nonviolent Action Cop-21 (ANV-COP-21). ).

The first portraits were made between 21 and 28 February 2019. They were removed from the municipalities, then "reappeared" in street demonstrations, often accompanied by the movement of yellow vests. The nonviolent action Cop-21 (ANV-COP-21) aims to "make visible the climate change and the extinction of biodiversity." Cécile Marchand, a girl member of the ANV -COP-21, aged 25, said resigned that it was still necessary to explain "why it is necessary to enter into civil disobedience with regard to environmental issues." François Julliard, executive director of Greenpeace France, defends non-violent action because, he says, "it is necessary to go out and commit. The time of experts and arguments is past. "

The second time of the "Let's Take Macron" operation began on May 21st. ANV-COP-21 called on the militants to "steal" 125 portraits of the president before the summit of the group of the seven most industrialized countries, the G7, which took place in Biarritz during the last week of the week. ;August. 125 corresponds to the number of days that France spent to spend its ecological balance, that is to say the natural resources which it had 365 days a year. In total, the youngsters photographed about 130 portraits with whom they showed up in Biarritz and elsewhere in France. For its members, the fact that they are fined "500 euros to take a portrait is not very expensive compared to the cost of a communication campaign." For them, "taking the portrait of the president, it's like taking a symbol. And in general, the symbols are not disconnected, but with this action, they do it. "The idea of ​​the pickup also exceeded the ecological intentions of its initiators. A few weeks ago, a group broke into several municipalities with the slogan "Ecocide, feminicide, take back the system". And they picked up the presidential portraits. These activists justify their inclusion in the action because, as Veronique explains, one of the protagonists, "there was not so much maltreatment and". exclusion of women, ecology would be better preserved. Abuses against women have exacerbated the destruction of ecosystems. "

These new militant styles have grown significantly over the last year. They do not have millions of members yet, but their actions have a lot of echo in society, especially when, since it is not a problem. 39, a problem inherent in politics or ideologies, but climate, it expands its audience. There will be dozens of lawsuits in France against the actors of "Let's pick up Macron". They were already sentenced in Paris to fines ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 euros. But these trials end up being a launching pad for activists. The prosecution of these young people is attracting the media and advocates of other causes. Cécile Duflot, former Minister of the Environment and currently director of Oxfam France, asked "if the judges will eventually understand what the leaders do not quite understand." Obviously not. The system does not forgive even when it is eminently collective causes such as the protection of biodiversity. "There is no choice but to attend the event," Duflot said.

These renewed young ecologists are imbued with a different ecological conscience, are gay, have great events, know how to express themselves in front of the media and breathe conviction and future. Pauline Boyer, spokesperson of ANV-COP-21, is said to be convinced "that it is a global social and climate movement, here and now". Virgil, another militant of the movement, explains: "The power accompanies us with its crumbs of bread. Now, it is our turn to walk around to denounce his cynicism and inaction. "Lawsuits and police charges will not have much effect on them, maybe the system is creating a new anti-environmental police, or maybe among those faces that emanate from youth and that epiphany are the founders of a new tomorrow.But it does not only depend on them and politicians, but also on our unhealthy way of consuming and producing the waste that destroys the planet.