Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite

Sunday 4th June

This was the slogan, the rallying call, the principles of the French Revolution.  It was over two hundred years ago but it is still the glue which holds France together.  The French Revolution was the first Republic, we are now living in the Fifth Republic – but the ideas of Liberty, Equality and Brotherhood are still prominent in French Society.  Many Mairies still have the three words emblazoned on their walls.  But what do they really mean?  And why is this French ideal so different from Britain’s?

Liberte, means Freedom.  But there are many definitions of freedom.  I think it means freedom from subservience, freedom from poverty, freedom from ignorance.  For many in Britain freedom means the freedom to – exploit others, to get rich quick, (at the expense of others) freedom to be superior to others.  Liberty also means, as a country, to not be subservient to any other.  In Britain, we are more and more becoming, in cultural terms at least, subservient to America.  The French are proud of their culture, in Britain we are almost ashamed of ours.

Egalite, equality under the law.  As citizens, the French are all equal under the law, rich and poor alike.  In Britain, theoretically we are too.  But the law is becoming more and more expensive, legal aid is under attack and Justice harder to come by.

Fraternity, brotherhood means that collectively we are stronger than apart.  In Britain this is almost heresy, for the last thirty-nine years, since Margaret Thatcher first came to power we have more and more accepted the cult of the individual.  As individuals the strong get stronger, the rich get richer and the poor – well, the poor are always with us.  And fraternity, brotherhood, the idea that we are all linked and if a few of us suffer we are all weaker for that – is still a cornerstone of French culture.

And strangely you cannot have one without the other two.  You cannot have liberty without equality and brotherhood, or equality or brotherhood without liberty.

This is a fundamental difference between Britain and France.  In France you are a citizen, free and equal and part of a larger family.  In Britain you are on your own, and a subject, and subject to the power of the rich, to the power of influence, to the power of privilege.

We can change this, but it will be a long haul.  But just look at children, free, equal and part of a large family, they run and play with other children without any air of superiority.  As we get older this gets knocked out of us and we all try to find a little niche where we can survive on our own.    And many of us simply don’t.