May Day in Paris

     "Workers of the world, unite!" But where? Led by whom? I celebrated May Day in Rome, where the Pope celebrated mass outdoors at a May Day labor meeting, the first such demonstration of fraternity. In Paris, David Pike cheered the Anarchists as models of martial order. He reports:
     "The rally of the AIT-CNT began in the Place des Fetes, on the height above Bellevue. The Anarchists marched in their thousands down to the Place de la Republique, in a sea of black and red flags and led by the band of the South Wales anarchist movement. The Place de la Republique is not exactly traditional anarchist territory, and the march was timed so that it would arrive there after the communists had vacated it in their traditional march to the Bastille. Otherwise, one never knows: anti-stalinism is learnt at the anarchist mother's knee, and not all is forgiven and forgotten.
     Meeting in the crowd an anarchist friend, the social historian Larry Portis from North Dakota, I learned that the AIT-CNT was now the fastest growing movement on the French left. This is largely due to a widely acclaimed documentary, entitled "Charbons Brulants" [burning coals, a reference to the miners], made in English by a French director, of an anarchist community in South Wales.
     This community operates on the model of the utopian experiments tried in the United States in the late 19th century which were, without exception, disasters. All had come apart essentially as a result of internal bickering. This community has not. It took control of a failing industry and turned it into a profit-making enterprise - with the profits shared, on the Fourier model. As for the band, it was professional by any standard, fitted out in (unmilitary) uniform but marching in strictly military step, and drawing well-deserved applause in the streets, despite the fact that the music they were playing could have been the choice of the Welsh Guards. The Welsh are famous for their love of music, but apparently this band was unacquainted with the anarchist music of the Spanish Civil War. I suggested that they rehearse it well for next year, because it is a delight to hear. The Nationalists could have lost the war when you think of the cacophony their infantry had to sing."
     My comment: Did Franco's toops sing "Cara al sol"? As for the Paris marchers, when the Communists march in perfect order from the Place de la République to the Place de la Bastille, they are usually followed by les casseurs, violent people who smash things along the route. They are the real anarchists. The growth of the Anarchist movement in France does not surprise me. In almost very city now there are wild demonstrations against something. But North Dakota?

Ronald Hilton - 5/1/00