Politics, Gardening And Books

 

European Elections

I voted in the recent European elections and thus became familiar with the voting process, at least in Mollans. In the Uk you tick a box against a candidate/party. Here you pick up a candidates leaflet, or more than one if you want to hide your intentions from possible prying eyes, and, as in the UK, put it in a ballot box. What blew my mind were the 37 options on offer. I ‘m used to the half-dozen or so in the UK. I’d been warned I would be faced with more than a dozen options and had asked a friend, given very broad criteria, to make a first cull of them, but that still left a lot to sort out. The contrast with UK elections was stark.

So how to boil all this down? I’ll be clear. I think the UK election system is faulty. It allows for a government to be elected that has a minority of votes and that has happened. It also tends to give one political party absolute power, even with perhaps a slender majority. In the UK an election that results in a hung parliament is often regarded as a failed election. But why?; In a war situation you certainly need clear and decisive action. But in peacetime what is wrong with some kind of consensus? More specifically the UK system more easily allows extremes of government, right or left. There seems to be something in the British psyche that wants a definite decision, needed or not. European approaches to elections seem much more diverse, much more open to compromise. Supporters of the UK system could claim that the compromises have already been made in the political parties manifestos but, as we all know, a manifesto can be far from reality.

Anyway, my own stance is to detract as far as possible from the seeming movement across Europe to the far right. Rightly or wrongly I see the far right as dominated by the influence of Powerful and wealthy interests. So where do I fit in? It can only be as a pawn, who may or may not get lucky in fitting in to the plans of those big interest groups. I want to be more than that. I cannot have complete political control of my destiny but I won’t be a willing pawn. I believe that, through ownership of media and other channels of influence, the far right has learned to manipulate the uninformed and unthinking via appeals to xenophobia, prejudice and nationalism, to vote against their own interests and allow the powerful and wealthy to retain and even extend their wealth and power. This is what I will always vote against. In peace time, compromise and consensus are good. Division and nationalism, as Mitterand has said, lead to conflict and war.

The Fruit Season

This, as a self-confessed fruitaholic, is my time of year. In the shops and arkets we have cherries, strawberries, apricots, peaches, nectarines and melons in abundance; I always buy too much and have bought a bottle od druit alcohol to preserve some of that that I don’t manage to eat. What I love especially here is that almost all of this is locally grown and ripe. I could always buy as much in supermarkets in the UK but was always left wondering where it might have come from and whether, if unripe, would it ripen successfully or moulder or turn to rubber. Here I can buy three melons in the Buis market for 5 euros and tell the vendor I want one for today and two for two or three days hence and he/she will give me the right ones. For a fruitaholic, this is Heaven.

Gardening

I definitely have a different approach to my allotment than my fellow gardeners here. I have eventually understood that the others decide what they will want to eat and grow that in the quantity they expect to consume. If there is any excess they will happily give it away. The result is that a large part of their plots is fallow, covered in straw to impede weeds. I explain to them that I am a poor English peasant and my problem is how to provide enough to feed my wife, 20 children and other family dependents. So every inch of my plot must produce something to eat. Ike them, I’ll give any excess away. It’s just a difference in approach.

Meanwhile the front of the house is looking OK. The first flush of the honeysuckle is over but the jasmine has come in on cue to replace it. All the flowers in the front are blooming and looking healthy so it is just as I want it for when my family arrive at the end of next week.

The School

The school in Mollans is one of 15 in France taking part in a bilingual primary school experiment, French and English. The English library in Beaumont has finally closed its doors, Pat Stapleton who has run it for countless years now having reached the age of 93 and can no longer continue it. No home has been found for the 10,000 books so Pat has said anyone can take what they want. I’ve taken four or five for anglophone friends but, more importantly 40-50 children’s books for the school. Various people told me that the school wouldn’t be able to accept them because of this or that regulation but I met the headmaster and he was delighted to have them. A success!