May 68 refers to the period of civil unrest and protests that occurred throughout France that started in May 1968. It is casually called 68 (Soixante-huit) among French political circles. All the French authors that influence Ascetus thinking—Jacques Lacan, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari—had to navigate around those turbulent waters. Deleuze and Guattari’s first collaborative work, Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, created schizoanalysis as a direct response to the aftermath of May 68. I am a French Absolute Monarchist of Divine Right activist and will provide insight about this reenactment of the 1789 French Revolution.
Historical Context
France before May 68 was essentially a post-World War II country ruled by Le Général Charles De Gaulle, my favourite leader behind Clovis I, who was the first to unite the Frankish tribes under one ruler during the 5th century. Général De Gaulle, through his clever actions following the Second World War, prevented France from becoming merely a vassal state of the United States, allowing the country to charter its own path. France’s trajectory was in opposition to Italy, whose constitution was written by a CIA agent, ensuring that a consensus could never be reached, and no meaningful decisions could be taken. To this day, the Italian government is highly unstable because it relies on coalitions to form a ruling majority.
First, you need to understand that France has never been a liberal country. Despite what you have read and have been told about the French Revolution, France has historically almost never been a Republican or Democratic regime[^1]. When the French Revolution overthrew the Monarchy and established a Republic, it resulted in Emperor Napoleon riding through all of Europe. Blitzkrieg-Style!
Although France was defeated during the Second World War, Général De Gaulle organised the French resistance from London and managed to position France to become a permanent member of the United Nation’s Security Council, and thus with veto rights over all resolutions. As Europe was rebuilding itself during the Cold War, Général De Gaulle guided France to a famous third path—neutrality. France would not ally with the Americans nor with the Soviets. Despite France’s contribution to establishing NATO, France would leave the alliance in 1969, and would not rejoin until 2009.
During the years prior to May 68, France was stretched by various political influences. The Far Left wanted closer ties to the Red Block. The Red Maoist book was a must-have for any bourgeois student protestor. In opposition to the movement, the New Right, created by Alain de Benoist emerged. The New Right wanted closer ties to the recently decolonised third world, particularly the Muslim World, who were experiencing rapid growth and were not aligned with either the Americans nor the Soviets. The New Right would also take great interest in the Iranian revolution (backed by the United States and United Kingdom), which overthrew the Shah for an Islamic regime.
Both of these influences were ferociously anti-capitalist, along with Général De Gaulle, who was far from a liberal in both the economic and social sense. These extremes shaped French institutions and thought for years to come. It is why France has become a welfare state, with high pensions, high employment and it is why its citizens riot all the time.
Before moving on to discussing May 68, I will reveal my bias as my social class is half from the craftsmen created from the bastardisation of the aristocratic nobility, and part colonialist, known as pied-noir (black foot). As proof, I can reveal my grandfather’s Pro-Général tag in my hometown.
May 68
May 68 was initiated by the French Boomer generation, which most French sociologists mark as having started immediately after the conclusion of the Second World War. Thus, the protests and revolts were initiated by young bourgeois university students who had grown up during the biggest economic boom in French history (1945-1975)—Les Trente Glorieuses. However, the insatiable greed of the boomers could not be controlled. They had the entire world in the palm of their hand and chose to piss it all away instead.
French empire after WW2
These exceptionally gifted boomer teenagers revolted against Le Général. May 68 was initiated by Parisian boomers against patriarchy, paternalism, authoritarian structure, capitalism, consumerism and in favour of egalitarianism in families, work and education. The proletariat, who wanted better living conditions, quickly swelled the ranks of the boomers. Over 20% of the French population participated in the revolt—the first and largest nationwide protest in French history.
The most Famous slogan of that revolt were:
It’s forbidden to forbid
Or
Everything, right now
May 68 and Lacan
Lacan’s popularity surged during May 68 and its aftermath. The Rebel Boomers—who misinterpreted his cryptically-written seminars and wizard speak—claimed and justified all their actions through his psychoanalytic work. Hundreds of people were gathering to listen to his lectures. Lacanian psychoanalysis had become a topic of national discussion. While Lacan himself always took a step back from politics and was never political, many political idealogues, from Marxists to Monarchists, tried to position their ideologies as the heir apparent to Lacan.
Lacan played a very important role in the French symbolic network. He is often cited during political debates, young girls use Lacan in astrology to transform speech to prove their point. After his death, Lacan had no true disciples. His school was divided and ruined by financial interests and for fame. To this date, no one has risen to take his place in the French symbolic network.
I personally do not have a bad word to say about Lacan. He was perhaps the only honest influential figure of the May 68 debacle. From studying his patients’ books, I believe that he was genuine and only interested in improving his understanding of the human psyche, in order to help heal broken minds.
The Aftermath of May 68 - Paedophilia
Trad: “Let’s teach Love to our Childen”, cover of a still existing magazine called “Liberation”. Liberation is the French version of the Huffington Post in the US.
The most popular slogan of May 68 was “It is forbidden to forbid.” If that is the case, then who can forbid consensual sexual relations between an adult and children? This was the logic in the minds of the 68 boomer teenagers who put forth and signed two infamous petitions[^2] to the French government to decriminalise paedophilia.
Famous signatories of those petitions include: Jean-Paul Sartre, Michel Foucault, Roland Barthes, Simone de Beauvoir (Jean-Paul Sartre wife’s), Jacques Derrida, Félix Guattari.
Even the right wing, New Right founder Alain de Benoist, who fiercely opposed the May 68 revolts, was close to these ideas.
These sick degenerates have spent their entire public career spanning DECADES spreading their degeneracy in public media. Many of the ones who are still alive today are politically active—some of them are heads of political parties. They can be seen on national television praising paedophilia.
The aim of this article is to give context of the socio-political situation of France during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Whereas leftist political and philosophical thought produced significant anti-capitalist thought and intellectual ideas, its opposition produced NOTHING over the same period, for fear of being demonised as a fascist or a Nazi. Right wing intellectualism is incapable of coming up with creative solutions because they always fall back on the same old and tired ideas that nobody cares about.
The ideas developed by the May 68 intellectuals, particularly those of Deleuze and Guattari—are useful intellectual tools that Ascetus has repurposed to construct an illiberal architecture. While the leftists seek to break free of capitalism to justify doing whatever they like, we have repurposed those same tools to create a social structure to be able to live a happier, healthier and more fulfilling life.
1: After the Revolution, we can name: Napoleon, Charles X, Louis-Philippe Ier, Louis-Napoleon.
2: Those petitions were:
The “Le monde” Petition of the January 26th of 1977: to free Bernard Dejager, Jean-Claude Gallien and Jean Burckhardt who had sexual intercourse with 13- and 14-year old boys. The petition was written by Matzneff, which is famous for writing about sodomizing 12-year old Philippine boys.
The “Libération” Petition of the March 23th of 1979: To free a man that had in possession an erotic recording of a 7 year old.
The “Libération” Petition of the March 1st of 2001: To give support to Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the main protagonist of May 68. Cohn-Bendit was quoted saying in 1975 “On several occasions, some of the kids opened my fly and started tickling me. I reacted in different ways depending on the circumstances, but I had a problem with their desire. I’d ask them, “Why don’t you play together, why did you choose me and not other kids?” But if they insisted, I’d stroke them anyway. […] I needed to be unconditionally accepted by them. I wanted the kids to want me, and I did everything to make them depend on me.” Cohn-Bendit was the head of the green party until 2012.
