It is a universal story in many poor families. The parents work hard to raise their children. But sometimes it is not enough. So, they shout to the older ones: “If you could take care of yourselves, it would allow us to feed the little ones.”
It is often said when they are angry, frustrated or when they lose their temper. The problem is that it is not perceived that way by the older children. And the parents, for their part, never try to make up for it. They neglect to say that they had lost their temper and that their older children should not take their ill-chosen words seriously. Some children take what their parents say literally. They are, contrary to what their parents think, aware that the family barely survives. They want to take things in their hands before it is too late.
One day, the eldest daughter or son starts contributing money for feeding their siblings. They help out the family financially. Parents do not ask any questions. They are relieved, thanking the Gods for their sudden change of luck. And then, after some time, they discover that the money is coming from dubious or illegal activities such as dealing drugs, prostitution or theft.
This is the story of my cousin Ntsama, who shocked everyone during my childhood when her parents, Uncle Etoundi and Auntie Nfegue, found out that she had been a prostitute for many months in order to prevent the family from falling into extreme poverty.
H0w did we get to this point?” asked Uncle Etoundi, outraged. “How could she do this to us? We taught her our values.”
“She’s selfish. She only thinks about herself. She could have done something else to help us,” the mother retorted. “How could she do this to us? She shamed us. She humiliated us. How do you expect me to look at the other moms in the neighborhood? I’m finished. We’re all finished.”
During my childhood in Fanta Citron in Mvog Ada, one of the best-known shanty towns in Yaoundé, Cameroon, parents and kids talked but the parents never listened. It was more like a monologue with the parent being the central character.
Cousin Ntsama, the third daughter of my uncle and auntie, did what she thought her parents were asking, when they shouted at her about being self-sufficient, despite the fact that she was only 16. It was as much a personal disaster as a collective failure. Cousin Ntsama was fed up with our daily misery. She swore to everyone that she would get us out of there. She was not alone. Many other girls in the neighborhood were selling sexual favors in exchange for cash to help their families. It was a real existential crisis for our neighborhood, borne out of despair and the fact there was a huge disconnection between the adults and their kids.
When you have two parties which talk but do not listen to each other, disaster eventually ensues. I detected a similar situation during these end-of-year celebrations in France, from Paris to the middle towns and small villages.
“A lot of people no longer feel at home,” said Catherine. “The native French people I know can’t take it anymore. They see immigrants receiving benefits, living off welfare. They don’t make any effort to work. Do you find that acceptable?”
“No, but it’s only a tiny minority who do that,” Yves replied.
“A friend of mine, she works hard. She only earns the minimum wage. When she sees that many immigrants, once they have accumulated all the benefits they are entitled to, receive more money than she does at the end of the month, she is angry.”
Yves took a deep breath. He seemed to be searching for the right words to answer Catherine.
On this evening of December 26, the dinner that my friend Yves was giving at his apartment located on Quai Saint Michel in Paris, opposite Notre Dame, of which we had a close view from the terrace, was similar to the conversations I had since arriving in France a few days earlier. There is a real fed-up feeling among the “little people” like Catherine and her friend, while on the other side, the elites like Yves believe that perception has taken precedence over reality.
Like Catherine, many others feel that the country is not headed in the right direction, that it has lost its grandeur and that globalization does not suit them. They are overcome by gloom and pessimism. They believe that the country is on the brink of the abyss, that the present is difficult and that the future is bleak. They are nostalgic for the past, for a time when the state protected citizens from shocks of any kind.
Then, there are the elites, who continue to propose the same solutions, acting as if nothing has changed, despite the fact that four years ago a serious alarm in the form of the Yellow-Jacket protests had shown that there is a silent revolt in the population. The Yellow-Jacket protests were mainly comprised of individuals with modest incomes, members of the working and middle classes, living mainly in rural areas and in medium-sized towns.
In the latest edition of the “What Worries the World?” survey published in February 2024, a survey regularly conducted by Ipsos in 29 countries on five continents, on average 60% of respondents say that their country is not going in the right direction. This figure rises to 77% for the French people surveyed.
“Emmanuel Macron cannot solve everything by focusing on the security aspect alone,” said Yves. “He is sending the police against poor young Syrian refugees. He is attacking the most fragile and vulnerable, while we are supposed to protect them. This goes against the human values of France.”
“Is it normal that young people in difficult neighborhoods, neighborhoods where people mainly live on welfare have BMWs?” Catherine interjected. “We work hard, they do nothing and drive luxury cars.”
“Jean-Louis Borloo, the former Minister of Urban Affairs, had a good idea a few years ago, when he said that to solve the problem of poor neighborhoods and of the unemployment of young people from immigrant backgrounds, it was necessary to tackle the problem from different angles, including the economy,” Yves continued.
Around the table, everyone was all ears. Some got up to admire Notre Dame, which had reopened to the public a few days earlier. Despite the late hour, many tourists were still in the square, taking pictures of the “new Notre Dame” with their cameras, or taking selfies with the church in the background. Bateaux Mouches offering dinner cruises slowly were moving along the Seine, which flowed just below Yves’ building.
“I got hit last week by a student and her parents didn’t even apologize,” said Min, Yves’ partner.
He was visibly still upset. Min is a music teacher of Chinese descent, in a high school in a Parisian suburb where mainly immigrants live. He said that the student, a 17-year-old girl, got up and hit him in the face in front of the whole class. Since then, it is his word against those students who all support their classmate. He recounted the abuse he is subjected to on a daily basis.
“I thought about quitting," he said. "I think about quitting every day. I’m scared. I haven’t made up my mind yet but I don’t know if I’ll go back in January."
He earns the minimum wage, called SMIC, which is the minimum salary that an adult employee can be paid. It is currently 1,426.30 euros net per month.
“Macron hid well the fact that he was the president of the rich,” Yves continued.
“I earn the minimum wage,” Catherine said. “I pay 188.20 euros for electricity. I pay my rent and all the other bills. In the end, I have nothing left. I am in survival mode.”
She works in a nursery in the medium-sized town of Chalon-sur-Saône. A mother of four children, she describes the constant tensions between colleagues because some are opposed to giving nursery places to children of immigrant parents when most of them do not work.
Yves, who is one of the most renowned scientists on energy issues in France and in the world, explained that the increase in the cost of energy is the result of Germany’s obsession with banning nuclear energy. Catherine continued to talk about the loss of purchasing power suffered by her and her fellow friends, forcing them to focus on the social benefits received by unemployed immigrants.
“My girlfriend keeps saying that it was better before. She’s thinking about getting her doctor to sign her off work because she says that her body can no longer cope with everyday stress. She will be recognized as disabled and could stop working for a while.”
“But how will she do it financially?” I asked.
“She will continue to receive 100% of her salary,” Catherine replied. “That’s how it is. It’s the law. Why would she kill herself at work when immigrants do nothing but receive lots of help with our tax money?”
Min nodded.
There was silence around the table. The guests’ fleeting glances were all directed towards the illuminated Notre Dame.
There were two Frances at that table. That of Catherine and Min, facing that of Yves, spend the evening together talking but not listening to each other. This is the reality I was confronted with in these last days of 2024. It is a similar reality that I observed while covering the American presidential election between Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. It is the reality in many Western countries. A reality that normalizes extremes and undermines the societal progress made in recent decades.
Catherine and Yves agreed on one thing: the far-right and its leader Marine Le Pen would most likely win the next elections in France, while the far-left and its leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon would be the main opposition force. How to get out of this bleak scenario as described by both, I asked.
“We have to put things back in order as they were before,” explained Catherine.
In her voice as in her eyes, there was a kind of nostalgia. She stood up to admire Notre Dame one last time, as if in this medieval cathedral that symbolizes the success of Gothic architecture, lay the key to the country’s future.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of Luc Olinga's work on Medium.