The President of the Republic is young, but he governs like an “old man”. His intervention on the 1 p.m. television news (TF1 and France 2), Wednesday March 22, illustrates this perfectly. It was as if he was telling rambunctious teenagers to calm down. “If you think it amuses me to make this reform…” he said in the manner of an annoyed father, lecturing his troublesome flock, and letting them know that while they mess up, he must manage the family budget.
No parent can ignore, brush aside, what is behind the revolt of his “children”. Nor would he use the condescending tone that was the president’s last Wednesday. Emmanuel Macron may lack parental experience. He may not know that there is a turning point when raising children. It’s a great classic: there comes a day when it’s no longer children, but many adults that we have in front of us! The dialogue then takes place between “grown-ups”, as equals, despite the relationships of dependence if they still exist. It is the guarantor of the maintenance of a peaceful relationship. It is no longer necessary to “kill the father”, as was often the case in the past, psychoanalysts know a lot about this…
The reference to Charles de Gaulle is essential here. In May 1968, the workers first, then the young people, Daniel Cohn-Bendit at the head, challenged the general. An “old man” who ruled firmly and “vertically”, but not brutally. Neither blind nor deaf, he acted as a democrat, not without courage and panache. Remember that from the famous March 22, 1968, then in April and May, de Gaulle, at first, did not understand what was at stake in these demonstrations. Then he dissolved the National Assembly to allow the protesters (and the French) to express themselves at the ballot box.
This democratic reaction was beneficial to him. The Gaullists obtained a large majority at the Palais-Bourbon. France can go on vacation after more than two months of protests! Later in 1969, Charles de Gaulle, again, knew how to listen: he resorted to the referendum and, faced with the result, left with dignity. De Gaulle was old, but young at heart, an “old-young”… And Emmanuel Macron?
By *Geneviève Delaisi de Parseval, psychoanalyst, author of “The Art of Accommodating Old Age” (Editions Odile Jacob, 2022).
