Ending social downgrading

The title of this session seems to me to lack ambition. The real question is “how to restart the social lift? ” First point: a health crisis of this magnitude has only occurred on average every 400 years since the year 166. It will therefore cause upheavals that we have no idea of to date and will require not reforms but real ruptures. The social lift worked (with imperfections) during the Trente Glorieuses. Today, not only does it no longer work upwards, but it is very fast and very dangerous downwards. The “yellow waistcoats” movement has symbolised the frustration of very diverse social categories and what is new today is that the middle classes, not just the lower classes, have joined this movement. What should we do about this movement, which is the bearer of the worst violence? This is the subject of this round table, which is perhaps the most important of these Meetings because of its economic and social, and therefore political, consequences. There are at least four areas that need to be addressed in order to find solutions: – Education, but all education, including lifelong learning, – Housing, but all housing, including rural housing, – Taxation, but all taxation, including inheritance taxation, – Financing, but all financing, including the financing of small businesses. This is a vast programme for us, with an obligation to make concrete proposals. Good luck with it.