"The State had not only targeted my father’s work but also his way of life, his very being, his identity as a living organism.
His ambition had been to escape, through self-sufficiency and hard work, the alienation of society. But society had never forgotten him. On the contrary, it had constantly reminded him of its presence—testing him, pushing him to the brink. Hiding, fleeing, had become impossible. Perhaps he had underestimated the State’s ability to defend itself, to preserve its privileges, to govern people’s lives, and its obsessive zeal in punishing those who tried to break free from its grip.
Civilization clearly pursued a purpose and a goal that were not ours, serving interests contrary to our aspirations.
We could not afford to merely withdraw from the world’s march. We would not be allowed to tend our garden in peace. We had to organize and act. To plan for the long term. To equip and arm ourselves. Juridically speaking, of course. The absurd arsenal of katanas, hunting knives, and firearms my father had amassed in his storeroom had done nothing to protect him from the State’s intrusion into his private life.
Shooting a public servant with a rifle in the stomach would have only landed him in prison for life. The penal system, so lenient with thugs, would have been merciless with him, to set an example. Alone, he could do nothing against the French State and its 5.7 million public employees, whose armed branches included 144,000 police officers and 98,000 gendarmes dedicated to maintaining order—not to mention the professional military with its 205,000 active soldiers.
Any form of separatism was unthinkable. The subversion of institutions was inconceivable. The National Education system, the judiciary, and political power were entirely locked down and turned against us. Any revolutionary attempt would unfold in total confusion of objectives and collective emotions, immediately hijacked for manipulation by organized, top-down forces, ultimately resulting in nothing but an increase in the State’s power.
Violence could be of no use to us. We had to face the truth once and for all. The real strength of the present lies in law and science."
Excerpt from my novel “A Youth of Europe,” 692 pages, published by Les Éditions de la Reine Rouge.
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Image: Sylvester Stallone in “Rambo” (First Blood) by Ted Kotcheff, 1982.
