France: The struggle always exposes smooth talkers, Trotskyist collaborators, and permanent cowards

We hereby share a translation we received of an article published by La Cause du Peuple.

In the activist world, with all its organizations, stories, and splits, we are used to repetitive scenarios. A mobilization is created, then it explodes. An organization is dissolved, its leaders close up shop, and we hear no more about them. There are rumors here and there, skeletons in the closet, people talking behind each other’s backs then pretending to be best friends…

But sometimes there are pleasant surprises that buck the trend of these old habits of the activist bubble! This is the case, for example, when two youth organizations come together for a major joint project, that of rebuilding the Communist Youth, and invite the rest of the youth to do the same, to unite on the basis of principles rather than factions.

And then there are sometimes less pleasant surprises. Because in this jungle, there are still a few rules that everyone respects. For example, a golden rule is not to denounce or collaborate with the state against a mobilization. Even the most opposed organizations do not do this. They simply express themselves publicly against each other’s tactics, views, or actions. They have every right to do so, and it causes no harm; it just often reminds us who is revolutionary and who is not.

But when an organization openly accuses other organizations of participating in a particular action, while the state is monitoring them in order to repress them, there is no other word to describe this attitude: collaboration! Our seasoned readers will no doubt remind us that, for some, this is an old tradition dating back more than 80 years… And so it was that on September 8, 2025, under the wise pen of Lisa Mage, Révolution Permanente (RP) [Translator’s note: is a Trotskyist organization in France. It is the French section of the International Trotskyist Fraction, directly led and financed by the Trotskyist PTS in Argentina.] was able to write on its website:

“In this sense, we consider minority actions, such as the ‘CROUS operation’ [Translator’s note: an operation lead by students against the public services office for universities in France] that we have already discussed, or the ‘diligent ransacking of the presidency’ with ‘fire extinguishers’ claimed by the LJR (whose Paris 8 activists are in the FSE) as a victory for the students and an expression of ‘revolutionary violence’ in their newspaper La cause du peuple at the end of last year during the mobilization in support of the Collectif Combat Hébergement 93, to be going in the wrong direction. First, they go against the rebuilding of a strong student movement capable of playing a decisive role in the face of the government’s authoritarian attacks and the rise of the far right, but also in the face of austerity, the indoctrination of youth in the race to war and genocide in Palestine.”

Not only does RP snitch on political organizations and unions to the cops (and with what evidence? An article commenting on a protest action?), but they are also targeting our newspaper. What is the purpose of such a maneuver? Are they so cut off from the social world and the class struggle that they think doing so is not dangerous, even though repression is everywhere? Do they have no principles whatsoever to play this game? The deed speaks for itself, and we will not forget.

At La Cause du Peuple, we stand in solidarity with all those who sincerely fight for their principles, regardless of their ideology, which is why we have reported on these militant political actions. But we are even more committed to our principles. We maintain that the action taken by the revolutionary students was right and that it is the way to break the capitalist-liberal consensus that keeps universities stifled under a suffocating weight. Reactionary university administrations, student unions, and opportunists are all part of the same system, the same walls that must be torn down. RP has left the camp of opportunists to join that of reactionaries.

It should be noted that the apprentice militiamen, always ready to disassociate themselves, are at the same time playing a very particular role: that of radical smooth talkers. Like sellers of magic potions or miracle cures, they claim loud and clear and in every general assembly that they have a grand plan for a “general strike.”

But ladies and gentlemen, a general strike is a tactic, and a serious one at that. It cannot be decreed, nor can it be decided in a general assembly. Engels, whom you are no doubt familiar with, explained this back in 1873 when he criticized the Bakuninists in Spain who had called for a general strike without preparing for insurrection, and when their strike “worked,” all they had to do was send the workers to their deaths in battle. Instead of bringing down capitalism, their action forced the working class to retreat and led to a calming of the situation that was very convenient for the bourgeoisie.

Perhaps this is what our smooth talkers want to create after all? A situation where everything is in turmoil but nothing changes, so that they can continue to say that the masses were not ready, that we must prepare for the next election campaign or think about a slightly more democratic 6th Republic… [Translator’s note: France is currently in its 5th Republic] Everyone knows that at Paris 8 University, RP plays the role of dividing the general assembly in order to break up the collective, so that only what they directly organize is accepted. Let’s be clear, all these shenanigans are starting to become pretty obvious. They don’t give a damn about collective democracy, they consciously spit on the decisions that have been voted for, they basically think they understand everything about the Revolution in the face of the stupid masses. What horrible characters these clone-looking petty-bourgeois spawn are, with their stereotypical speeches.

What can we say about the demonstration on September 18, when, taking with them part of the Gare du Nord general assembly, they fled from the police charge, leaving high school students and young people to be beaten with batons. They didn’t even defend their banner with their slogan in front of the cops. We affirm that this is not how we are going to rebuild a revolutionary movement to confront “the authoritarian attacks of the government and the strengthening of the far right, but also austerity, the indoctrination of youth in the race to war and genocide in Palestine.”

At the same time, just a stone’s throw from the Trotskyist “flamboyance”, the Ligue de la Jeunesse Révolutionnaire (LJR) and the Jeunes Révolutionnaires (JR), as well as activists from the Fédération Syndicale Étudiante (FSE), showed the way forward in the face of the cops by refusing to flee.

The struggle always exposes those who do not follow through on their words, who do not match their words with their actions, who do not seriously prepare their tactics. Because when, faced with a police charge, you drop the flag and let the banner bearing your “so beautiful” and “so offensive” slogan be torn to shreds… what more can we expect?

You who refuse confrontation, who run or slip away in organized groups at the slightest opportunity, who make public denunciations, who stick your nose everywhere while fighting nowhere, how can we believe a single one of your fine words? All it takes is a good struggle for the mask to fall and reveal the haggard faces of permanent cowards behind it.