Lately, many things are happening in the world. In North Africa, Sub Saharan Africa, North America, South America, Russia, China, India. In fact, it would be quicker to talk about places where nothing happens: Europe, and they are only talking about small scandals and large debts there; in Brussels it is even worse: they are not talking about anything, there is not even a small scandal or some large debt.
By way of demonstration, just browse the headlines of the daily press in the world: they talk a little about the dishonesty of the high and mighty and a lot about projects of the country, and articles such as editorials, buzzing with plans for the future. In Europe, the titles of newspapers or media broadcasting are mostly on foreign policy issues, on offbeat news or depravity of leaders.
In France, it seems obscene to talk seriously about the future, which seems to be reduced to the question of whom will occupy a small palace in 2012 in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. Yet, everyone, in his daily life, think only of this: what will his future be made of. Everyone thinks about it with anxiety, convinced that he cannot be worse than the present. Everyone is encouraged to pessimism by the nothingness of the leaders: They have no project, no vision of the place of France in the history of the 21st century. And if we have no desire of history, we cannot play a role in it. Not to talk about the future is to condemn ourselves to lose everything.
It is now necessary to change this. We must give birth again in Europe, and France in particular, a desire of history. And for this reason, I propose a simple operation: « 2022 operation ». Everyone would launch a reflection on opportunities to grasp, dangers to avoid, risks & precautions to take, solidarity to build, fights to lead. These tests should be conducted by a large number of companies, universities, hospitals, municipalities, departments, regions, but also labor unions, political parties and new entities such as NGOs. They will help better understand that our country needs, and can afford, some very big long-term investments in education, sciences, social domain, ecology, economy; and must rebuild at all costs nearly all of its communication and energy networks.
Social networks would be a great way to discuss and confront on these issues. Administrations and research centers could provide the common statistical basis for these reflections: we can predict fairly well at this horizon the demographics and technologies.
If these « 2022 operations » are numerous, coherent, reasoned (and there are now well-established methods for carrying them out), candidates for the next presidential elections will have to embrace them. They will have to provide pictures of France in 2022. And the campaign will then oppose projects, and not sound bites and postures. 2022 may seem very far: it is simply just the end of the mandate of the president to be elected after the one who will be chosen in 2012. That is to say tomorrow morning.