Legislative 2024: “The elections? We no longer expect anything from it,” say retirees from Pornic

It is 9 a.m., Wednesday June 19, 2024, at the market Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer in Pornic (Loire-Atlantique), which welcomes its first visitors of the morning, few in number due to the weather.

“At the moment, we’re talking about the rain, not the good weather,” Franck, the cured meats merchant, still smiles, observing the gray sky.

No upcoming legislative elections? “Not too much with customers. But many voted for the National Rally, you can feel it, even they don’t say it. Colleagues too… That’s it, the RN is arriving. What am I waiting for? If we could eliminate all VAT, that would be great. [rires]. But here we are talking about Le Pen…”

“We are quite disillusioned, even though we were committed”

Further on, a visitor to the market, a retired railway worker living six months of the year in Pornic, is preparing to have his car serviced to go vote, in the Paris region.

I’m going to travel 1,000 km to put my ballot in the ballot box. However, I don’t expect anything from these elections, neither from one nor the other, given the way they all behave, on the right, on the left, in the center… It’s nonsense.

His wife agrees: “We are quite disillusioned, even though we were committed. Our purchasing power has plunged. And we wouldn’t want it to drop too much, because we still have to help our daughter. She is a teacher in the Paris suburbs, with a rent of €1,200 while she earns €2,400 with twenty years of seniority, alone with two teenagers to support. »

“Democracy is decisive”

Nearby, Michelle, another retiree accustomed to the market, does not want to give up: “I know what I am going to do: there is no question that the extremes will win. »

She explains: “I didn’t go to war, it’s not my generation, but democracy is decisive. I convince the children and their friends to do like me and go vote, I talk to them about History. The New Popular Front scares the shit out of me. After the Popular Front in the 1930s, who came to power? History is stubborn. It’s true that people suffer, but weren’t they suffering before? The RN will not do better, why fool people like that? »

Hearing people say “you have to try something else” is unbearable. We don’t try people, it’s a policy. You already have to be an actor and go vote. Some say they are disillusioned, but they did not vote in the European elections, what does that mean? It’s certainly worrying, with the world of social networks, we believe everything…

“We stuff people’s heads with fragmented information”

A little further on, in front of the fruit and vegetable seller, we come across another disgruntled retiree: “I no longer recognize myself in the society in which I live,” he says. Are the French politically major? We live in a crazy world, with logic that escapes me. We stuff people’s heads with fragmented and superficial information. We go from Mbappé’s broken nose, which makes the front page of the news, to the rest, without link. How do we put things into perspective, where is the scale of value, how do we think? »

And also to point out the responsibility of media in “this lack of information, with the right questions not being asked, which means that people remain on conclusions without having the keys to understanding ».

But also politicians “who no longer know how to speak French, who talk nonsense and who lack details”. He adds: “For example, some say they want to abolish notary fees. This is absurd, because it is in fact transfer taxes, which are a source of financing for communities and Departments. So how do we then find the money to operate? »

” Nothing will change “

Gildas, the butcher, is blunt: “Nothing is going to change. We will not lower prices, the world is made like that, as long as industrial will continue to produce at low cost and buy goods with all their might. It’s the cat that bites its own tail. Industrialists lead the world and politicians need them, because they pay for their campaigns. And then why are there so many political parties? Why can’t they come together and get along? In the United States, there are only two. And we are in the soft underbelly of it all. Those who have a little means, but not enough to really get by, are the ones who pay. It’s always been like this. What is needed is to free up work and take into account the fact that large companies are different from those with fewer than 20 employees. And do it without violating the rights of employees. »

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