A little lesson on capitalism. A number of consumers want to consume on Sunday; a number of workers agree or would agree to work that day: the freedom of economic agents leads to authorizing work on Sunday. Such is - beyond all the rhetoric about "the end of hypocrisy" or the "necessities of tourism" - the essence of the government's argument. Question: in a balanced society, must the freedom of economic agents overcome every other consideration? Those who have not learned the specific lesson of the economic crisis we are currently going through will answer in the affirmative. Others will demur. The market is not always right. When it is legitimate, the power of the government is based on seeing to it that collective values prevail. The majority of French citizens - our poll shows - do not want commercial activities to pervade the totality of life. They object to a one-dimensional society dedicated solely to consumption, in which ultimately commerce alone gives meaning to existence. They prefer to husband a little beach of time collectively chosen and free of monetary relations for the majority of citizens. Boutiques, department stores and supermarkets are not modern churches where one should have to ceaselessly sacrifice to the god of commerce. Once a week, we may suspend the cult of consumption and do something else. Focus on one's individual development, one's family, one's passions or whatever one desires. On life, that is ...

    --------

    Translation: Truthout French language editor Leslie Thatcher.