Cantona Calls For Revolution
Mon, Nov 22, 2010

http://www.ericcantona.com/2010/11/2...or-revolution/

Eric Cantona has taken it upon himself to promote a revolution against the banking oligarchy calling for everyone to take their money out of the banks.

In an October interview with Nantes newspaper Presse Ocean, as France endured a series of nationwide strikes against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plans to raise the pension age, Cantona questioned the effectiveness of street protests.

He said: “I don’t think we can be entirely happy seeing such misery around us. Unless you live in a pod. But then there is a chance… there is something to do. Nowadays what does it mean to be on the streets? To demonstrate? You swindle yourself. Anyway, that’s not the way any more.

“We don’t pick up weapons to kill people to start the revolution. The revolution is really easy to do these days. What’s the system? The system is built on the power of the banks. So it must be destroyed through the banks.

“This means that the three million people with their placards on the streets, they go to the bank and they withdraw their money and the banks collapse. Three million, 10 million people, and the banks collapse and there is no real threat. A real revolution.

“We must go to the bank. In this case there would be a real revolution. It’s not complicated; instead of going on the streets and driving kilometres by car you simply go to the bank in your country and withdraw your money, and if there are a lot of people withdrawing their money the system collapses. No weapons, no blood, or anything like that.”

He concludes: “It’s not complicated and in this case they will listen to us in a different way. Trade unions? Sometimes we should propose ideas to them.”

Cantona’s ‘revolution’ of sorts – whether he intended it as one or not – has gone viral.

A campaign, bankrun2010.com, has been launched by Géraldine Feuillien, a Belgian screenwriter, and Yann Sarfati, a French actor, in an effort to coordinate the action and make it global.

Blaming the banking sector for pretty much all of the world’s ills, including war, famine and pollution (throw in AIDS, cholera and volcanoes irruption in, while you're at it, why don't you? lol), they are urging supporters to withdraw their money from their bank accounts on December 7.

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Utter, utterly French response from Christine Lagarde, the French finance Minister: Cantona hasn't done ENA so he cannot possibly comment on socio-economico-financial affairs... I mean, I am an elitist but this is really a form of racism...

Christine Lagarde tells Cantona to stick to football
Thu, Dec 2, 2010

Christine Lagarde tells Cantona to stick to football|Eric Cantona

Christine Lagarde, France’s finance minister has told Cantona to stick to his speciality (football) and not interfere in how the financial system works.

“Mr Cantona is no stranger to controversy. He is a great footballer, but I’m not sure we need to pay heed to all his suggestions,” Ms Lagarde said.

“Each to their own,” Lagarde said, when asked about Cantona’s proposal. “There are those who play football magnificently, and I would not dare to try. I think it’s best for everyone to stick to their own speciality.”

In a filmed interview last month that became a YouTube hit (YouTube video available below), Cantona called for a revolution, asking millions of to start withdrawing their money from their banks.

Cantona’s call has been taken up by Stop Banque, a France-based movement that is advocating a run on banks on Dec. 7.

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Quote:

Eric Cantona has taken it upon himself to promote a revolution against the banking oligarchy calling for everyone to take their money out of the banks.

Seems he's been hit on the head by a few too many little green footballs.

Quote:

Utter, utterly French response from Christine Lagarde, the French finance Minister: Cantona hasn't done ENA so he cannot possibly comment on socio-economico-financial affairs...

When a comment is that terminally idiotic, you don't need to be an Enaque to justifiably point it out.

Eric Cantona protest fails to put boot into banks

Footballer-inspired mass withdrawal plan falls flat as banks across France report no extra demand at cashpoints


* Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
* guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 7 December 2010 19.01 GMT


He was once a great goalscorer with a mean kung fu kick, but today Eric Cantona didn't have enough boot to destroy the banking system.

Protesters had called for a global bank run after "Eric le Rouge" claimed revolution was possible if everyone emptied their account on the same day. Protesters chose 7 December in honour of the former Manchester United star's shirt number. But although he contacted a local branch of his bank about a large withdrawal, elsewhere the cashpoint stampede did not materialise. The manager of BNP Paribas in Albert, a town on the Somme, said Cantona stopped by last week to say he intended to withdraw "more than €1,500". But he did not when or how much. Today the branch said that, if he arrived, he would be dealt with like any other customer.

Cantona did not show; he has reinvented himself as an actor, and was believed to be on set at a nearby airport shooting a gangster film with Isabelle Adjani.
Eric Cantona bank protest no-show Journalists wait for Eric Cantona at the BNP bank in Albert. Photograph: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images

However, the French government's attacks on him continued. Roselyne Bachelot, minister for solidarity and social cohesion, pointed out that Cantona's wife, actor Rachida Brakni, starred in an advert for a major bank, LCL, while he advertised products from Renault cars to Bic razors on TV. "You have to have a bit of responsibility when you're one of the high priests of consumer society," Bachelot said. Even Socialist leader Martine Aubry said it had all been an "own goal" by Cantona.

In recent weeks he refused all interviews and expressing surprise at the interest after he told a paper in October: "The three million people in the street, they go to the bank, withdraw their money, and the banks collapse ... That's a real threat, there's a real revolution."

Cantona did not organise today's protest, but said last week that, given the level of support, he felt obliged to "go to the bank" himself. Le Figaro cited an unconfirmed report on the financial news site Wansquare saying he had moved €750,000 from an elite bank into Crédit Agricole. A Franco-Belgian anti-bank group that led online calls for the mass withdrawal said it had no figures on the outcome.

A handful of members of the separate campaign group Sauvons les Riches "Save the Rich", known for ironic stunts to promote equality, withdrew all their cash from a Paris branch of Société Générale and moved it to a co-operative bank. One member, Maxime Hupel, turned up in a replica Manchester United kit. He said he backed Cantona's stance but "didn't want to destroy the bank system, just make it work better". Banks across France said they had seen no extra demand at cashpoints. Outside a BNP Paribas branch on Rue Rivoli, in central Paris, alongside beggars sat holding jam jars, customers were amused. "It's not a bad idea, but it was never going to work, was it?" said Bernard Rond, 62, a retired ministry official. " I'm paying off a mortgage, so I can't just walk out with all my cash. If I could, I would.

"Cantona did reflect the mistrust of banks in France. But he's far more popular in England than he is here. We know him more as an actor than a footballer now."


Eric Cantona protest fails to put boot into banks | World news | The Guardian