Laura Laplaud
modified to
08:51, March 08, 2023
Emmanuel Macron has regularly praised the “work value”, common thread of his political action. “You have to work a little longer,” he said on the Rungis market in mid-February. But should we speak of a work value as if it were a moral value? The philosopher André Comte-Sponville answers this question at the microphone of Europe 1.
The “work value” is at the center of Emmanuel Macron’s action. Whether during his televised speeches or during his trip to the Rungis market in mid-February, the Head of State praises the merits of work. “It is through work, and through more work, that we will be able to preserve our social model”, declared the President of the Republic during one of his televised speeches in November 2021. “We have to work a little longer “, he added to the market of national interest of Rungis.
“Generosity is a moral value”
Described as a common thread of its action, should we speak of a work value as if it were a moral value? André Comte-Sponville, philosopher and author of The key to the fields and other impromptu, is categorical, it is not. “A moral value is an end in itself, work no, it’s a means. Generosity is a moral value”, he said at the microphone of Europe 1 on Wednesday.
“Macron and the right are wrong in making work a moral value. But the left, and especially the Nupes, are wrong in forgetting that it is work that creates wealth and that if we want to finance our pensions, before redistribute, we must produce wealth,” he added.
“A crazy debate”
While the pension reform bill is being considered in the Senate this week, both the head of state and the Republicans continue to praise this “work value”. A misinterpretation, according to André Comte-Sponville. “I have the feeling of a somewhat crazy debate where Macron and the right are fighting in the name of the value of work, which is a misinterpretation [puisque] work is not a moral value, it is a market value. But we have to finance our pensions and I find that the left and the extreme right are a little irresponsible: to speak of a retirement at 60 today would be a singularity on a world scale! In all European countries, people work until they are 65 or 67,” said the philosopher. “I think both are off the mark,” he concluded.