ReportingIn this micro-region of western France, there are neither rich nor poor, no unemployed, no managers. A statistical curiosity that feeds a certain local mythology of equality, seen as a legacy of the Vendée wars.
There is something there to dream of any local elected official. “Each year, we only spend 50% of our budget,” laments Thierry Lebrec, however, taking off his glasses, fogged up by his mask. He looks in his papers, struggling himself to believe it: 70% of the 25,000 inhabitants of his town could claim social housing, but do not ask for it. And for good reason: in Sèvremoine (Maine-et-Loire), between Nantes and Cholet, everyone owns their own house. In fact, everyone works. The city has less than 5% unemployment, one of the lowest rates in the country. Thierry Lebrec is in charge of solidarity and health at the town hall, but his constituents do very well without his services.
Welcome to the Mauges, this triangle of bocage whose name derives from the expression “bad people”, forged by Julius Caesar in his Gallic Wars. But this legend annoys the locals, as it contravenes the local mythology of a harmonious, open and fraternal territory. Because Sèvremoine is the most egalitarian city in the country, according to the Observatory of Inequalities, which uses data from INSEE. With its neighbors Beaupréau and Chemillé, which compete for first place in the ranking, it forms a homogeneous ecosystem of more than 70,000 inhabitants who present themselves as “Maugeois”. The better off are barely richer than the poorest, and vice versa. In other words, there is neither rich nor poor, no active solidarity income (RSA), no wealth tax (ISF). The median income? 1,781 euros per month, close to the national average.
In fact, the Mauges are something of a statistical anomaly. Of this territory that is both rural and industrial, one could say that it “ticks all the boxes” of the France dreamed of by Eric Zemmour, steeped in Judeo-Christian culture, without immigrants and without multinationals, where the “work value” is part of the biblical command, and where the state inspires mistrust at best. But the extreme right has never managed to establish itself there. “When you can own the minimum wage, when your children have access to a good education and find a job, you have no reason to question the system”, sums up Aymeric Merlaud, former RN adviser from Pays de la Loire and a native of Mauges.
In the kingdom of the “Maugeois”, equality can be seen with the naked eye. The towns all look alike: a bakery, a real estate agency, one or two mutual banks, just to remind people of the virtues of saving. Around, the bocage. It’s hard to find a house that would overshadow its neighbours. There is indeed that of the founder of the historic company – often in the manufacture of shoes – but you have to look for it between two narrow streets, and it hardly impresses. “Here, it’s very frowned upon to stand out”, assures Laurence Adrien-Bigeon, teacher in a technical school and figure of the local left.
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