Rotterdam       My last night in Paris I had an assignment.  There was a seminar being moderated by a longtime ally and friend of the organization in France, and, arguably, the expert on community organizing in the country and much of Europe, Julien Talpin.  The Justice Ensemble’s Adrien Roux had to get back to Lyon for a leadership meeting.  We had all had lunch together briefly earlier in the day, so I said sure, I’ll go and throw in my two cents, if it’s desired and potentially helpful.

Being briefed on the subject, it seems one member of the panel was advocating taking some lessons from the initiative process in the United States and trying to create a kind of “fund for democracy” that would try to promote and implement something similar.  From what I could tell there was already something sort of relatively similar that might force Assembly consideration, but required such a huge threshold of millions of signatures that no one had ever tried to use it for progressive purposes.  Now that was interesting to me.  ACORN had run a bunch of big and small initiative campaigns both in states and cities, eventually with huge success, so it’s something I in fact knew a lot about.  I cautioned Adrien that it wasn’t a “silver bullet.”  We had had several decades of experience and good luck with the tactic, but there were huge reactions to our actions, that had to be expected, so although it might be a breath of fresh air for democracy, but the powers that be would curtail its use in direct proportion to its success.  At least, that was part of the US experience that could not be denied.

The seminar was being held in the Conservatoire National Arts et Metiers or the National Conservatory of Arts & Crafts, which, being in Paris, means it was quite an impressive and grand structure from the outside, and even as I found it, I manage to get lost trying to find the seminar, drafting the entire security force to get me to the right room and building.  Long and short, the seminar turned out to be interesting, but not at all about initiatives.  One panelist presented his work on studying major foundations in California, like the California Endowment and big community foundations.  Another mentioned somewhat indirectly a foundation for democracy, but seemed to be making the case for foundations as a progressive funding alternative to the state for these kinds of things.  A third was more an impassioned commentor on the insights of the first two presenters.

My worry about throwing any shade on the tactical and temporary use of initiatives that might have reflected negatively on our French affiliate and its future prospects was now a trivial concern.  Comparing initiatives which had been a powerful tool for us with to private foundations which are almost impossible to love, especially politically, put me potentially in very hot water.  When they asked for comments from the floor, huddled in the back, I was more than willing to just duck my head, until I realized that Julien was calling on me.

One other dangerous problem on this highwire act was of course the fact that the whole proceeding was conducted in French.  I was following closely on Google Translate, which has improved measurably in recent years, and does a night-to-day better job on French to English than it did when I was in India from Hindi to English, but it is still a long way from perfect, and certainly would have missed any nuances in their arguments.

Associates told me I did no mortal damage, despite my critique of foundations, which I had to share both as a grant recipient for decades on the outside and as a board member at Tides for more than 30 years on the inside.  Foundations can’t really escape being a tax shelter, both for good and bad purposes, and are never a substitute for state funded services that are enjoyed in France and other European countries where a robust tax rate leaves fewer ways to dodge.

It was a seminar after all, so who knows what will develop in France.  I passed on a drink with the panel, having made my manners, as my mother would say, to all of them for any harm I might have caused, and was glad to escape into the oncoming night in Paris with the truthful excuse of an early train to Brussels on my next stop.