The fire at Notre Dame de Paris and the response to it.

I think this fire will bring out a lot of contradictions in the national story of France.. a secular republicanism which is contested by the Christianism of the far right at a time when Paris and other cities are inexorably multifaith. In one sense ND is only a building and buildings are not essential for authentic Christian faith.. but it is an important symbol in the French chain of memory. It needs to be rebuilt.

But the instant response of money raising and comparisons with other justice issues and events like Grenfell rightly problematizes the public response.

In principle yes we can and should have both culture, beauty, and history alongside a real practical concern for the poor and oppressed. Yet in the real world the instant financial response for ND and other cultural projects seems to be coming from plutocrats who have made their money from the labour or spending of the common people. And we need to remember most of the great monuments of civilisation from the pyramids to the cathedrals of Europe were built using slave or serf labour – though undoubtedly the craftsmen among them could take a real pride in their work.

To be fair the best plutocrats often give a proportion of their wealth as charity to the poor. However they retain control of how it is used and rarely understand the difference between philanthropy and justice or equality

I see the point of both .. we cannot live on bread alone, and in the context of lavish anointing with fine perfume the poor will always be with us (though there are different ways of reading that text).But there are always economic choices to be made and priorities often have to fit the hierarchy of needs.

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