By Sénamé Agbossou Watching the social unrest unfold across France over recent years (from the yellow vest protests to the farmers' roadblocks, culminating in movements like Bloquons tout), I find myself asking: Is this truly just a political crisis, or are we witnessing something deeper? Something that cuts to the heart of how we understand community, belonging, and shared purpose? As someone who carries both Togolese and French nationality, with decades of professional experience spanning Europe and Africa, I see France's current struggles through a unique lens. It's the lens of Ubuntu; the African philosophy that reminds us "I am because we are," and through my work with Obuntuo, I've dedicated myself to making this principle operational in teams, institutions, and civic life. What I see in France today isn't just a failure of politics. It's a failure of relationship. And Ubuntu has much to teach us about what's missing, and how to find our way back. What Ubuntu Reveals About France's Disconnect When we apply Ubuntu's wisdom to France's current crisis, six critical gaps become crystal clear: 1. The Dignity Deficit Ubuntu begins with a fundamental truth: every person's worth matters; especially those who oppose us. But look at France's current political temperature. The lead-up to Bloquons tout has already produced deeply degrading symbols like pig heads dumped near places of worship bearing the president's name. This isn't just bad politics; it's a corrosion of the very foundation that makes democratic conversation possible. Here's what Ubuntu knows that we seem to have forgotten: dignity lost upstream becomes disorder downstream. When we stop seeing our opponents as fellow humans deserving of respect, we poison the well of collective problem-solving before we even begin. 2. The Interdependence Illusion In a hung Assembly, mathematical reality is clear: no single side can govern alone. Legitimacy must be co-created, not seized. Yet our political culture continues to operate as if one camp could "win" completely and the others simply vanish into irrelevance. The revolving door of governments and the parade of fresh Prime Minister resignations tells the story of what happens when we deny interdependence rather than design for it. Ubuntu reminds us that sustainable power is shared power, not because it's morally nice, but because it actually works. 3. The Participation Vacuum Policies don't exist in boardrooms; they land on real lives. Farmers feeling the pinch of new regulations. Nurses stretched thin in understaffed hospitals. Students facing uncertain futures. Small business owners navigating impossible bureaucracy. When the people who carry the true cost of policy feel unheard in its creation, they organize their own megaphone. The farmers' roadblocks of 2024-25 weren't really about diesel taxes; they were a demand to be co-authors of their own story, not merely objects of someone else's policy experiments. 4. The Reciprocity Gap Ubuntu teaches us that budgets are social covenants, not just spreadsheets. When austerity measures are presented without visible protections, without clear evidence of shared sacrifice, citizens read it as punishment, not partnership. This explains the…