By By Michael Cosgrove Dec 5, 2010 in Politics Best known for destroying defenses with his fabulous ball skills, Eric Cantona has now called for a bank boycott to destroy the system and the campaign wants us to withdraw all our money on Tuesday. This may all look like harmless fun, but it is not. His playing career finished years ago - he is 44 -but he is still capable of delivering a mighty kung fu kick, although today’s version is more metaphorical than physical. He has lost none of his almost reckless tell-it-how-it-is approach and his latest target is the banking system. Tuesday will see the culmination of a campaign begun by him and taken up by thousands of others on several Internet sites. The idea is to revolt and destroy the banking system, and Tuesday has been designated as the day upon which we are invited to go to the bank and take out all the money we have in our accounts, thus emptying the banking system of liquidity and bankrupting it (no pun intended.) He made "The system revolves around the banks. It's based on the power of the banks... so it must be destroyed starting with the banks. This means that the 3 million people with their placards on the street... they go to the bank, withdraw their money from the banks and these ones collapse. 10 million people and the banks collapse and there is now a real threat, a real revolution. We must go to the bank. In this case there would be a real revolution. It's not complicated. You simply go to the bank in your country and withdraw your money. If there are enough people withdrawing their money, the system collapses. No weapons, no blood, or anything like that." That interview was widely reported, French consumer protection association CLCV also weighed in to say that the movement is “pure madness” and Economy minister Christine Lagarde felt herself obliged to declare that “He was an awesome soccer player but I’m not sure that we should do everything he suggests.” As Another worry is that of robbery. With so many people wandering the streets with so much cash in their wallets there would certainly be a few unsporting types who would be tempted to rob them. Cantona himself would be a prime target because if he put his money where his mouth is so to speak he would need several trips with a wheelbarrow to carry home the millions of Euros he is said to have in his bank account. Eric Cantona’s movement is doomed to failure of course, but what is interesting to note here is that his idea was even taken seriously in the first place, never mind that it became the subject of press statements from banking authorities and a government minister. So why all the fuss? His movement’s relatively high level of exposure is a tangible sign that the French are extremely unhappy. Millions of demonstrators have been out on the streets over the last few months to protest various new reform packages, most notably that concerning retirement, and some of those demonstrations have been It is a commonly held point of view here that the French have the uneasy feeling that world events are going too fast to be controlled and that they have much less say in how their lives are run today than they did before. They are afraid of the future, of globalization, of what will happen now that France is no longer a major world power, and that they are living in an insecure environment. That is exactly what Eric Cantona was implying when he said that the government wasn’t listening to people any more, and the French are not alone in thinking this way. His call for a revolution against the banks may appear frivolous on the surface, but it has a deeper, much more serious, signification. It represents yet another warning shot across the bows of ‘the system’, and that is something that governments will ignore for too long at their peril. Eric Cantona was a gifted and explosive soccer player, one of soccer's most loveable bad boys ever, and watching him play was a great pleasure to soccer fans such as myself. However, like most gifted people who want success at all costs he could be aggressive when crossed, both on the pitch and off it. That’s why he will live on forever in the memory of fans all over the world for the spectacular flying kung fu kick he used against a fan who insulted him (see video.)His playing career finished years ago - he is 44 -but he is still capable of delivering a mighty kung fu kick, although today’s version is more metaphorical than physical. He has lost none of his almost reckless tell-it-how-it-is approach and his latest target is the banking system.Tuesday will see the culmination of a campaign begun by him and taken up by thousands of others on several Internet sites. The idea is to revolt and destroy the banking system, and Tuesday has been designated as the day upon which we are invited to go to the bank and take out all the money we have in our accounts, thus emptying the banking system of liquidity and bankrupting it (no pun intended.)He made his appeal during an informal discussion with journalists in October and he was musing on what he says is the state’s refusal to help the poor and homeless and act upon people’s demands for a fairer society when he said the following."The system revolves around the banks. It's based on the power of the banks... so it must be destroyed starting with the banks. This means that the 3 million people with their placards on the street... they go to the bank, withdraw their money from the banks and these ones collapse. 10 million people and the banks collapse and there is now a real threat, a real revolution. We must go to the bank. In this case there would be a real revolution. It's not complicated. You simply go to the bank in your country and withdraw your money. If there are enough people withdrawing their money, the system collapses. No weapons, no blood, or anything like that."That interview was widely reported, it went viral on the Internet , and the campaign began. Surprisingly enough, the campaign has had so much success that the banks felt obliged to respond, with the General Director of major bank BNP Paribas issuing a statement to the effect that “A recommendation to withdraw money is a risk to public security and is the opposite of what we need to ensure a healthy economy.”French consumer protection association CLCV also weighed in to say that the movement is “pure madness” and Economy minister Christine Lagarde felt herself obliged to declare that “He was an awesome soccer player but I’m not sure that we should do everything he suggests.”As Liberation points out however, there are a few snags to iron out if his plan is to work. With 98 percent of French people holding €779bn in their bank accounts the effect of withdrawing it all in one fell swoop would certainly be devastating, but banks in France do not permit massive cash withdrawals without several days’ notice and indeed many local banks do not even handle cash withdrawals. That the vast majority of credit card withdrawals are limited to €400 on any one day doesn’t help his cause either.Another worry is that of robbery. With so many people wandering the streets with so much cash in their wallets there would certainly be a few unsporting types who would be tempted to rob them. Cantona himself would be a prime target because if he put his money where his mouth is so to speak he would need several trips with a wheelbarrow to carry home the millions of Euros he is said to have in his bank account.Eric Cantona’s movement is doomed to failure of course, but what is interesting to note here is that his idea was even taken seriously in the first place, never mind that it became the subject of press statements from banking authorities and a government minister. So why all the fuss?His movement’s relatively high level of exposure is a tangible sign that the French are extremely unhappy. Millions of demonstrators have been out on the streets over the last few months to protest various new reform packages, most notably that concerning retirement, and some of those demonstrations have been extremely violent. People demonstrated knowing full well that their demands would not be met but that wasn’t the point. They were demonstrating to express their “ras le bol” – their deep dissatisfaction – with everything and everyone, including “le système.” “Ras le bol” was one of the phrases most in view on banners moreover.It is a commonly held point of view here that the French have the uneasy feeling that world events are going too fast to be controlled and that they have much less say in how their lives are run today than they did before. They are afraid of the future, of globalization, of what will happen now that France is no longer a major world power, and that they are living in an insecure environment.That is exactly what Eric Cantona was implying when he said that the government wasn’t listening to people any more, and the French are not alone in thinking this way.His call for a revolution against the banks may appear frivolous on the surface, but it has a deeper, much more serious, signification. It represents yet another warning shot across the bows of ‘the system’, and that is something that governments will ignore for too long at their peril. This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com More about Eric cantona, Greek banks, Revolution More news from eric cantona banks revolution