In Lyon France

My wife and I went to Paris, then Beaune for the Hospices de Beaune (more on that in another post). We are in Lyon now. Had a fabulous dinner at Daniel and Denise where we had the famous Bresse Chicken.

We took a tour this morning. Our guide was from Holland but I could tell he was a hard leftist after conversing for a bit. Of course he wanted a “tip” at the end of the tour and I gave him one. Capitalism still is king.

Lyon was the center of silk manufacturing. Jacquard invented the silk loom which was the precursor to computers. Punch cards tell what needle moves. Here are some.

Karl Marx developed some of his communist theory because of the silk workers here. In China today they still teach children about the silk workers in Lyon.

In WW2 the French Resistance was centered here. Interestingly Klaus Barbie was an SS Agent who was charged with uncovering the Resistance. He was called The Butcher of Lyon. He tortured and put thousands to death. Post war, Barbie cut a deal with the CIC or what is now the CIA. He helped the CIA and DeGaulle’s government root out communists. Since Lyon’s resistance was mostly communists Barbie had a good handle on them.

After a bit the CIA moved several Nazis to South America. Barbie settled in Belize where he became an arms dealer. Wonder how he got that gig?

The point of the story is that while we love America and all that, the intelligence agencies will work with and do things that are very anti-American.

This is cogent given the Deep State today.

I thought this was interesting. It is made on a loom from silk. It celebrates the Declaration of Independence.

I hope their ideas persist longer than Marx’s.