But also how to speak as people living across the Atlantic, removed from the more direct experience of this assault on the citizens of Paris. We nevertheless believe it is important to reaffirm the social bond we feel with the members of the Ecole de la Cause Freudienne. From our perspective, the onslaught of November 13 was itself an attempt to rip apart the social link at the heart of Parisian culture. Our 9/11 was also a horrible massacre, but somehow different in that it was a strike on semblants of American capitalism and government. Whereas these coordinated attacks in Paris seemed to be directed towards the everyday lives of people and their modes of jouissance. It has been called an act of war by many officials and individuals. But what is this war about? At the core of this religious crusade against Parisian culture, it appears to us to be a war of jouissance. Last spring in NYC Marie-Hélène Brousse gave a talk in which she addressed the attack on Charlie Hebdo and pointed out that “jouissance in monotheism, is always tragic: sacrifice, martyrdom, and always linked with death.” It is a way of putting “suffering into the glory of God as a process of transformation.” Although we can’t fight the terrorist’s mode of jouissance, it appears that the social fabric of Paris is stronger than the attackers anticipated. Despite police warning, Parisians not only went into the streets the next day, but directly after the attacks a signifier also emerged: #portesouvertes, an effort through Twitter to help those on the streets and to preserve social links.