Guest essay by Eric Worrall
France has been brought to a standstill as yellow vests opposed to President Macron’s climate policies joined forces with around 800,000 protestors opposed to cost of living increases, fuel price hikes and pension reforms.
Tensions flare in Paris as yellow vests join French retirement protests
Scuffles broke out in Paris between police and protesters as yellow vest activists joined the wave of protest actions against the Government’s overhaul of France’s national retirement system.
Truckers joined the demonstrations, blocking roads in 10 regions across France to protest against a planned reduction in tax breaks on diesel for road transport
A similar fuel tax is what unleashed the yellow vest movement a year ago, and this convergence of grievances could pose a major new threat to Macron’s presidency.
In Paris there were scuffles with police as several hundred yellow vest protesters continued their weekly demonstrations, but numbers were relatively small compared with previous weeks as the transport strike made it hard to reach the capital.
Train and metro services remained heavily disrupted by the pension strike.
The combined pressure of the yellow vest movement over the cost of living and union protests against pension reform are a major challenge to President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts to balance the state budget and introduce more environmentally friendly legislation in the second half of his mandate.
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Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-08/tensions-as-yellow-vests-join-french-retirement-protests/11777418
The protestors appear to have legitimate grievances; Macron’s pension reforms, climate policies, fuel price increases and other “reforms” are causing real hardship.
But President Macron, who once promised to be remote and decisive like the Roman God Jupiter, appears determined to demonstrate his authority by sending armed riot police to smash protests with force.
My thought; French history has some sharp lessons for rulers who believe they are above caring about the will of the people.
“My thought; French history has some sharp lessons for rulers who believe they are above caring about the will of the people.”
They most certainly do and it’s not pretty.
Does anybody manufacture guillotines these days? Maybe good startup idea. Make it work with solar power and call it “decarbonator”.
+10
Last time one was used in France was in the 1970’s.
The last was Hamida Djandoubi, guillotined on september 10th in 1977, at the Baumettes jail of Marseille.
Germany’s economy is tanking. France in disarray, Spain still trying to get out of its worst recession and the EU is on a slide towards oblivion. Britain has its once in a century chance of saving itself by getting off the EU’s runaway train which is heading into the abyss.
BBC is against Brexit and love war on Climate/Weather using industrial wind-turbines as their preferred weapon, so there will be no Brexit.
UK down with the EU, with only Poland and Czech Republic going up. /Wild-Guess
All while the US is enjoying an upward trend for the next year.
So where does that leave the weather? Hmm, one could ask Piers Corbyn, because his brother has no clue what so ever.
So much for the claim that the European people are 100% behind the drive to pay any cost to stop CO2.
The ones protesting don’t count they have the wrong political view and once sent to a re-education camp will see the error of there ways.
A country like Canada with so many natural resources per person and an educated population should be swimming in money. I conclude socialism is the reason it is not.
Their Ontario centered economic outlook has the people of BC so angry there is a movement to succeed. Not that I believe anything will come of that YET, but it is an indication of the divide.
Not BC, unfortunately. Alberta has a rising secessionist movement, Saskatchewan would likely go with them if they did, but the two provinces really need a port. BC would provide that, and most of the rural BC-ers would probably like to secede too, but they’re out-voted by liberal Vancouver.
Frankly, if Alberta did have a port, I suspect they would already be getting ready to leave. Trudeau is doing his best to wreck their economy and culture.
Maybe les Déplorables will get ‘woke’ and vote for Marine Le Pen.
One of the major reasons the older French voted for Jupiter is that he promised to leave pensions alone and sneered at the economic warnings from Marine….he has also often said France needed to be at the vanguard of the green economic new age because to drag ones feet would be economic suicide. All lies.
Having said that…they voted for this POS even though it was perfectly obvious that he was intent on the destruction of Frances heritage and identity. He said he would do exactly that….anything that happens now is at the feet of the damned fools that voted for this ludicrous, prattling little oik.
As for the Germans, Jupiter’s greatest ally, goose stepping to the latest fashion in socialism is in their DNA and it is no surprise to me they are attempting world domination…once again. I hope like hell they wind up dragging Merkel through the streets like the Black shirts did to Mussolini after the green hits the fan. How they could vote for an ex-Stasi high flyer time and again is beyond belief, was it her beautiful charming charisma? And so their chickens are coming home to roost as well…and I couldn’t care less…they deserve whatever they get, I am only concerned for the countries these vile totalitarian states are compelling by force to commit societal suicide in the same way they themselves have.
ZERO coverage in Australian media. Hummm…wonder why?
Might I suggest people read/re-read Orwell’s book “1984”. Just look at what is happening.
“Yellow Vest Protests SURGE as Macron’s France is COLLAPSING!!” Dr Steve Turley
So many comments about «socialists/communists» using «other people’s money» (which, incidentally, is the money collected through taxes or borrowed from privately owned banks) and not a reference to the trillions of «dollars», stashed away in the wonderful, «out-of-sight», magic world of offshore treasure islands…
Maybe the French aren’t the rubes I thought they were.
French pensions is a special, complicated case.
It’s the heritage of https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-huawei&biw=360&bih=518&sxsrf=ACYBGNSbGndTS4mSgbXDavP-fQo-DUGiPg%3A1576802971542&ei=mxr8XZHKIMbCkwWtsIkw&q=de+gaulle++vichy+regime+Algeria+conflict++L%C3%A9gion+%C3%A9trang%C3%A8re&oq=de+gaulle++vichy+regime+Algeria+conflict++L%C3%A9gion+%C3%A9trang%C3%A8re&gs_l=mobile-gws-wiz-serp.
– a pledge given to the people following the Algerian conflict.
Since scarce still remember how to turn the tide.