Posted on Reddit: The real reason the French are rioting.

[toddwv]

https://np.reddit.com/r/instant_regret/comments/a4csni/what_are_you_gonna_do_shoot_me/ebdj8e9/

Everyone is mistaken :

We're not protesting for a few cents off the fuel bill. We're not protesting because we want to pay less taxes.

We're protesting to be able to live decently.

We're protesting because we want the taxes to be applied equally to everyone.

We're protesting because 10 years ago we put ~€ 400 billion to save banks, and last year the government voted a "pact" with big companies saying "we reduce your charges by 40 billion, but you hire 1 million". They cashed in and didn't hire a single person.

We're protesting because for 20 years the govt told us to "buy diesel cars, it's safer, cheaper to use,..." and now diesel is more expensive than gasoline (~€1,5/L).

We're protesting because nurses have to take care of more than 50 patients at once, for less than €1200/month.

We're protesting because every single law that is voted is voted in favor of the 1%.

We're protesting because we're being told that "we people don't know what's good for us, but that's normal, after all we're the people, we can't understand" (govt deputy)

We're protesting because mass medias are lying to our face ("did you know that there were only 120k people protesting maximum?" That's at least three times less than the real figures).

We're protesting because the only measure the govt has taken until now is to freeze the fuel tax for 6 months and imprison protesters (up to 6 months of jail).

We're protesting because we want to stop being fucked all day long by bosses/investors/taxes/prices/state agencies.

We're protesting because we are tired of being slaved.

I could go on and on about this. Just remember: "When the government violates the rights of the people, insurrection is, for the people and for each portion of the people, the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties" (Declaration of rights of man and citizen, 1793)

[greyl]

1. The author also published this:

"That really shows one thing: socialists, democrats, republicans, ... they're all the same piles of shit." - hugthebug

[.99center]

3. "we really don't trust offcial numbers anymore (even less in election times)"

And this...

"The people who will vote are the same ones that "voted" for Macron. And to be honest, we really don't trust offcial numbers anymore (even less in election times)"

[Iliyah]

2. This smells like right winger aka

Nazi shit, same thing that happened which was WW2.

[uppityperson]

5. Sounds more like people fed up with the 1%

Aka us.

[Raine]

15. Exactly... nt

[JudyM]

25. "Slaved!" That pretty much makes the point.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

26. Bingo!! We hava winna!!

[JI7]

10. yup

just look at the first response to this thread.

[dalton99a]

4. "Government is fake news. Trust Facebook. Do what Twitter tells you."

[bitterross]

6. Wish we could muster protests for all these reasons.

The US will never be able to have a day of protest. The diversity of the country ensures we will never be able to agree on a walk out.

There will always be people more loyal to a Trump than to themselves.

[roamer65]

7. Let see what people in CA, NY and New England think after April 15, 2019.

It’s going to be a tax shock for a lot of them.

[MaryMagdaline]

13. I think they've already figured it out and that's why Long Island and

Orange County went blue.

[uponit7771]

18. THIS !!!!

[certainot]

8. a few hundred loudmouthed assholes on 1500 think tank coordinated radio stations have been

deciding that - while the idiots in the dem party and progressive orgs gave them a free speech free ride

that's why protests don't work anymore - a few sowb dipshits like limbaugh and hannity and their local grown spawn are a lot louder and can scream with outrage long after the protestors have gone home

that's what happened to the iraq attack protests and OWS

[certainot]

9. if you want to get noticed protest RW radio stations and the universities that

support them

[SunSeeker]

11. The French have great single payer healthcare and excellent worker rights.

Compared to the average worker in the US, they are in great shape. I just don't see the justification for the rioting and violence...unless you like Putin.

[uppityperson]

23. There is massive unemployment in France. IF you have a job, you have rights, but getting

a job is nearly impossible for too many.

There is not job switching like in the usa, so once you get a job you are stuck there because there aren't other jobs. For young people, finding a job is very difficult. For older adults whose jobs may have ended or who have moved, there is intense competition for any new ones.

Unemployment is huge.

Gas and diesel cost twice what they do in the USA also. Macron is a centrist, but better him than the extremist RW.

[SunSeeker]

24. They're not rioting about unemployment.

High unemployment is not new in France.

[uppityperson]

27. I was responding to your view of healthcare and.workers rights. "Compared to the average worker in..

"Compared to the average worker in the US..." , it's not that simple about working. That's all.

[SunSeeker]

29. I get your point.

But unemployed with free health care and a full safety net is nothing like being unemployed here. That is why they are not rioting over unemployment.

This started out as rioting over the increase in gas prices to the equivalent of $7/gallon for diesel. Protests over prices is not new in Frence.

But this fuel price protest is different because it has been hijacked by the right wing and Putin, expanding to other countries through social media and becoming a more amorphous grievance protest.

It reminds me of the nasty protests a couple years ago by French farmers when milk prices dropped after Russia sanctions were implemented. Manure was dumped on roads, blocking traffic. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/french-farmers-block-roads-in-protest-at-huge-drop-in-milk-and-pork-prices-following-russian-trade-a6875581.html Wouldn't be surprised if Putin goaded that one too.

[uppityperson]

39. I am in agreement with your take on the protests.

[brush]

12. What's up with the responses in this thread? Have imposter bots taken over?

[Raine]

14. I'm wondering too

like

[uponit7771]

19. Got a hide for dissing Bernie Bros ... I think they're baaaaaaaack

[ucrdem]

16. 1,5/L equals $6.43/ gallon for diesel

which is pretty high for a stinky fuel, with or without a carbon tax. Mainly though I think they're protesting Macron's lack of empathy, which boils down to several big blunders he's never made amends for, starting with his invitation to Trump that first July 14 after he was elected. That didn't seem particularly fatal to me, just a little naive, as Macron was hoping to win Trump back into supporting the Paris accord, but his popularity took a hit and never really recovered.

[octoberlib]

17. The protests have been hijacked by the

far right. It started out as a rural protest now they’re demanding no immigration and quitting the EU and NATO. The National Front and Russia are involved as well as people like UKip’s Tommy Robinson .

[uponit7771]

20. Yep, this protest is bunk

[melman]

21. No it's not

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Some of these tweets are the first in a series. You can click through to read the rest.

If you'd like to actually know what's going on that is. Up to you.

[George II]

30. Just as many have suspected:

France to Probe Possible Russian Influence on Yellow Vest Riots

France opened a probe into possible Russian interference behind the country’s Yellow Vest protests, after reports that social-media accounts linked to Moscow have increasingly targeted the movement.

According to the Alliance for Securing Democracy, about 600 Twitter accounts known to promote Kremlin views have begun focusing on France, boosting their use of the hashtag #giletsjaunes, the French name for the Yellow Vest movement. French security services are looking at the situation, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sunday in a radio interview with RTL.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-09/pro-russia-social-media-aims-at-macron-as-yellow-vests-rage

[melman]

33. What's your point?

Is that supposed to invalidate all the real concerns expressed by the people interviewed?

[George II]

34. You know the point. Why not read the article?

[melman]

36. So

No point then. Okay.

[George II]

40. The point is in the article.

Okay.

[melman]

43. No it's not

I read it. It doesn't explain how you think this discredits the people interviewed. How could it? Only you could do that.

But as you're apparently unwilling to do so, we are done here. Thanks!

[George II]

45. I never said it discredited those who were interviewed, but only a few...

... of the thousands who demonstrated were interviewed. But you're perfectly willing imply that five or six represented everyone on the streets of Paris.

[Iggo]

28. It's not because they hate brown mooslims?

Well shit!

[George II]

31. The Russians are stoking the unrest.

[delisen]

32. but the unrest is there to be stoked.

[Muskiteer]

35. Workers don't trust the old Communist and Socialist party officials.

The old and discredited Communist Party and Socialist Party "left" has failed to support and help build these protests of working class people. They are letting the far right hijack this growing mass movement rather than challenge them.

[melman]

38. Seems pretty obvious doesn't it

[malaise]

42. It's not that simple

Neo-,I realism is hurting everyone but the rich everywhere.
They may be taking advantage of the moment but it is much bigger than that.

[malaise]

41. To simplify

Fuck neo-liberalism everywhere

[Muskiteer]

44. Thanks for the post.

I think it reflects what is actually happening in the streets. Working class people are revolting with little or no support from the discredited leadership of the old guard Communist and Socialist parties.

[scipan]

46. I think I'll believe the Guardian rather than some posters on DU

The government dropped the eco-tax last week, but the protest movement has ballooned into a more general protest against high taxes, the rising cost of living, poverty with the country’s leaders criticised as elitist, arrogant and out of touch.

The movement, which spread quickly on Facebook and social media, now appears to encompass what some are calling “real” gilets jaunes, “casseurs”, as well as fringe elements from the political extremes.

Negotiating with the gilets jaunes has been hampered because there is no official organisation or leadership.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/09/paris-monuments-reopen-after-latest-rioting-during-gilets-jaunes-protests

The Russian bots are as usual taking advantage of the authentic protesters. I don't think they have ever initiated anything and they certainly don't have the power to start a protest with so many.