French President Emmanuel Macron delayed a planned tax increase on fuel, handing a victory to a grass-roots protest movement that has massed
across France to challenge his agenda.
Faced with another weekend of destructive protests by the “gilets jaunes”—or yellow vests—Prime Minister Édouard Philippe told a news
conference Tuesday the tax hike would be pushed back six months. The worst riots to hit Paris in decades erupted during antigovernment protests
Saturday, leaving the city’s shopping and tourist center dotted with burning cars and broken storefronts. Protesters vandalized the Arc de Triomphe,
rattling Mr. Macron’s administration and the nation.
www.wsj.com...
SO there is a lot to say about this.
First on the gas tax; although I think there are other reasons for the protest as well, this seems to be a large part of it.
This shows what I have been concerned with for a while; why does all of the intelectuals efforst to solve climate change always mean the poor and
middle class must suffer more? Do you really think the waelthy care that gas prices in France were over $7 a gallon? Of course not! But to the
average worker that is crippling.
This is why climate change conversations need to occur, that discuss the impact, time frame, and severity of the problem, and equally discussing those
about proposed solutions and how much of the problem those solutions will solve.
We see in the US call by Dems for a green new deal, and things like carbon tax that would drastically raise energy prices here. Perhaps France should
be a warning about why that could end badly. But for many people, any disagreement with thes eproposed solutions means you deny science, hate the
environment, and should be shut up. As long as that is the grounds the debate is on, nothing will be solved and situations like in France will
continue.
Also, if Macrons tax was so important to save the world from Climate Change, why has he stalled it? Almsot like he knows that even without this tax,
the world will go on. This seems to suggest to me that the alarmist rhetoric needs to be tamped down, and more gradual solutions need to be
sought.
Now I know what people are thinking, of course a right winger like me wants to focus only on left wing climate change policies being the problem in
France.
Well i dont. I think it is a mistake to assume that everyone is protesting for the same reason (though there does seem to be one theme as I will get
to).
I admit to being woefully ignorant of much of whats going on in France, but I have read that Macron is seen as a President for the rich, cutting taxes
and barriers for wealthy business people, and increasing the burden on the poor. These would largely be seen as right wing policies, so I am trying
to be fair minded here.
Regardless of rather or not that is true, it certainly seems the perception is affecting some of the protestors.
I think the connection between all of the protestors is the idea that their government is no longer represnting the working class. I see this aall
around the world, including the US.
It seems to me from an outsider perspective that Macron and his government is more concerned with the EU, migrants, and the wealthy than every day
working French people.
This is similar in the US. I am a Republican (libertarian leaning) and that party has usually been the oparty of free markets and small government,
which with foster capital that will lead to markets creating jobs.
The democrats were the party of the working people, and there to ensure that they had a voice in these free market world.
The democrats have totally abandoned the working class, and now cater to identity politics based on race and gender, and are the party of the very
rich and poor.
So there is sort of a gap where no one is focusing on the working class. We can see that in issues such as illegal immigration, where republicans
want cheap labor, and democrats want votes and demographic shifts.
So I think France is a good indicator of what could happen elsewhere around the world including the US if governments dont start working for their
working class people.
edit on 4-12-2018 by Grambler because: (no reason given)