France has been known as to be one of the first nations that pursued freedom and democracy; most of these ideas passed down to America's founding fathers. That led to the French Revolution, which rebelled against the elitist bourgeoisie ruling class. It is one of the most famous and most studied in the world. And now, France is in the midst of another protest, the 'yellow vest' protest. Maybe it's not quite a revolution, but it's nonetheless significant with global implications.
For over a month, thousands of protestors have gathered on the streets over President Macron's controversial gasoline taxes for cars. Toward the end of 2018, he raised the prices of diesel (the most commonly used gas in France. The price of diesel rose 7.6 cents per liter and 3.9 cents for regular gas, or as they call it over there, petrol. So at least 100,000 people have been protesting every weekend across France (the actual number is significantly higher), and it has only further intensified. Why? On January 1, Macron pulled the final straw. He raised rates again, diesel by an additional 6.5 per liter and 2.9 per liter of petrol. If that already seems significant, then consider the fact that this is per liter, not gallons like in the U.S. So, if we do some quick math, then we get: if 1 gallon equals 3.785 liters, and the average gallon of gas costs 2.00 in the U.S. as of today, then we have 3.785 * (3.9 + 2.9) = 25.738 cents extra tax per gallon. Yeah, that's definitely a high number.
So why this tax again? Well, it has good intentions behind it. The French governments wants to aggressively pursue a more environmentally-focused agenda, and wants to really be the one to push consumers to move away from non-renewable energy sources. Seems good, right? It's for the greater good since it would take significantly longer to switch if government intervention was minimal. However, that simply does not ring well with citizens.
The protests really have no central leader in charge, and it crosses party lines where at least 3/4 of citizens support these protests based on polling and data. Over half of the people who voted for Macron are also against the tax increases. They call themselves the 'yellow vests' since they wear them when they demonstrate.
Demonstrations have mostly been peaceful, but in Paris they are turning very violent. Riots are all over the place and the police is finding it hard to control the crowds. People have been throwing things and breakings things all over. There's also a separate women's Yellow Vests protest that has sprung and that has gained significant momentum.
So what's being done? Well, Macron has defended his actions on the basis of tackling global warming, which does bring merit. However, he has agreed to cut back on those increases. So, problem solved, right? No. It gets worse.
Now protests are springing up over other issues as well, like higher wages and easier admission to universities. Yeah, now people are bringing in everything and pinning it on Macron. Some are calling for him to step down, and want a complete redistribution of wealth. This draws on months and years of growing frustration of a president labeled "president of the rich". Macron has seemingly managed to alienate the citizens and has failed to connect with them and carry out all of his promises.
So I think we can agree that while they have the right and are entitled to speak their mind, bringing in violence makes things worse and only makes them seem like crybabies. Protesting is not a bad thing, but not when it turns to this and they start trying to pin everything one someone. Of course, this doesn't mean that the movement is all extreme; it's just that many of the people are going overboard. Others are just trying to release their build-up frustration with the current administration overall.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/46427610
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-protests-macron/frances-macron-reeling-as-tough-stance-against-yellow-vests-backfires-idUSKCN1P00KG
https://www.france24.com/en/20190105-france-first-yellow-vest-protest-2019
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/yellow-vests-protesting-france-181206083636240.html
For over a month, thousands of protestors have gathered on the streets over President Macron's controversial gasoline taxes for cars. Toward the end of 2018, he raised the prices of diesel (the most commonly used gas in France. The price of diesel rose 7.6 cents per liter and 3.9 cents for regular gas, or as they call it over there, petrol. So at least 100,000 people have been protesting every weekend across France (the actual number is significantly higher), and it has only further intensified. Why? On January 1, Macron pulled the final straw. He raised rates again, diesel by an additional 6.5 per liter and 2.9 per liter of petrol. If that already seems significant, then consider the fact that this is per liter, not gallons like in the U.S. So, if we do some quick math, then we get: if 1 gallon equals 3.785 liters, and the average gallon of gas costs 2.00 in the U.S. as of today, then we have 3.785 * (3.9 + 2.9) = 25.738 cents extra tax per gallon. Yeah, that's definitely a high number.So why this tax again? Well, it has good intentions behind it. The French governments wants to aggressively pursue a more environmentally-focused agenda, and wants to really be the one to push consumers to move away from non-renewable energy sources. Seems good, right? It's for the greater good since it would take significantly longer to switch if government intervention was minimal. However, that simply does not ring well with citizens.
The protests really have no central leader in charge, and it crosses party lines where at least 3/4 of citizens support these protests based on polling and data. Over half of the people who voted for Macron are also against the tax increases. They call themselves the 'yellow vests' since they wear them when they demonstrate.
Demonstrations have mostly been peaceful, but in Paris they are turning very violent. Riots are all over the place and the police is finding it hard to control the crowds. People have been throwing things and breakings things all over. There's also a separate women's Yellow Vests protest that has sprung and that has gained significant momentum.
So what's being done? Well, Macron has defended his actions on the basis of tackling global warming, which does bring merit. However, he has agreed to cut back on those increases. So, problem solved, right? No. It gets worse.
Now protests are springing up over other issues as well, like higher wages and easier admission to universities. Yeah, now people are bringing in everything and pinning it on Macron. Some are calling for him to step down, and want a complete redistribution of wealth. This draws on months and years of growing frustration of a president labeled "president of the rich". Macron has seemingly managed to alienate the citizens and has failed to connect with them and carry out all of his promises.
So I think we can agree that while they have the right and are entitled to speak their mind, bringing in violence makes things worse and only makes them seem like crybabies. Protesting is not a bad thing, but not when it turns to this and they start trying to pin everything one someone. Of course, this doesn't mean that the movement is all extreme; it's just that many of the people are going overboard. Others are just trying to release their build-up frustration with the current administration overall.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/46427610
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-protests-macron/frances-macron-reeling-as-tough-stance-against-yellow-vests-backfires-idUSKCN1P00KG
https://www.france24.com/en/20190105-france-first-yellow-vest-protest-2019
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/yellow-vests-protesting-france-181206083636240.html
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