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The People Of France Reject Macron’s Policies – How Long Can He Survive?
The current wave of protests in France, which started two weeks ago, is growing in impact and applied violence. On Saturday some 120,000 people took part in demonstrations around the country. The movement was initiated from the political right but many other parties also support it. Most of the participants seem to take part spontaneously. The movement is supposedly leaderless. But it is too early to exclude that there is some larger organizing power behind it.
In short: The Arab spring arrived in Europe.
“The people demand the fall of the regime.” – bigger
Like the 1968 May protests that started in Paris this new movement will have echos in other countries.
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While mostly peaceful protest were held in all parts of France the situation in Paris caught the most attention. On Saturday the protesters stormed the Arc de Triomphe. They rearranged the interior, damaged a statue of Marianne, and redecorated the outside.
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When the riot police tried to intervene it came under a hail of cobble stones (vid) and had to retreat. Graffiti left behind by the protesters read: ‘We’ve chopped off heads for less than this’, ‘Topple the Bougeoisie’, ‘May 1968 December 2018’.
The immediate reason for the protests are an increase of the fuel tax that President Marcron defends as a step to fight climate change. But the fuel tax is only the last drop of a steady stream of price increases for the poor and middle class while their income stagnates. Meanwhile the rich are receiving one tax cut after the other. The fuel price is important for anyone who needs to drive to work. Public transport may work well within the Paris ring-road but most people live beyond the view of the Elysées and do need a car.
On Saturday the peaceful protesters in Paris were accompanied by ‘moderate rebels’. They left behind the usual trail but are still waiting for foreign powers to arm them.
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Trump does not get along with Macron. How long will it take for him to suggests a no-fly zone?
The use of yellow warning vests, gilets jaunes in french, give the protester a smell of an arranged ‘color revolution’. Then again – it is always helpful in demonstrations to distinguish one’s side. These warning vests are mandatory emergency equipment in each car, they are readily available and sell for as little as €0.65.
After seeing the same neoliberal policies executed under the presidencies of Sarkozy and Hollande, the French people despised both the conservative party as well as the ‘socialists’. But they well still not ready to move to a more radical parties on the right or left side.
The powers that be put up a former Rothschild banker as an alternative to the established parties and the media pushed him over the finish line. But Macron is even more neoliberal that Sarkozy or Hollande ever were and he is way more aloof and arrogant than both of them. He resembles a modern Marie Antoinette: ‘If they don’t like my fuel taxes let them buy electric cars.’
Macrons next projects are a pension reform and changes in the unemployment insurance. Both will cause more protests. Polls show that the French public overwhelmingly supports the yellow vests protests and their demands while Macron’s popularity has fallen from 55% in May 2017 to some 27% now.
Some commentators blame the EU for Macron’s policies. But that excuse is false. The EU did not demand the elimination of the wealth tax in France. Moreover – the EU implements the policy guidelines the large EU countries set out. Macron could surely change those if he wanted to.
On Saturday both sides were violent. But Macron and his police are far from innocent in the escalation. On May 1 Macron’s top security aide Alexandre Benalla was filmed beating up protesters. In July a scandal ensued when Macron attempted to cover up the case. He sees violence as an appropriate way to handle resistance against his polices.
On Saturday the police even deployed sniper teams on roofs.
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One clip purports to show a protester going down after being hit by a bullet, followed by a light streak that seems to be from a tracer round fired from above. Another clip shows some ten heavily protected policemen using their tonfa sticks to beat the shit out of one lone unarmed protester. As usual it is difficult to verify these videos.
Today an 80 year old lady in Marseille got killed when a police tear gas canister hit her face.
Anthropologist and demographer Emmanuel Todd commentated (vid, french) on the riots on a French TV show. Sophia translated his main points:
“The violence comes from Macron. He seems to take pleasure in humiliating ordinary people. With with the Benalla affair, we saw the violence coming out directly, not only from the Elysées, but from the mind of the president.
By refusing to enact a moratorium on the taxes that provoked the protests, the govt is enacting the strategy of chaos whereby if these protests, which are popular now, continue, a layer of the population will rise against them.”
Macron might enact a state of emergency but that would only fuel the protests. It is doubtful that Macron’s plan of a ‘strategy of chaos’ will work. The French president gets elected for 5 years. Only 18 month in Macron managed to move a large majority against him. It is unlikely that he will serve out his full term.
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i thought i would read a more interesting viewpoint from you
james thx for the underhand compliment.
I get it that nobody likes to read about diesel fuel (aka the *real economy*): the narrative is all about Macron vs. the protestors, that is, humans who, we trust, have decisionary control of their actions.
A ‘moratorium’ the F Gvmt. feels saves face, just standard ‘management’ tactics. Macron backed down, so he lost. Had he not backed down, he would have lost as well (> resort to violence, deaths, etc.) So he is vulnerable to the same pressure another time.
To put diesel into social perspective (didnt see this treated above missed smthing maybe), about 25 years ago the French were encouraged to buy diesel cars, various arguments. Diesel at the pump was far cheaper, motors are more durable, last longer, etc. It was even stated outright that they polluted less. I remember where I live (in F speaking CH), at one point we were going to decree odd-even day driving (air pollution), but small diesel cars would be exempt —> some rushed out to buy one!
2, those in F in peripheral suburbs, in rural parts, small towns, outskirts, etc. have to drive to get to their jobs, even lousy precarious ones, and more seriously, for some, to get kids to school.
Not rare for 2 parents with 2 children to have 2 cars, as they just can’t do without. So the ‘car + fuel’ cost can be the no. 1. budget worry, particularly as it is dependent on Gvmt. decisions (the price at the pump is dependent on world market, but mostly tax.. etc.) which is supposed to be stabilised… Any extra cost can send a family of 4 into default (mortgage, minor debts, car payments, etc.), or poverty, bang off.
A compact existed. The poor would live in grotty buildings and have to travel to work (2 hours per day or much more for some, by car, on roads, etc.), as they were, are, not ‘allowed’ to live in nice places, like city centers, with great boulevards.. Therefore, the oblig. travel had to be subsidised / supported by ‘affordable’ diesel fuel / cars, as otherwise the system could not function.
Macron broke that pact, made the travel ‘unaffordable.’ > Riots. (Why he did that is another story.)
Posted by: Noirette | Dec 5 2018 16:58 utc | 103
Lozion@109
Thanks for this very important link!
Préavis de grève illimitée déposé dans la Police Nationale à partir du 8 décembre 2018 !!!
https://vigimi.fr/f/actualites-fr/entry/preavis-de-greve-illimitee-depose-dans-la-police-nationale-a-partir-du-8-decembre-2018
From whay=t I understand, The French National Police union for non-sworn officers (VIGI) has called a national strike starting on December 8, 2018. Without this support staff comprised of administrative, technical, scientific and state workers / cooks. If their support staff is anything like the Oregon State Police the French National Police (sworn) officers will have to work without:
dispatch services (except supervisors);
cannot hold arrested persons (perhaps for more than 48 hours) as there will not be any forensic staff (except supervisors);
crime scene support in the forensic laboratories;
secretaries;
janitors;
motor pool mechanics;
cooks;
housekeepers for their in station barracks;
etc…
This strike has no time limit!
Here is my best effort of a translation into English of the letter to the Minister of the Interior. Sorry for any minor translation mistakes.
The claims brought by the movement of yellow vests, concerns us all. It is time to organize legally and to be in solidarity with them for the benefit of all. We are concerned because we are part of the people. Our concern is to complete the end of the month and not change the carpets of the Elysée for 300 000 €!
The services of the National Police function only with difficulty, if at all, when the support missions are no longer assured.
As a result, our trade union has filed an unlimited strike notice from Saturday, December 8, 2018 for administrative, technical, scientific and state workers / cooks of the Ministry of the Interior.
Without technical assistants and cooks, CRS companies can be immobilized. Without administrative assistants, services may be closed. Without state workers the maintenance of buildings and vehicles will no longer be possible. Without the scientific staff, the administration will no longer be able to divert them from their missions to ensure the missions of active personnel. Etc.
We propose that active staff financially support our colleagues who will use their right to strike. If we divide the salary loss of staff on strike with all the assets, we should at worst lose 5 € / day each. On the other hand, we have a lot more to gain.
Recently, the President of the Republic has taken us for “mercenaries” wanting to “buy” us with a premium of less than the cost of hours over the day of December 1. Moreover this premium will never compensate, this what this government decided:
No cost of living index;
Give a days pay in case of illness;
Increase the social security tax, but only by partially controlling it;
Tax the overtime of our CRS colleagues, but not that of the National Assembly Deputies who are paid 12 times more;
Leave our hours of night shift pay differential at 0.97 cents an hour;
Refuse to pay our 25 million hours of already accumulated overtime;
Increase the price of gasoline, which we need to have to go to work, because we can not live where we work and we have atypical schedules.
Besides, how can we continue to work without money? Indeed, our colleagues have not been paid for their Special Advantage Seniority (ASA) under out contract. We have at the moment to stopped the monetary effects due to lack of credits. This situation, which is identical in all SGAMIs, will be unlocked as soon as appropriations of new credits are allocated by the Central Administration. ”
We want to meet our Minister to find solutions to improve the purchasing power of the staff of the Ministry of the Interior and by extension the French people, because we are attached to the notions of Equality and Fraternity, which are part of the motto of our country.
Moreover, our hierarchy still plans to send us to take the blows for itself and the government on Saturday, December 8, 2018. We know that we will have both some wounded and perhaps dead among us, because of the incompetence of directors, the police prefect and of the politicians, who will organize the policing by thinking that they play RISK. Except it’s not a game. We’re human beings and the Yellow Vests are too!
We invite our colleagues, who have not received training in law enforcement, to assert their right of withdrawal. Do not get hurt, maimed or killed for people who think you’re a cannon fodder. Think about yourself, your families and your loved ones. Professional conscience has its limits when we are led by callous government leaders. Moreover, the administration could penalize you by disciplinary action and / or criminally for having injured, or killed, a protester, because of use of excessive force.
For our colleagues who are exhausted, by:
The accumulation of working days exceeding 13h legal limit;
the accumulation of hundreds and even thousands of overtime hours;
a deleterious management, which can be qualified criminally of moral harassment;
and pathogenic work cycles;
We, therefore, advise you to think about yourself and see your doctor, who will prescribe medical leave if necessary. Do not ruin your health for people who despise us! Do not ruin your career, because you will not have mastered the technical skills of Protection and Intervention Technique Gestures (GTPI), because of exhaustion, burnout and Depression!
Footnote: Another post by this National Police union has stated that 12 National Police have committed suicide since this new Interior Minister was appointed.
Posted by: Krollchem | Dec 6 2018 6:43 utc | 111
Thanks to b for letting express myself on such a serious page,and also thanks to the other commentators.Actually I read Moon of Alabama for some time,but now it is about the country I live in I feel more or less obliged to readers of other countries to give some inside information,whether it is general or particular.
It’s the rise and fall of Macron,the Rothschild deputy who was meant to skin the last bit of chair of the french bone,since the illegal debt as I call it,that originated in the Pompidou law signed by president Pompidou,another ancient Rothschild banker of 1973,which forbode to print money,and obliges the state of France to lend money from private banks.By the reign of Sarkozy this debt mounted from about 1200 up to 2000 billion euros,now it ‘s about 2200 billion I’m told.We can never pay this debt.Every year the budget of France has to pay lots of billions to the interest of the debt,which keeps going up.We’ve payed already 1400billions.
I think it’s the right of the people to abolish such law.Remember that the banks were saved some years ago by public money,and the European Central Bank have no problem just to print a 1000 billion euros in Frankfurt to save the system.
In the meantime all the things French people build up with their taxes,like State Electricity,Postal Service,Management of the autoroutes,Railroad are being privatised ,about on the moment that they would benefit to the state budget.Sarkozy has sold over 600billion in gold,when the market prize was low,etc.etc.So the people vote for the other guy,left,right,left right,and this guy does exactly he same politics,,after he sais ,campaigning, that international finance was his biggest enemy!So the French endure another cycle of five years,and now the problem is that the parliamentary elections are just a month after the presidentials,and the winner of the last will have most members of parliament.And now Macron arrives telling talesabout horizontality,peoples wishes and ideas mounting through modern age committees the real participative democracy,modern,”le mouveau monde”contrary to “le vieux monde” of the inbred politicians with their affaires and endless process instructions hat after ten years are punished with a reprimande,all that’s finished now because >I am here.EM,the part names after him:LREM.
With astronomical media coverage ,the sudden problems with corruption that begot his main opponent,Fillon,and the evident fact that the as fascist depicted Le Pen was intentionally badly played by the great occult marrionnettist of french politics,made that he was going to win.Macron really had no program,after the first round he claimed”May those who love me,follow me!” He sais “Think springtime”. Fresh new face,they had a bit of trouble to find representants in all voting districts,but finally got the majority in parliament and now a lot of people that were voted for and sworn in member of parliament came from civic life,sounds alright.But after that,all that the people saw was the presidential majority voting literally all of the unpleasant so called reforms,that are just another word for theft in the third degree,and never the feeble opposition,could get a foot between the door,because all this new party’s members –“La republique en Marche” is its name –,vote unanimouisly,without debate .So now the parliament is lame,because everything this party will come up with from now on will be opposed in the streets,and of course the weakened other parties feel grow them chickenwings again and try to jump the boat.
All we see in the media is Paris,the real protest is all over the country,we must not forget that,when maybe tomorrow we see even worse violence,Paris is also a place where numerous third players intrigate.
But he people in the country side have also suffered from the modern management methodes in their workin environment,and there’s a hidden violence.I mentioned above that the postbox in my hamlet,next to my vegetable garden was removed ,you should know why La Poste did that:To save time so the post woman,or man did not put the breaks,less clutching,less fuel burnt,time won.It is said it would save three man-days at the end of the year,because it was not the only postbox on the postman’s round that was taken away.Such nonsense are numerous in modern society.Anybody can see that the post passes the same number of days,they deliver where they have to,and now all the fifteen people in my street take the courrier to the office unless you actually meet the post on his passage and give your letter;anyways, La Poste profiles itself as Ecological Champion and ofcourse that is a lot more important than just fulfilling its original mission.I doubt the three days that they gained will be given as holidays to mr.Postman.
Posted by: willie | Dec 8 2018 0:48 utc | 135
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