"Gilets jaunes" protests in France.
During the last weeks, France has experienced rather violent protests and riots, whose name derives from the high-visibility jackets wore by the participants. As the road-themed uniforms and the highway demonstrations make one suspect, the initial cause of the affair was the decision of the Macron government to increase the fuel-tax. The motives were presented as mostly ecological, but I am sure that the sudden influx of revenue to the state treasury would not have been unwelcome. After all, there are less controversial options to encourage the adoption of electric cars. The protestors quickly grew in size and tensions escalated, resulting into the destruction of public and private property, the death of 4 individuals and the injure of hundreds more (including both civilians and policemen). Even the Arc de Triomphe, the famous monument and the center of the 14th July military parade in Paris, did not escape from vandalism, while there were even talks of declaring a state of emergency, as negotiations failed dramatically.
Obviously, the issue is no more limited to only the widely despised fuel-tax, considering that, despite the Prime-Minister promising to postpone the tax-rise legislation, the "gilets jaunes" remain adamant on continuing to protest, while some even call for the resignation of the President of the Republic. In reality, as the income inequality increases, the purchase power of the lower and middle classes decreases, leading to popular discontent. Although the dreaded International Monetary Fund has not yet imposed its demands on the French state, austerity measures, ranging from an attack to worker rights to a castration of social welfare, have already been initiated, while Macron has reduced the taxation for the wealthiest segments of the society, in an attempt to attract investments. Therefore, it's not surprising to notice that the protesters are composed of those who view their status being compromised, while even the traditionally serene countryside has joined the movement. To be just, Macron's policies were neither unanticipated nor secret before the elections, which makes the discrepancy between his overwhelming victory in the 2017 look a bit paradoxical with the present almost freezing-levels of his popularity.
Meanwhile, the "gilets jaunes" remain without any influence from the trade unions and apolitical, despite the fact that the right-wing Republicans, the far-right group of Le Pen and the leftists of Mélenchon attempting to usurp it. A team of official spokespersons did emerged, but the movement remains headless and is based, similarly to the situation of the Arab Spring, on the popularity of social media. In my opinion, their grievances are definitely legitimate, but I personally doubt that they will achieve their goals, in the long term, although being apolitical is considered very trendy nowadays. Temporary victories are possible, but the protesters evidently lack the organisation, ideological programme and hierarchical structure necessary to prosper and to maintain a prominent position. I expect it to gradually devolved into a spasmodic manifestations of anger, as the majority lose their interest and passion, the originally very positive public opinion gets irritated by the stalemate and potential participants get frustrated by the violence of certain extremists and the brutality of the authorities.
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Originally Posted by HannibalExMachina
