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[–] Kattie [S] 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago 

Briefly, the message was this: we can’t make ends meet. The cost of living keeps going up, and our incomes keep going down. We just can’t take it anymore. The government must stop, think and change course.

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[–] nobslob 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago 

You guys are reading way too much into this. The French, and all of Europe for that matter, are like 90%+ socialist. They are protesting taxes because they think too much of the burden of their socialism is being put on the people. They want more shifted to evil corporations and rich people.

Don't be fooled, they are not revolting for a small government more freedom agenda.

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[–] KosherHiveKicker 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago  (edited ago)

It's deeper than that.

The majority of "Gas Taxes" were/are going to be used to fund the endless GIBBZ going to the street-shitting Rapefugees currently living off their welfare programs.

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[–] GoatsnHoes1 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago 

These protests remind me of the Occupy protests in America years ago. Does no one else remember this? They were protesting pretty much the same things, high cost of living, shitty health care, taxes that only help the rich. It was a similar organic movement with lots of poor and middle class people with no distinct leader or ideology. They were just protesting a shitty situation. I would have gone but luckily I had a job, so I had to work and could not go protest.

There was this local radio station covering it, not owned by iheartradio which obviously said nothing. I remember them interviewing people. I remember the problem was that any time a leader came about, that person would conveniently disappear. So no one wanted to be the leader because they didn't want to disappear.

I worry the same thing may happen here. The Occupy protests didn't get anywhere because they couldn't get organized because anyone who tried to organize them disappeared.

I can only hope that the French have more success.

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[–] Pwning4Ever 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

It's not about gasoline tax,the gas tax just broke the camels back. If French had an American like standard of living, they wouldn't give two shits about it.

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[–] Walk1 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

I think this is the best account of the Yellow Vest protests that I have seen as of yet. It appears that the government is siphoning off money from the diesel tax to fund things that don't really incentivize and build the economy and in essence the things that it should be going into, such as public transportation are declining and not in a good state.

I think that generally speaking France is having structuralist issues that when played on by the current tax are leading the protesters to get involved on the large scale they are getting involved in. There does not have to be a connection between the different problems in France, structurally and dynamically speaking, but they can just not like the upper-class snobbiness of Macron and the fact that the economy is not working for them and use this as the basis and motive to go after Macron for things that are entirely separate from this.

There is something else that is going to be worked into this and its a reemergence of nationalism and a challenge against the unchecked flow of migrants coming into France. I think we could see a similar dynamic unfolding in North America in saying the next 20 years or something like that. I think though the taxes are a driving force behind the revolution, since the other issues are related to employment and the transportation system(so essentially its a fight over situation of employment and the means to reach destination of employment and how there is a strong belief that it costs too much money to make it worth being employed and/or the unemployed cannot find jobs or afford the basic necessities in society).

I think Macron can only do so much and if anything this revolution favors Macron in many ways, mechanically and technically, but as it concerns the broader picture I think the voice of the French people ring more powerfully and are going to teach Macron a thing or two about oppression(this is the problem with most modern revolutions is its going to be built on a very simplistic kind of ideology and when a revolution is simply about ideologies, instead of real life social and political issues that have come to a head, then what ends up happening is the system generally speaking spits these people out because they are considered impractical). This is an unfortunate reality and one that can be combatted, especially in America's case by saying its more than just a blue-collared reaction or some sort of anarchist sentiment but that it is in fact an effort to bring about positive change before the system collapses and decays because of the current state of affairs and policies in France.

This is happening at a more local level, but it has the chance of striking the whole of France sometime in the future(its the same kind of thinking that drove the Civil War; end of slavery means decay and collapse of the social and political system and the Southern economy(that is what we are dealing with in the states right now, as it concerns multi-culturalism/Civil Rights and the impacts it has having on our social stability, economic prosperity, and the future of the political system(the point is it too much of a past problem to ignite a revolution and the answer to this would be unfortunately yes, but not quite).