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I live in very, very rural France. Country-wide protests are happening because high-school students demand better… Well, better everything.
Yesterday I carpooled with my kid’s teacher to protest in the “biggest” town (pop. 9,000) in the county. 700 people marched. Some drove over 60 miles one way to be there, when gas costs 2,35€ a liter.
In the past week two kids lost an eye, one an arm, one their lower jaw, because of police violence. (The eyes might not be beyond saving, I’m not sure.) Even middle-schoolers fight with their parents to be allowed to protest.Country-wide headcount was 400,000. Our tiny march, every tiny local march did its part.
And that was a weekday, small protest. Saturday after next is a big one.
I’m really proud of the kids.most importantly though, how much stuff did you destroy? it really makes the commies here jealous
I remember hearing about French firefighters getting geared up, setting themselves on fire, and running at riot police lol.
Kids told about thursdays riots here in Bordeaux where the firefighters came and put out the burning trashcans etc, but they also cheered the protesters on!
Same side 😘!
American government: we’re deporting your friends and neighbors to third countries, burning your crops, poisoning your water supply, and delivering a plague unto your houses
Americans: What?! You can’t do that! I’m going to write angry social media posts and participate in a quickly-forgotten weekend protest that disrupts little to nothing! Not this weekend though, I have work in the morning.
…and also re-elect you because the other guy said he’d make housing more affordable for everyone
And the other guy was a woman. Can you imagine?
I think that this is part of the issue.
Protesting doesn’t really work in the US. And these days you’re likely to get shot or end up in an internment camp. The US is setup to get you in jail anyway so you can be slave labour. And the states are really not United. It’s a moot point, everyone likes to have someone else to blame. I mean I’ll get down voted if I say Europe and the rest of the world is also to blame for buying military equipment from the US. I’ll rephrase that; if people didn’t buy arms from the US then we maybe could do something since the military industrial complex partially runs this country.
The only form of protest that works here is anything financial related. Even then. If you’re considered “essential” then straight to jail. Look back at the railway protests; even just glance at the abhorrent work conditions.
https://therealnews.com/railroad-workers-speak-out-after-congress-and-biden-block-rail-strike
You don’t have to read it; this is basically a summary “‘Without freight rail many US industries would literally shut down,’ Mr. Biden said before signing the bill” so get bent and go back to work.
And then there’s also: “Public employees shall not have the right to strike” and this means potential jail time and I wouldn’t be surprised of future instances where you end up in jail and are forced to do your job anyway.
A coal mine strike in the past resulted in the national guard shooting them down.
So basically everyone is fed propaganda, locally and overseas, but the reality is gloom. People are getting learned helplessness. Been trying to make a difference for almost 20 years.
Replace your map with a population map. There’s a lot of Frances there that don’t need to be there.
Place 3 or 4 Frances and you’re good. Really just shut down LA and NYC.
Wish the rest of the world was more like the French. We’d be able to achieve so much change.
It is definitely a sign that humanity likes to kick itself in the nuts when even a country known for protesting still has a government that keeps doing shit that leads to protest and police still harm protestors.
We keep putting shitty people in power and then getting upset when they do shitty stuff.
It’s almost as if there is something else at play, someone else to blame, than “the people” who just everywhere all the time seem to “accidentally platform” leaders who don’t have their best interests at heart.
France is doing great?
Their political activity is remarkable. It is the kind of activity every country needs. Only problem i see is that french activists put the most effort into protests instead of more effective ways of spreading their ideas.
And then the Brits hang this poster on their windows unironically
They really do. 3 years ago my daughter was getting ready to take a school trip to France when protests broke out over something. I was worried about the trip and ended up learning a lot about how France protests. Here are some things I learned:
Protesting is considered important and this is taught to kids in school.
It’s often a family affair, grab the whole family and go protest.
Protests are a happy, party-like environment with music and vendors selling food to protestors.
Leaders actually listen to some.extent.
American version:
Protesting is a right, taught in school.
Grab family, go to protest.
Protest turns violent because of hidden cops. Mom gets shot. Dad loses job. Family loses house.
Die.
One thing I love about France is how they number their republics. This is now the fifth one. Some people are talking about abolishing it for a sixth. So, even Constitutional authority is subject to occasional “fuck this shit we can do better”, and the idea of abolishing the Constitution of the Fifth Republic for a better one is nowhere near treasonous but honest democratic-republican politics. Compare that with the American dysfunction of having a document written 200 years ago as a snapshot of an expedient compromise between fops being vested with semi-divine aura.
And then there’s the british who haven’t even managed to abolish monarchy yet
