You may remember that a few weeks ago there was a study released by a UN committee basically saying that we have 12 years to go completely carbon zero or else there is no turning back from climate change. If not that’s okay, I wrote an article all about it. Well, in response to this new deadline many nations, especially those in the G20, took immediate action. One of those countries is France. Some background information: France is ranked 10th in GDP; it is internationally well-ranked in education, health care, life expectancy, and human development; it is a permanent member of the UN’s Security Council; and is a leading member of the European Union. France is well-known for being a pretty liberal nation, as well as highly valuing the democratic process. However, international tensions in recent years has shown a different side of France that the world is not used to. Starting with the Charlie Hebdo shooting in 2015, there have been 16 terrorist attacks in France, including the Bataclan Shooting and subsequent suicide bombings which sent France into a State of Emergency that they only just came out of. Through all of this there was a presidential election which put Emmanuel Macron into office in 2017. The election, like ours in the U.S., brought out quite a few far right nationalists as well as far left anti-fascists. Interestingly, although the rest of the world has a highly positive view of Macron, within his own country his approval ratings have been below 50%, now hitting an all time low of 23% (for reference Trump’s approval rating has only been as low as 39%). In short, France is going through some stuff right now.
I want to focus on these “riots” in France that began November 17th and have escalated every weekend since. I call them riots tentatively because it is unclear if they were intended to result in the chaos and destruction that they have caused (i.e. L’Arc de Triomphe). It all started when Macron proposed a 30 cent tax per litre of gasoline. His intent was to pressure the French into moving away from fossil fuels to meet their goals in accordance with the Paris Accords. However, this goal was not on the minds of many French citizens as they felt the tax would unfairly fall upon the lower classes. You see, if you live in the big cities in France you can have access to public transit so you don’t need a car; but to live in the big cities you need to be extremely wealthy. This means that the poorer working class citizens rely entirely upon cars and the already high taxes to support France’s expansive social services which will be compounded by this gasoline tax. The outraged French took to social media, as we all do, and there they began to organize. You see, protests are a quinicential aspect of French culture. Every year in May they celebrate protesting on May Day/Labor Day. But this was a new kind of protest, a 21st century protest. It was born online and manifested in the blink of an eye. There is no official list of demands or central goals, nor any leadership or central communication of the group that is now being called le gilet jeune, or yellow vests (because of the bright yellow safety vests they all wear). Normally when people want to protest, they get together, talk about their ideas, come up with a plan, and then notify the people they are protesting against (often in the U.S., groups get permits for marches and protests so the police can divert traffic). That way people are safe, people are heard, and most often some sort of a resolution is found, but not with these protests. Lately, the protests have turned into riots in which police, journalists, protestors, and innocent bystanders serving as collateral damage. Over one hundred people have been injured, hundreds have been arrested. One woman died, albeit she was hit by a police tear gas canister while trying to close her windows. Another issue that has arisen is that the far right and far left (like NeoNazis and AntiFa) are using the riots as an opportunity to attack, destroy, and create general upheaval, losing the real reason behind the movement.
As of December 4th 2015, Emmanuel Macron officially agreed to delay the tax (which would have been enacted on January 1st) for 6 months. However this concession is being perceived by other leaders as a failure on Macron’s part. This is because France was relying on the revenue of this tax to maintain their failing social services and supplement their heightened military spending. Le gilet jeune have expressed on social media that they will not stop rioting until Macron steps down. Whether there will be riots on Saturday December 8th is yet to come. However, there are plans in over 120 French towns to hold their own marches and protests about climate change. In preparation for the weekend, the French government has closed a museums and tourist sites like the Eiffel Tower. There are also tens of thousands of police forces preparing to be deployed in Paris and the surrounding cities.
On December 8th “Act IV” as le gilet jeune have named it was well underway. In Paris, dozens of cities around France, as well as in Belgium and the Netherlands, hundreds of citizens have turned out in protest. For what? That is the million dollar question. Although this all began as a statement against the tax on gasoline it has turned into so much more. This has stirred up deeper divisions of class issues in France in particular but Europe in general. Unlike America, where the median income is $31,099 per month, France’s median income is $23,350. France does provide extensive social services however they are currently extremely underfunded, meaning those who need it most are less likely to receive services. On top of that there are other tax hikes, rising costs of living, and changing labor laws that have infuriated the middle and lower classes. Many of the French populace hold Macron accountable for their struggles. He had promised them a brighter and better future through internationalism in stark contrast to Marine Le Pen’s nationalist agenda during the 2017 election, but Macron has yet provide any results. Among the protesters in Paris were citizens who had once vehemently supported Macron’s administration, they once had faith in his abilities. An estimate 1,000 protesters were arrested on Saturday and hundreds were injured (including 17 police officers). The most common line of Saturday’s protestors was that they will not stop until Macron steps down. They feel completely abandoned by Macron, seeing him as a friend only to the elites. As the gilet jeune movement continue to spread we shall see where it goes from here. Whether it will grow, whether they will make any gains, or whether the government will be able to peaceful escalated the situation.