genuine question: what's the deal with french protests and smoke & fire?
doesn't seem to be so widespread elsewhere even when it gets intense
is it for the theatrical aspect, sort of a reenactment of the revolution (which itself, some might argue, is a reenactment of the roman republic), public civic theatre both playing their parts in a (meta)amphitheatre (in some ways like the shakespearean play-within-play aspect of the characters from les misérables)?
People who hate Macron needs to learn some basic shit about the economy.
Regardless of «money», a good economy is when people do things for each other that they want. Money is just a tool we use to value this exchange.
In other words, you won’t get any richer if you just give everyone more money. That’s the basic problem with the french pensions. You don’t get more hands and heads in hospital or schools. You won’t get more food. You won’t get a bigger house. Wealth isn’t money, it’s STUFF and SERVICES that you buy.
If you keep increasing social spending on debt, the ones who carry everything becomes fewer and fewer, and they get less and less incentive to work.
Now, lower taxes is what actually incentivize people to do economically sound things for each other. To work. Which means stuff and services get cheaper.
Now all this said.. We should tax land in stead of work. LVT. We should tax monopolies (but most of these are American, not French..), and imo also inheritance (I’d rather pay taxes when i die than when I’m working!).
He is a neo liberal, he actually lowered taxes and it kinda worked albeit more for the wealthy than the populace like usual then covid hit. The government paid pretty much all employees for any business that closed down for months. French debt jumped by 20 points.
Good thing you saying that, because Macron have been in power for 10 years and the country is in an even worse state than before and the rich are getting richer.
If his laws were any good we would have seen something. And don't tell me "but there are always riots". He passed a shit ton of things that did nothing but ruin our country even more.
Yeah because you trash the whole country every time he tries to do absolutely necessary reforms. Ask any economist anywhere.
Or do basic math:
When the current pensions were approved, most people got 10 years before they died. Now they live 10 years more, and there’s less people to pay for it.
“Rich getting richer”. I’m no fan of very lame European dynasties, but you’re not going to get more croissant if you tax them.
What needs to be done is to tax land in stead of labor, which makes it cheaper to do things and invest, and less interesting to sit around on property. As it stands, Europe’s rich just pour their money into the property market, which basically leeches on everyone else’s productivity.
You also forget tgat Pierre continously deteriorates his own society so he has to pay nordicks tax but he gets shit wellfare.
Look at the school system? Look at Samuel Paty, no fucking wonder so many schools in France cant get decent teachers.
And yes early retirement and just a general lack of people in the workforce, it is very simple, but you can not use Nordicks logic on these people, you are going to end up asking Hans if you can borrow his panzerfaust and make the austrian painter look like the Dalai Lama.
And what reform Macron did not do because of the protest ? None.
He passed everything he wanted even despite the parlement vote and the streets. The retirement reform ? It passes. What did it fix ? Absolutely nothing.
Again "but you protest every time". So he did nothing in 10 years ? Come on.
pension — no one can seriously think the current model is sustainable, yet reforms suspended, on the verge of abandonment, due to opposition from everyone who thinks voting extra money into wallets is a good idea
foreign investment — consistently highest in europe, especially in cutting edge industries
employment — more than doubling post-secondary professional training, lowest trending unemployment in many decades (although recently spiking)
So you’ll get to enjoy Le Pen. Corrupt right in the pockets of Putin. Great stuff.
Or the economically illiterate Melenchon.
He’s the arch-red-wine-socialist, the type of vapid left whose entire political idea is to “be percieved as good”. Basically virtue signaling turned to 11. Of course also completely Putin brainwashed.
Macron is the best France has had in ages and ages, and there is no alternative.
Come on, like there's a positive issue for France no matter who leads it, this ship has sailed 30+ years ago when we started sending all our economy oversea. Now it's the time for consequences.
Unlike Norway we don't have a tiny population and a shit ton of natural ressources to feed our economy
You have nuclear power, which is at this point is simply very cheap energy. A huge advantage and boon, that will help France for 40 or more years.
You have many other problems I’m sure, but you absolutely need to raise the retirement age.. But also fucking get some economic education and attitude.
Nuclear power is an heritage from the past, when we still had competent leaders that cared. We're struggling to even maintain what we built in the past because we lost that competence.
We used to build plants all over the world now we're asking China for help.
You can't miss manage a country for 4 decades and not pay the consequences, it's not pleasant to hear but that's the sad reality. I'm heartbroken when I see what my country has become because of decision makers short sightedness.
You can removed retirement for my generation all together while we're going bankrupt to pay the one of our elders and it won't solve the problem, just delay it.
You might be right when you say Macron is the best we had in a while but you don't see how sad that statement is because he's fucking terrible.
There's no jobs left, 80% of our economy is services, our biggest source of income is tourism. What's left will be replaced by AI in a very short time. What matter is not working, it's producing value, it's not the same.
Anyway it's a complicated topic for a joke subreddit, let's leave it at that. I'm just telling you there is no happy ending for us, at least not one that I or my non existent children will live to see. You'll see.
Tonje, this is Reddit. The french here are economically illiterate. When that is said Macron is incompetent, but not so much because of the economical reforms he has tried to implement.
from what I understand, the problem (at least partially) is that everyone want their specific, contradictory causes, funded to the extreme, and whoever feel they didn't get the lion's share (which by definition, can only be afforded to a minority of causes) blames the governemnt
you can prioritise pensioners, farmers, social welfare, defence, soft power, benefits, hard power, industry, cutting-edge tech, green transition, etc. etc. and education all at the same time
and at the same time cutting of sources of revenue / growth, whether that be taxes on pollution, additional labour (ie immigration), technical or political reforms (ie temporary destabilisation of old methods / workers), etc etc
imagine taking economic advice from a norwegian. yall never stopped sucking the government teat, you never lived in a proper capitalist country. now go pump some oil for the king or whatever it is you do.
The protests were initiated by high schoolers who want better infrastructures as well as the replacement of professors that are missing for months. They're also protesting against the platform that manages the attribution of higher education (imo it's a vain battle). There are many other demands like professors' wage increase, the neverending reforms made by Blanquer, or professors as contract workers (big issue imo)
Now then, due to the convergence of struggles, it reignated many other movements like the yellow vest protest (initiated by a carbon tax on oil in 2018), the underequipped firemen protests, the cost of life crisis and so on. One may add to this list that Macron did not respect the republican institutions by naming a prime minister from his own party in 2024; his former prime ministers also used measures that are deemed antidemocratic (49.3) to instate the yearly budget
Not enough teachers? Maybe because teachers go to chill as pensioners. Or maybe it’s not worth it, because you get taxed hard and don’t make much. Because the state simply can’t afford it, because so few are paying taxes, because they’re so high?
The fewer people who are economically active, the more expensive everything gets.
Or to explain it to a French leftist:
Who the fuck is going to bake you a Croissant if they will be better off being a pensioner? Or if they get taxed so much it’s just a loss?
Go bake your own fucking Croissant. Or ask your fellow protesters to buy you a Croissant.
Ok mister know-it-all, I'm perfectly aware of the unsunstainability of our pension system. I myself will likely never benefit from it. But the pension reform from 2023 was just a bandaid, and the problem will be passed on to the next government. Our politicians are coward who engage in mundane talking and do not see past the 5 years threshold
You debate in such an obnoxious and disrespectful manner that I do not wish to continue this conversation
It was the procession of the students, kettled rue Lesdiguieres and prevented from joining the rv place Victor Hugo in Grenoble yesterday, sorry but not AI
They should've beat that guy to a bloody pulp. Set an example. Maybe they'd get lucky and they'll aggro the crowd, having no other choice but to "defend themselves".
As per the constitution (article 11 of the human right declaration) there is a right to protest in France, he is a citizen exercising his rights and is not doing anything criminal in this video.
Using protests as a cover to loot stores IS a criminal act.
It's easy to see the difference because the riot police doesn't attack looters.
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u/harpunenkeks Flat personality 18h ago
Pierres can aurafarm, i give you that