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France’s ‘Yellow Vests’ Only Have One Common Message: Anger at Government
The Christian Science Monitor ^ | December 10, 2018 | Peter Ford and Dominique Soguel

Posted on 12/10/2018 2:43:59 PM PST by Jagermonster

WHY WE WROTE THIS France’s “yellow vest” protesters have been highly visible, but their motives have been cryptic, thanks in large part to their lack of leaders and structure. We wanted to find out what's driving them.

MULHOUSE, FRANCE For Rosa Larocca, a middle-aged headmistress who can switch from a warm smile to a stern look in seconds, it’s all about politics. “The people want a different type of republic and they want [French President Emmanuel] Macron to go,” she says. “What we want are referendums.”

For Shanoon Redovanc, a bespectacled retiree sporting a black woolen hat, it’s about living standards. “This is not just about Macron,” he insists. “I’ve spent two winters without heating because I am scared of the bill. What we all have in common is the search for a life with dignity.”

And for Karl, an unemployed musician with a bushy ginger beard, it’s about social justice. “Poor children ... end up poor. Rich children ... end up rich. The inequality is there,” he points out. “How can this stand when the national motto is ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’?”

Camped around small fires in the middle of a traffic circle in eastern France one damp afternoon last week, the gilets jaunes (yellow vest) protesters who have thrown the country into crisis voiced a dizzying variety of demands. Without leaders and difficult to engage in talks, the yellow vests nationwide are united by little more than anger that their needs and opinions have been ignored.

But that anger runs deep – fueled by the same sort of socioeconomic malaise that has driven social upheaval in the US and Britain. “It comes from a long way back,” says Christophe Guilluy, a social geographer who has tracked the sentiment for the past 20 years. “Macron is paying the price ...

(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: france; protest; riot; yellowvests
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Excerpted per Rules. Photos and long article at link.

The key quote (IMHO) from later in the article:

Only 16 percent of the French think that political leaders take their opinions into account, the IEP survey found. In contrast, 83 percent believe politicians ignore them – a figure that has remained essentially unchanged since the first such poll was conducted in 2008.

1 posted on 12/10/2018 2:43:59 PM PST by Jagermonster
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To: Jagermonster

That’s not anger at government.

It’s anger at tyranny.


2 posted on 12/10/2018 2:50:03 PM PST by reasonisfaith (What are the implications if the Resurrection of Christ is a true event in history?)
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To: Jagermonster

France sold its soul and liberty to big government.

And predictably, it’s a failure.


3 posted on 12/10/2018 2:51:51 PM PST by Oldeconomybuyer (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.)
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To: Jagermonster

Best article on the yellow vests I’ve read so far in the USA:

https://townhall.com/columnists/jackkerwick/2018/12/10/the-yellow-vests-a-populist-nationalist-rebellion-n2537210


4 posted on 12/10/2018 2:51:55 PM PST by gaijin
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To: Jagermonster

Somewhere in Heaven, the Marquis de Lafayette is smiling.


5 posted on 12/10/2018 2:53:58 PM PST by mewzilla (Is Central America emptying its prisons?)
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To: Jagermonster

When the cause behind some form of violence has a leftward thrust —right for “migrants”, for example, the lefty press coverage is heavy and detail packed.

When instead the cause is populist —middle-class can’t afford the basics and urban safety is going away— then footage is thin and coverage of the motives is scanty or absent.


6 posted on 12/10/2018 2:54:38 PM PST by gaijin
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To: reasonisfaith

I agree.


7 posted on 12/10/2018 3:01:11 PM PST by Jagermonster (- Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:32)
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To: Jagermonster

Looks like you only post things from a single source:

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/by:jagermonster/index?tab=articles

Why is that?


8 posted on 12/10/2018 3:03:17 PM PST by humblegunner
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Exactly.They wanted socialism. They got it. It’s not that they don’t want it, they just want a better form of it.


9 posted on 12/10/2018 3:08:08 PM PST by jmacusa (Made it Ma, top of the world!'')
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To: All

[ And for Karl, an unemployed musician with a bushy ginger beard, it’s about social justice. ]

At first I thought this was from Portland.


10 posted on 12/10/2018 3:11:11 PM PST by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: jmacusa
Exactly.They wanted socialism. They got it. It’s not that they don’t want it, they just want a better form of it.

They want someone else to pay for it, i.e. rich successful people.

11 posted on 12/10/2018 3:15:15 PM PST by plain talk
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To: plain talk

“....they just want a better form of it. …”

In other words one that doesn’t exist!
Good luck with that!


12 posted on 12/10/2018 3:16:35 PM PST by Reily
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To: humblegunner
Looks like you only post things from a single source: Why is that?

I post things from that source because it is the only paper I subscribe to. I get most of my news from FR, but the Monitor does a lot of original reporting that doesn't end up on the news wires, or on this forum. The Monitor is also better for in-depth reporting on world news and adds an interesting perspective on U.S. news.

If I read something interesting and worth sharing in the Monitor, and it hasn't already been posted to FR, I post it.

Cool with you?

13 posted on 12/10/2018 3:19:28 PM PST by Jagermonster (- Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:32)
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To: Jagermonster
I’ve spent two winters without heating because I am scared of the bill.

That's what you're supposed to do, lady. You should be pleased that you are using less energy and "saving the planet."

'Course, you may ask why it's so cold when it's supposed to be getting intolerably warm, but don't worry your peasant head about it. Your betters know it's "science."

14 posted on 12/10/2018 3:23:43 PM PST by colorado tanker
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To: SaveFerris

Bet I can guess who Karl’s namesake was.


15 posted on 12/10/2018 3:26:04 PM PST by Charles Martel (Progressives are the crab grass in the lawn of life.)
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To: gaijin
Best article on the yellow vests I’ve read so far in the USA:

https://townhall.com/columnists/jackkerwick/2018/12/10/the-yellow-vests-a-populist-nationalist-rebellion-n2537210

Thanks for sharing the link. I actually just read that article, and that's what reminded me to post this thread.

16 posted on 12/10/2018 3:31:35 PM PST by Jagermonster (- Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:32)
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To: Charles Martel

;)


17 posted on 12/10/2018 3:35:51 PM PST by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: Jagermonster

Wouldn’t you be doing the same thing if you were profiting
from traffic directed to that source?

How would your posting pattern differ if you were simply promoting that source for profit?


18 posted on 12/10/2018 3:36:15 PM PST by humblegunner
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To: Jagermonster

While it appears the term ‘vests’ is technically correct, it is more appropriate to call the revolutionaries “jackets,” synonymous with the yellow jacket wasp that swarms its enemy to sting it into surrender or even kill it.


19 posted on 12/10/2018 3:36:20 PM PST by iontheball (TT'S)
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To: humblegunner

For one, if I were posting for profit, I’d post more regularly.


20 posted on 12/10/2018 3:45:13 PM PST by Jagermonster (- Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:32)
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