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Original poster

Riots in France

14 replies

NoraLuka · 02/12/2018 19:56

Watching the news at the moment and don’t know what to make of it all.

I almost went on the original gilet jaune demo but didn’t want to take the DC so stayed at home.

The damage done yesterday in Paris and other cities is crazy - who are the people doing this?

I dread to think what will happen next Saturday.

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LaChatte · 02/12/2018 19:58

Idiot opportunists mostly.

LaChatte · 02/12/2018 20:00

(Rioters I mean, not the protesters)

Etino · 02/12/2018 20:06

Blimey @NoraLuka why on earth would you want to join them? Everything I’ve read and seen is that they’re protesting against higher fuel prices instigated because we’re going to hell in a handcart.
Am I missing something?

LaChatte · 02/12/2018 20:13

It's not just about fuel prices (I kind of agree with Macron on that front, but he's going about it in a bit of a brutal way), it's more about living costs rising rapidly but incomes not following. Our pouvoir d'achat has plummeted over the past decade or so. I'd love to be able to switch over to a hybrid car, to properly insulate my house and to change my central heating from oil to something more ecological, but I can't afford it and I'm not in the revenues modestes categorie, so not entitled to any financial help.

Original poster
NoraLuka · 02/12/2018 20:27

I agree with Lachatte, it’s not just about fuel prices, that kind of triggered it off but it’s mainly about purchasing power and the feeling that even if you work you never have enough money to live off, due to high taxes. Some protesters had banners saying «we want to live not survive» and I think that sums it up.

I was unsure about joining them (the protesters not the rioters!) because even peaceful protests can turn and I didn’t want to take the DC. I have mixed feelings about the fuel prices, I agree that putting prices up is the right thing to do because of climate change, but in rural France you literally have no choice but to drive. Our nearest bus stop is about 5 miles away, and the buses come twice a day. It’s a world away from Paris and other large cities.

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Original poster
NoraLuka · 02/12/2018 20:31

I don’t know if that comes across how I meant it, that just putting fuel prices up without considering how people will manage is one of the many reasons we’re in this mess. I think if they even just made it clear where the money is going and how it will help with climate change, that would help.

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Etino · 02/12/2018 21:25

@NoraLuka. Thanks! I suspected that it was more nuanced than ‘we’re rioting because we don’t want to pay more for fuel/ don’t care about climate change’

user1499173618 · 03/12/2018 07:11

There was a great succinct article explaining the underlying issues in yesterday’s Guardian: www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/02/france-is-deeply-fractured-gilets-jeunes-just-a-symptom

fussychica · 03/12/2018 10:48

Caught up in it on our way to the ferry during the initial weekend. Took us hours to drive around Bordeaux. We were trapped in the car with exits off barricaded and were directed off the motorway several times and had to find our way across country. After having our car roof bashed by protesters and lights shined in our faces we landed up driving through the night to evade them. Even at Caen, a kilometre from the port, it was blocked again and we had to plot a route to get across the river.

We normally drive through several times a year on our way to and from Spain. This was the most awful driving experience of my life, very scary at times, and I won't be doing it again. France has lost us and probably many others. I sympathise with the cause, I really do, but subjecting innocent drivers to such lunacy, danger and delays is IMO not the way to go about it. Target the people in power not the people who are just like you because ultimately that it what they have done.

user1499173618 · 03/12/2018 11:09

The people in power have the wherewithal to lock themselves away from the protests. And they do.

A lot of police and CRS sympathise with the protestors as they are part of the same geographic and social class. How does a policeman get to work at 5am? In his car...

fussychica · 03/12/2018 11:53

Yes we noticed the almost total absence of police at the barricades. Motorists were left to fend for themselves when the carriageway in front of us were set alight and none around to help guide you through the trouble or stop the protesters threatening you.

RiverTam · 03/12/2018 11:56

I don't know, I kind of which we were a bit more like this over here, we just seem to shrug our shoulders and roll over when the shit hits the fan.

fussychica · 03/12/2018 12:13

I feel like that too but there is a fine line beyond which ordinary people's safety is compromised. I am just glad I wasn't in Paris this weekend.

Original poster
NoraLuka · 03/12/2018 12:27

Fussychica, that sounds scary! I think I would have been terrified. The ones around here haven’t been at all aggressive, though a pain for people stuck in traffic for ages.

That Guardian article is good, it sums it all up nicely.

Now we have fuel shortages because a fuel depot is being blocked, not entirely sure who by, I think maybe the haulage companies.

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