Crikey. Our neighbours don't mess about, do they? Remains to be seen if it's effective.
Whilst its not great to see the carnage and destruction, I can't but help think our current government might have been a little less corrupt if we had a bit more of the French zeal for protest.
They do not mess about at all. I member anti nuclear protests a few decades ago. Brits were holding hand and singing and sitting in front of bulldozers. the French fired a bazooka at a nuclear power station that was part built
Black Bloc, same lot that trashed London every Mayday 20 years ago. Nothing to do with anything other than ****s being ****s.
It must be scary to be anywhere near that carry on, I feel for anyone inadvertently caught up in it. Dare say, the French have a bit of a rep for revolution, but I'm not sure this is going to have the desired result for the protestors. I feel that this, like many other causes, looks as if it's been hijacked by violent factions hell bent on a bit of anarchy.
Us Brits in an act of solidarity just close the curtains, shout at Alexa to turn the heating up in our forever homes, curled up on the sofa under a slanket next to our rescue dogs for a Disney+ binge.
Or indulge in some self congratulatory back patting.
Black Bloc, same lot that trashed London every Mayday 20 years ago. Nothing to do with anything other than **** being **
You've bought a pup.
It's disgusting that thugs in black are allowed to ramapage through the Paris streets.
https://www.reddit.com/r/france/comments/11zp75c/23032023_paris_violences_polici%C3%A8res_charge_tr%C3%A8s/
You’ve bought a pup.
?
The French have everything going for them: a wonderful country and rich culture. So why are they so bloody miserable?
It’s disgusting that thugs in black are allowed to ramapage through the Paris streets.
To be fair they look quite well armed, who's going to stop them?
So why are they so bloody miserable?
Because they feel passion.
Edit: A movie of a good looking depressed guy smoking a cigarette is a work of art in France.
The French have everything going for them: a wonderful country and rich culture. So why are they so bloody miserable?
Are they?
They're wonderful people raging against the stuff that's already made the UK slaves.
Better standard of living, better food, they all take August off because they can. And we call them work-shy, whilst their economy is more productive than ours.
Sure it's got it's problems, but they're better off than us.
Lower than the UK on the happiness index.
Because they feel passion.
So happier countries don't have passion? What a daft thing to say.
WTF is the happiness index? I’ve never been surveyed. The UK score would be coming down if I was. The French are spectacular at rioting and protesting.
The French are spectacular at rioting and protesting.
Because they're a bunch of miserable sods 😉
So happier countries don’t have passion? What a daft thing to say.
Who says the Brits, for example, are "happier"?
It's hard to know exactly what Brits feel as they lack passion.
Brits are happy to moan a lot, just as long as it doesn't require too much effort.
Who says the Brits, for example, are “happier”?
The polls do, and I know how fond you are of them.
I think they might have confused "mustn't grumble" with being happy.
https://www.thelocal.fr/20150702/the-french-are-happier-than-the-brits-study
From what I understand, the French have a strong ethos of holding the government to account and failure to deliver on promises or commitments will result in actual action from the people.
Well done France. Light years ahead of our bend over and take it even harder approach
I think they might have confused “mustn’t grumble” with being happy
I didn't say Brits were happy. I said we were happier than the French. Which isn't difficult.
From what I understand, the French have a strong ethos of holding the government to account
A strong ethos of moaning, even though they have it pretty good.
I have never seen the french to moan as a national characteristic at all.
A strong ethos of moaning, even though they have it pretty good.
You equate getting out in the street and having a riot with "moaning"?
How quaintly British..... the masters of understatements.
You equate getting out in the street and having a riot with “moaning”?
How quaintly British….. the masters of understatements.
I do. They'll burn a few things and get back to their lives of quiet dissatisfaction with their excellent lot.
So you think that protests, strikes, and riots, never achieve anything in France?
Are you sure about that? Their regular reoccurrence suggests otherwise.
Why do you think they have it better? anything to do with strong unions? I don't see dissatisfaction amongst the french at all. quite the opposite. an arrogance knowing they are who they are
A strong ethos of moaning, even though they have it pretty good.
You sir, are a master of irony. Cognitive dissonance much? You've pretty much described everyone on this forum.
It’s hard to know exactly what Brits feel as they lack passion.
Spoken like a true Frenchman!
To be fair, the French make better cheese than the UK. That may explain thier happiness.
That's debatable, they have become complacent in their cheese making and in an unscientific cheese-off that I held against a french colleague a few years back she agreed that my selection of three brilliant British cheeses were every bit as good as her selection of three French ones.
Just don't judge us on our supermarket prepacks, find a cheesemonger and be enlightened
The real reason they're annoyed is that since the 2CV their cars are unmitigatingly crap, barring one or two (205 GTi and any Clio that Nicole was in) and yet they persist in having a car industry. At least we had the sense to jack it in or sell it to the Germans bar a couple of bespoke luxury brands.
While our retirement age has been pushed to 67 from 65 no one has said a word.
The French push theirs 2 years up and their are national protests still 3 years below ours, shows how spineless the UK has become, no wonder politics have got to the stage they are at.
Vie la France
I do. They’ll burn a few things and get back to their lives of quiet dissatisfaction with their excellent lot.
is there any correlation between having an excellent lot and kicking off when the government try and change that status?
So you think that protests, strikes, and riots, never achieve anything in France?
Who can say? Without them they might be even more miserable.
From what I understand, the French have a strong ethos of holding the government to account and failure to deliver on promises or commitments will result in actual action from the people.
Well done France. Light years ahead of our bend over and take it even harder approach
And yet who invented the Gallic shrug....🤷♂️
You sir, are a master of irony. Cognitive dissonance much? You’ve pretty much described everyone on this forum.
I think it would be unwise to extrapolate from a forum to a country.
And yet who invented the Gallic shrug…
What do you think the gallic shrug means?
It means "I don't give a toss, your problem, not mine".
It doesn't mean "how much would you like me to bend over".
Tricky one - I admire the French unwillingness to accept everything there government does (was it the Poll tax riots the last time Brits actually said enough was enough?). But on the other hand given the increasingly ageing population in Western countries, those that have socialised healthcare need to do something to address the ever-increasing financial blackhole that results from it
The French push theirs 2 years up and their are national protests still 3 years below ours, shows how spineless the UK has become, no wonder politics have got to the stage they are at.
Or maybe some of us in the UK understand that with an aging population we need to work longer as expecting the younger generations to pay for our 30 years of retirement is an unrealistic and unaffordable financial model going forward.
Or maybe some of the benefits of far less labour intensive industries due to the ever growing role of new technology should result in more leisure time and shorter working time/lives, instead of just ever increasing profits and greater wealth for an elite few?
Ernie, could you explain how that would work in practice without creating an even greater tax burden on those in employment?
On Saturday we saw the 'fun buses' travelling towards Paris ready for the demonstrations, while driving on a French motorway.
Our UK pensions were put up from aged 64 to 65 a few years ago. Women who want equality had their pensions raised in a huge leap from 62 to 65. This has caused a lot of hardship for many women, who because of equality didn't have a leg to stand on regarding demonstrating.
I'm guessing that my pension will be paid at the age of 66. This is going to be tricky as my job as a curtain maker is partly physical and I'm already struggling to lift heavy bolts of fabric around.
Unfortunately all the Western automation does is vaguely keep us competitive vs Asia where labour is still cheap, plentyful and generally unregulated. Plus the automation kit costs and has to be paid for, it doesnt always reduce costs as much as people imagine, wages may be gone but you still have to pay off the loan. A lot of automation is done because it's difficult to hire someone to do manual repetitive tasks, robots do exactly what they are told and don't get sulky when the cost of living outstrips wage growth.
Edit:
This has caused a lot of hardship for many women,
I never quite understood this, it's not like women (or men) plan thier exact retirement date 20 years in advance and have a carefully calibrated financial plan that can't be changed to allow them to retire on date X. Being told after youve retired you cant have your with no other income in place is hardship, having to work a few more years is not exactly fun but it's not unreasonable.
French Governments have been reforming pensions for 30 years. Most have tinkered about at the edges of reform but Pres Macron has gone for it, despite strikes in 2020 with a reported 61% support amongst the population
Maybe @Edukator has a view?
Automation tends to offset the trend of a smaller working population in many countries, as does raising the retirement age (X-post stumpyjon)