French Democracy Dead or Alive?
The Gilets Jaunes in 2019
Johnstone, Diana
http://www.unz.com/article/french-democracy-dead-or-alive/
Date Written: 2019-01-11
Publisher: The Unz Review
Year Published: 2019
Resource Type: Article
Cx Number: CX23236
An overview of the Yellow Vests: their methods, demands, media coverage and summary of major events from November 2018 to January 2019.
Abstract:
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Excerpt:
For the mass of ordinary people, far from the political, financial, media centers of power in Paris, democracy is already moribund, and their movement is an effort to save it. Ever since Margaret Thatcher decreed that "there is no alternative", Western economic policy is made by technocrats for the benefit of financial markets, claiming that such benefits will trickle down to the populace. The trickle has largely dried up, and people are tired of having their needs and wishes totally ignored by an elite who "know best".
President Emmanuel Macron's New Year's Eve address to the nation made it perfectly clear that after one unconvincing stab at throwing a few crumbs to the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) protest movement, he has determined to get tough.
France is entering a period of turmoil. The situation is very complex, but here are a few points to help grasp what this is all about.
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