President Macron and his government are considering a state of emergency. The “Yellow Vests”, the people protesting the rising gas prices and taxes on polluting forms of transport, have been staging several demonstrations in the past three weeks and click here for the full article on CNN.
The deeper issue France is experiencing with its civilians is the large dividing gap between the metropolitan elite and the rural poor. These growing tensions are because of Macron and the policies he has introduced as the new president of France. He won the election back in 2017 through a run-off because no candidate won a majority vote in the first round. The run-off was held between the top two candidates; Macron just had to win a majority against Marine Le Pen. As the acting President of France, Macron is fighting the dissenters, “Yellow Jackets”, with a chemical that is illegal in war.
These protests are taking place in the streets of Paris, France. The citizens of Paris are lashing out against the rise of prices and taxes. More than 400 people were arrested and there were 133 people injured on Saturday. However, as the protests continue, the number of participants is decreasing. The first weekend had 113,000 participants, the second weekend had 53,000, and this past weekend had 36,000. Similar to what’s happened in the past days at the American-Mexican Border, the French government also released tear gas to disperse the protestors. Tear gas causes severe eye and respiratory pain, skin irritation, bleeding, and even blindness according to the Washington Post. In addition, this chemical weapon is illegal in war, but legal in domestic violence control. How does this make sense? This painful agent is illegal to use on nations we are at war with, so why is it okay to use as a way to control our own nation's rioting civilians? Is it fair for the unhappy french people to be suppressed or should their government try and fix the issue at hand?
The deeper issue France is experiencing with its civilians is the large dividing gap between the metropolitan elite and the rural poor. These growing tensions are because of Macron and the policies he has introduced as the new president of France. He won the election back in 2017 through a run-off because no candidate won a majority vote in the first round. The run-off was held between the top two candidates; Macron just had to win a majority against Marine Le Pen. As the acting President of France, Macron is fighting the dissenters, “Yellow Jackets”, with a chemical that is illegal in war.
These protests are taking place in the streets of Paris, France. The citizens of Paris are lashing out against the rise of prices and taxes. More than 400 people were arrested and there were 133 people injured on Saturday. However, as the protests continue, the number of participants is decreasing. The first weekend had 113,000 participants, the second weekend had 53,000, and this past weekend had 36,000. Similar to what’s happened in the past days at the American-Mexican Border, the French government also released tear gas to disperse the protestors. Tear gas causes severe eye and respiratory pain, skin irritation, bleeding, and even blindness according to the Washington Post. In addition, this chemical weapon is illegal in war, but legal in domestic violence control. How does this make sense? This painful agent is illegal to use on nations we are at war with, so why is it okay to use as a way to control our own nation's rioting civilians? Is it fair for the unhappy french people to be suppressed or should their government try and fix the issue at hand?
This is definitely an interesting story, Amanda, but can you make a connection to what's happening in America with this story?
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