Protesters set fires as they blocked highways and gas stations across France early Wednesday as part of a new nationwide movement. Authorities deployed 80,000 police, who made hundreds of arrests and fired tear gas to disperse crowds.
The "Block Everything" movement was born online over the summer in far-right circles, but spread on social media and was co-opted by left-wing, antifascist and anarchist groups. It now includes France’s far-left parties and the country’s powerful labor unions.
It seems suicidal to cut off the flow of food, fuel and medicine between cities. Do they WANT the cities to burn? "Three days from anarchy" and all that.
There is pent-up energy in every country right now. The unwinding of that energy is likely to play out in different ways in every country, perhaps varying at the state and county levels as well.
What will not change is your need for oxygen, clean drinking water, protection from the elements, food, for most of us at least 5 hours of sleep a night. We need some certainty that we and those closest to us are safe from harm.
For my readers in Michigan who are in dire need of a shotgun, this auction of property confiscated by the police has a large number of shotguns. Most of them are on the bottom of page 3 and and the top of page 4 of the catalog. The auction closes on September 24 and the property dispersal is in Battle Creek.
People are not vigilant enough in scrutinizing the narratives and directives they choose to follow.
ReplyDeleteI haven't looked too deeply into this movement, but "Block everything" sounds exactly like something enemies of the country would want to amplify on social media.
Ultimately the power of the people comes down to the ability to upend the system if things become unacceptable - but a successful movement needs purpose and leaders. Social media seems to make it easier for these 'headless' movements to gain traction, which is concerning.
France has LOTS of problems that we tend not to hear about in the US.
ReplyDeleteOne of the big ones is that like in much of Europe, the government does what it wants instead of listening to the people.
I wouldn't be surprised if many people see the cities as a problem - I know they see the banlieues as a problem, and that most of the recent immigrants are in cities.
And on top of that, they are facing political problems, again...
Jonathan
"It seems suicidal to cut off the flow of food, fuel and medicine between cities. Do they WANT the cities to burn? "Three days from anarchy" and all that." At some level, there are those that do because they believe that somehow they will come out on top in the rubble. History suggests most of the people that believe this do not, in fact, come out on top in the rubble.
ReplyDelete