Protesters target French President Emmanuel Macron while he watches a play.

French President Emmanuel Macron.

Protesters targeted French President Emmanuel Macron while he was watching a play in Paris. Reuters. The President was there with his wife on a date watching the play La Mouche. A journalist, who was briefly detained afterwards, mentioned that Macron was there and protesters showed up and attempted to enter the theater. Macron has regularly spawned protest movements against various policies he and his government have launched, most notably the Gilets Jaunes, Yellow Vests, which originally protested changes in gas taxes. The latest round of protests is about Macron's plan to reform France's retirement system. 

My Comment:

Just a quick post to remind everyone that there are big protests going on in France. Though the intensity has died down since last year, the frequency is still steady and Macron keeps finding new ways to make everyone upset. 

The latest wave of protests has been about changing the retirement system, and that is pretty much always guaranteed to cause chaos. People don't want to worry about their old age years. They want to be able to retire safely and not have to worry about money in their old age. The younger generations also want their parents to be provided for. Threatening to take that away or even change the circumstances is a dumb move as it will always anger people, even if those changes are necessary. Without being an expert on France's domestic policy, I can't say if it's necessary or not but I do know that even if it is it was never going to be popular. 

I don't think President Macron was in any real danger here. French protests are often spirited and destructive but they are rarely violent and Macron was of course protected by police and his bodyguards. Even if the protesters had gotten into the play, Macron would have been swiftly taken out of there and nothing much would have happened to him other than a ruined evening. 

I do have to say that the entire event shows how out of touch President Macron is. Going to a play is a pretty snooty upper class thing to do. Most working class people either can't afford it or aren't interested in it (though the 2nd option may be less true in France), so it's not like Macron was going to the movies or something else relatable. 

It just screams upper class to me and I have always said that the unrest in France was primarily about class. The proposals that Macron makes are in the interests of the elite and upper classes in France and come at the expense of everyone else. This incident was a perfect example but even the Gilets Jaunes was about a gas tax that would have helped fight climate change, always an example of the upper classes virtue signalling at the expense of everyone else. 

However, President Macron has proven himself to be very resilient. He survived the worst days of the Gilets Jaunes movement and continues to serve despite low approval ratings. The next French Presidential election does not happen until April 2022 and I would be shocked if he isn't in office at that point. He probably won't win another term but I also don't think he would ever resign...