New subscriber, Alice. Great content...WTF was Macron doing in Beijing?... 😯 ...What possible constructive business could he have with a rabid CCP, other than appearing as Xi's bitch?...He changed nothing. He returned to France with nothing. In the meantime, the CCP gets a big publicity boost claiming the "French are our friends!", and other such nonsense. The man has way, way more ego than common sense. As an American expat, I have no high horse to sit on after what we have gone through Trump and his fascist followers. But as you said, the French people aren't stupid. I hope you guys can clean up Macron's dumpster fire soon...
I'm German, and while hating France is a national sport here, we had the exact same Situation years ago and did NOTHING. People whined, people complained, but God forbid you start protesting! Thats just a big no! So, yeah, keep protesting, it won't get better on its own.
I don't hate the French. I just meet a French guy, and I think the French guy is gay, I meet a French woman, and I think she's bisexual. There's nothing wrong with being the former and the latter.
@@hglundahl As our housing minister said to a young woman who couldn't find a place to live: "Did you think of getting a rich boyfriend?" - I hope you were joking btw, not kind of serious like he was. Because hell that would be inappropriate.
I genuinely, sincerely hope with all my heart that this wave of awareness and discontent spreads across the world where it is needed. Vive la France, solidarity with the people of France!
This isn't new in France... Yet ppl outside of France never get the message, and our main stream news is getting worst in North America... We essentially live in an illiberal democracy, unlike France.
Agreed! I hope so as well. I’ve seen a lot of discourse on TikTok about capitalism, intersectionality, climate change, etc. which is very refreshing and gives me hope.
As far as I'm concerned, until France gets out Africa, the entire place can burn to the ground for all I care. The frenchies are not the victims. The Africans kept in abject poverty to sustain the living standards of these baguette-demons are the real victims, but nobody cares about them...
I'm from Russia and the only thing I can say: look at where we are and don't let the rich suck resources from your country, don't let the situation get worse. You'll be having fewer and fewer chances for improvement in future.
Glory to common people of Ukraine and Russia, Putin and his millitary males started the war, common folks stay United, money spent by Putin on destruction of Ukraine could be used to better conditions of Russians
Yeah. Seems like every western nation is now dealing with this increasingly large push by oligarchs to move western nations from a socialist-capitalist economy to more crony capitalism based on theft and crushing the poor.
As a German I want to say you guys, the ppl protesting on the streets, fighting the cops and their brutality, you guys are heroes! I see the videos on Twitter (of course German media isn't eager to show what's really going on) and I think you guys are absolutely amazing! Macron isn't a democrat. He behaves like an aristocrat and everyone knows what the French ppl like to do to their aristocrats, so he might be scared for a reason. And that's good. He should be. I hope your fight will be victorious and I hope the French left will gain momentum through it!
O Hope so,my dear companion🚩✌🏻. Macron wants to be part of that reactionary class. He’s not a progressive ♂️. He must be liking the British aristocrats,i dislike these english reactionaries. German fellows nowadays act passively beyond that urban tragedy. Progressive Frenchie are true heroes🌟💫 The western germans,Anti-Heroes👎🏻 in terms of civility.
@@kekonator8262 Maybe🤷🏻♂️...for that,you guys’ll have to deal with these uncivilized from west of Berlin. That minister is also an aristocrat too, I miss Angela Merkel;(,she was a true Berlinist citizen.
thank you for posting this video. i’m so sick of hearing my friends make stupid comments like “i hope paris isn’t a mess when i’m visiting”, as if their vacation expectations are more important than the livelihoods of those protesting. i can now point them to this video. they need to know paris isn’t a fairytale setting for tourists. it’s home to 12m people.
Paris is straight up a disappointing city regardless of protests or not lol. It is awesome to see the people of a nation stand up to the capitalist while us Americans just sit here and rot.
Wow, I am really tired of hearing stuff like this. I see so many videos on social media of tourist saying stuff like I'm scared and there's so much trash...
@@sydneystudds Sources? Maybe they are just trolls. On social media there a lot of shady people who try to influence others. Why don't you live your life in real life instead of social media?
Same story in Spain, we saved the banks and they didn't pay back. People always have to sacrifice more and more while a few billionaires get richer and richer. At least in my circle in Barcelona, we are impressed by your resilience and willingness to protest. In Spain, we almost never go to the streets and our retirement age is already at 65, soon to be 67. Thank you for protesting, really.
I thought Spain had strong radical unions, and that there were still small anarchist communities unaffected by the shitty misery of the rest of society
@@Jkjoannaki Perhaps there are still some small communities, but, in general, the population hardly protests for anything lately. And when they do, they are demonized like in France.
Well, we're fuck up since 2008. We have a sort of liberal government spiced with socialdemocratic measures, but not enough for solving any of the economic troubles that we are living (rent crissi, colapse of the healthcare system, privatising education...). Same as every part of the globe. If you look the whole picture it's very scary and worsening every minute.
@@Jkjoannaki After 40 years of dictatorship and witch hunting under Franco it's hard to rebuild a decent left wing. Most of the Spanish anarchists and socialists fled to France after the civil war, built new lives and didn't return.
@Biouke yeah that's true, in Greece were I'm from the Cia and the king that we voted to disappear both attempted coups in which they killed and imprisoned as many communists and anarchists as they could. Since the Greek liberation from turks movement started from Russians we had at first support of our communist movement from the soviet union, but cia and Britain didn't allow any support towards our communists and forced their deaths and hunting, to have us under dictatorship. And now, Greeks want to obey wither the Germans through the eu or the us government instead of fight against imperialism and capital which is what destroyed our country in modern history
I'm from Boston. Your protesting story is so similar to what happens here. We carry signs, sing songs, and meet people who care about the issue. The only time people get very angry is when the police are standing in rows not allowing us to leave. It's frustrating because to me it's simple. If you treat it like a war, the citizens fight back to defend themselves.
Reminds me of the Boston Massacre in 1770 where a group of 9 British soldiers killed 5 people from the opposing American mob. The mob was actually the one who started the abuse but the British soldier defending himself afterwards was the only one who got judicial repercussions.
I think that's a bit stupid to say that you hate your country because that also implies you hate the culture, the people living there and pretty much everything else. I know it's for clickbait and the most appropriate term might be to say that you hate your government or system but still... I that person actually hates their country and not just what I said then they know what to do.
You can't compare our protests to French ones. 🇫🇷: fill the streets of every major city for werks, storm corporate HQs, threaten to guillotine the rich 🇺🇸: stand on the street corner for the afternoon on a weekend, inconveniencing absolutely no one, carry signs with cute little jokes on them you hope will get updooted on reddit We are a weak and pathetic people and deserve what ever the rich do to us
@@w花b I mean but their government is the body and organization that takes it upon itself to represent that region. The laws and systems people are told to adhere to shapes that culture and the people directly.
I went for a trip to Paris when the protests started and I was so shocked how many people were engaged in the protests. It's good to see how aware people are and how diverse the crowd was.
As a brit in London I’ve been watching with envy at how you are all standing up for each other, you’re really inspiring so many of us everywhere I hope you can continue to cripple them & force them to listen, you can look to the UK to see what path you are on if you let them get a way with this, don’t give in to them.
Couldn’t agree more instead we’re subjected to silly culture wars waged by the far right, a classic “can a woman have a penis?” as if transgender people are the real threat to our so called democracy.
As a British person I have nothing but the upmost respect for french protestors, they do what so few British seem to be capable of doing, defending their hard fought democracy. A recent bill here means that it is illegal to have more than six people on a picket line among many other disturbing infringes on protesters’ rights, and yet the nation sat by and it was hardly spoken about. A lot of people could learn from the bravery of the french protesters.
To be fair, you had your right to protest slowly whittled away over decades. And did have a massive red scare that greatly reduced people centric politics.
@@sojourner4726 It all started with Thatcher, she started all that neoliberal economic agenda while upholding fascist social agenda (anti gay laws, anti feminism, white supremacy, etc.). When Blair came into power, there's a hope that he could reverse the damage that Thatcher has done, but no, he didn't do anything. he didn't make it worse, but he didn't make it better either.
I feel the same. In Canada there's a push by some provinces to take away public health care and put in place privatized care. I love where I live, but it's some of the politicians/people that make it (or try to make it) shit for the rest of us.
@@vxicepickxv That's the exact thing. I want you guys to have better care. Not us to have worse. Seeing the shrill and vile demons trying to make care harder for us to access makes me livid.
Privatized Healthcare is a criminal act and should be met with the same violence and anger that murder is met with. Both kill innocent people, why does one get a free pass?
what makes me angry as a person outside of the france is that usually french protests are reduced to some kind of aesthetics. "Oh look at those french people they know how to protest and do a revolution" but then also they are saying that garbage in the street is disresectful to other people and tourists. I think this kind of fights will be more frequent in many countries it already happened in my country a couple years ago, and reducing citizen's right to protest into some aesthetic choice is just laughable as tomorrow we will be on their place.
I've seen quite a lot of people on Instagram say that they hope France gets cleaned up before they come for their spring break/honeymoon/birthday as if our country was just a movie set for their own lives. Some even say that France would collapse without tourism and that's why we should "get our shit together" and go back to pretending everything is okay so that they can eat croissants in front of the Eiffel tower... It makes me sick.
@@Melissa-sx9vh unfortunately yeah.. because of the idealized tourist/foreign centered idea of France. People just care about riots and violence on the news as entertainment with no care for the cause, degoutant.
@@Melissa-sx9vh Turists sometimes say the dumbest shit. A couple weeks ago in Portugal airport workers were on strike and the tv stations started interviewing some turists and this random british chick was saying how the time they had to wait was disrespectufull for the turists and how she would never return and how, somehow, that was our loss...
@@Melissa-sx9vh yeah I can’t wait sue the french to give them a nice welcome ha ha! I love the french people, never killed the french government and hate the french police
As a French expat in Germany I have been struggling to explain the situation in my own country without being in rage and absolutely incoherent. Thank you for producing this content. Now I can send it to all my friends and hope they can understand and maybe support my rage and my anxiety. Keep the good work Alice! Your videos and reflexions are truely helpful. ♡
Yeah, here where i live pensions are a joke, the minimum wage is miserable, exploitation is widespread and horrible and yet most people just say the usual crap: "that's just life, work harder".
As a French person, I thank you for making this video. The people and the news outside of France seem to think that the French are protesting solely because they don't want to work for two more years, when in reality it's about passing reforms/laws without the citizens' consent and a lot of other issues.
What even would have been the problem if they just didn't want to work for two more years? We have ONE life, we shouldn't be forced to give it all away for the engorgement of some rich asshole in their yacht!!!
@@yksogrenci6376 I'm French and Russian, so I know how that feels. I think Russia and Turkey are kinda similar politically speaking. I'm currently living in France, so I feel especially privileged to be in a country where democracy isn't entirely dead. This is all the more reason to act and protest before it's too late. Freedoms are meant to be enjoyed, and we need to use them while we still can. I feel for my fellow Russians and Turkish people, man.
For the past few months, all I've felt is burning rage. The people we voted for to avoid the worst case scenario (the far right in power) now see that vote as endorsement. The pack of dogs we call police is unhinged, brutalizing us for no reason, and getting away with it. Meanwhile, the far right reaps the reward of our struggles, our efforts, without even having to lift a finger. How do you not lose your marbles in such a context?
Oh my god, you expressed what I feel, perfectly! As an American, the ppl in power do the same exact playbook. It's horrific & makes me want to cry just thinking about it. It's like change for the better is impossible - & that's what they want!! I can't even say my true political thoughts, bc of censorship & risk to myself. But it all just needs to be burned down with cleansing fire. 🔥✊ I actually screenshotted your comment bc you worded this so eloquently. Thank you for putting it this way, I can now share with friends & family, to show them what exactly is happening. Thank you & solidarity to you! 🌹✊💪❤
@@JaseekaRawr I'm glad my online ramblings could be worth something to someone.. I've been following what's happening in the U.S. from a distance, and it looks as grim, if not grimmer, than what's going on here (for one thing, we haven't yet seen in France an attack on LGBT rights as ferocious as what's going on in the U.S., although I have a feeling it's coming for us one day or another). Solidarity to you, comrade from beyond the ocean. Take care 🌼
@@zershuan Yeah, I'm sorry - in addition to seeing all that police brutality on screen, I've been tear gased several times for no reason (really, just walking peacefully, shouting slogans) so I let my anger cloud my judgment here. Apologies to all dogs for comparing them to cops!
and that's why we need socialism instead of voting for anyone but the far right. they're all the same. we need to stand up in the face of imperialism and demand socialism.
Very informative video. As a working-class Brit living under a grossly incompetent conservative regime, the part about being told to "tighten your belt" by the government while you watch billionaires and oil companies' wealth grow exponentially really resonated with me. Keep on fighting ✊️❤
As a half French half American person raised by a French mom in the United States and am now living in Paris for 5 years; I fully agree with you. You did a good job describing the situation. I hope we win this fight and that we inspire the rest of the world to fight for their rights as well
Thank you for explaining this situation so well. This is not a French problem. In North America the numbers are even worse. We are being told that it's all in the name of freedom. But in reality our freedom is being taken away a little at a time. Slavery is alive and well.
As an Italian, I can only say that ai really do value the French people. You are showing all the European countries (I do not count US, they are hopless in my opinion) what means to be a great, proud, informed people, what really means being citizens. I wish in Italy we had 1/10 of the awareness of you all. I really hope that how happened in 1789, again you will show the word that the “there is no alternative” bullshit is, actually, just bullshit. Forza e coraggio, cugini francesi!!!with love from Italy ❤️
I'm from Serbia and have massive respect for French people. You guys are an example to the rest of the world! Don't retreat, don't pay attention to comments such as "what do they want, we go to retirement at 67", this isn't only about pension reform or social security, this is about basic human dignity. We live in an extraordinary times when all the masks are falling and it becomes clear that the system is unsustainable and on the brink of collapse. And now those who are responsible for the imminent collapse want to save their capital and blame the war, the pandemic, lack of workforce and bad demographic situation, etc. And the fact is that all of that is a consequence, rather than a cause of the trouble. The cause is limitless greed. Stay strong!
Thanks, Alice! I now understand what's going on, and you are absolutely right, all we have heard here in Denmark for example is that the french is protesting in the streets because of 2 years and we've found it ridiculous - our pension age is 67 and is continuing to rise. Maybe we should also demand to tax the rich even more to avoid this...
Also note that while French age for retirement is one of the lowest in Europe, we also have the longest required cotisation length at 43 years of work to get a full pension. Meaning people already work over 62 if they started working in their mid/late 20's. With that reform, even people who started working at 20 will have to work two years more; people that generally work difficult jobs with lower life expectancy.
Ayy Swede here. 6 years ago I would get frustrated by “eat the rich” but here I am, frustrated by the impact the 1% does. Just taxing the rich would lower the retirement age
Demanding "the rich" pay more isn't a solution. For one thing, we ALL want to be rich someday, and if we are too afraid of punitive taxation, we are less likely to work hard to amass wealth and even more likely to practice tax evasion on every level. The reason people pay taxes is, in large part, because everyone pays them and everyone is supposed to benefit from them. If that's not working, I think the answer is LESS taxation, not more. We can put less strain on government, which is abysmal at managing money anyway, and more on charitable organizations and other community organizations which WE actually have control of at local levels. That's probably a wiser solution. I'm honestly confused by this whole situation. I'm an American and here, for a while, we've had something called "social security" which is an entitlement people begin earning when they work. But it's NOT a pension. Essentially social security is the previous generation investing in the future generation. So, my parents put money in when they worked, but they are actually drawing money their parents put in, and I would be drawing monies my parents put in. People aren't eligible to draw social security, I think, until they're 75 and it's kind of a joke because you certainly still have to pay for healthcare (even with Obamacare, which is an even worse joke). Really, in America if you want money to live when you're old, you have to work, save money, and create a retirement fund for yourself. Most workplace "retirements" are in the stockmarket, so they aren't pensions either. We did away with pensions sometime in the 80s, although lots of employers I'm sure never offered them. Honestly, I think it's wiser to set up YOUR OWN retirement fund, because governments suck at doing almost everything. Why would you rely on "the man" when you can just make money and take care of yourself?
I feel the same disheartenment with my own country. There are STILL people living the lie of “American Exceptionalism,” when in reality we’re only exceptional at being boastful while we’re in NO place to be boastful.
I literally had to flee the US to save my life. I'd be dead or in jail, I kid you not. I'm from Appalachia & the opiate epidemic(lost 8+ friends to OD, stopped counting a couple years ago), gun violence & poverty. I became an addict & addiction is criminalized in Kentucky/US. I had no education, there was no future for me there. I got lucky & met my husband. I moved to India in 2015. It was pure luck that got me out. There are countless Americans dying daily & suffering through the hell that is poverty currently. The fact some Americans still believe in American exceptionalism is such a joke. How is it even possible?? But it still happens. Even LIBERALS do the same!! Mention China & watch them lose their minds. They start to defend war crimes & imperialism bc "we're the good guys spreading democracy!" It's absolutely incredible. Sorry to ramble. I have to tell my story bc apparently ppl don't hear it enough online. I didn't even have stable internet connection, bc I couldn't afford it. I've learned SO MUCH politically since having access to the internet for these past couple years! That's the explanation for the ignorance: lack of education. They've defunded education, paywalled it, so ppl are truly ignorant & not empowered. The answer is guidance & education. But most ppl are just struggling to survive daily, they have no time to study or learn, let alone even know where to start. 😭
@@JaseekaRawr The answer is decent fucking healthcare. The opiate epidemic doesn't exist in Australia for this exact reason, our pain can quite literally be treated for free instead of being patched with medication.
@@rtmpgt yeah, that would help. Won't solve all our issue tho lmao. We need improved worker conditions & liveable wage. But yeah, ppl are fkn dying, so we need healthcare stat.
Great video ! I absolutely agree with all of your points except maybe the title. I'm French and have always felt a certain level of shame and/or disappointment in my country but in the past couple of weeks, seeing all the people on the streets continuing to protest and strike despite the increasing pressure put on them to not do so, I've actually been feeling more connected to my country than ever.
I'm not French, but my history teacher told me something about a time in France when normal people were going hungry but the aristocracy was unwilling to give up their privileges. It reminds me of what Alice is describing in the video. Something happened after this situation worsened... Anyway, it was probably nothing important that any rich person should be concerned about.
Too many French people (but to be fair, it can apply to any nationalities) mistakes "criticizing their government" with "hating their country". There's a lot of things I want to improve in my country, but I never hated it. If I hated it, I just wouldn't care about improving it.
I am a Taiwanese . Thank you for posting this video . In a democratic society , discussing policies and taking actions are important .I support you all who protect your idea and life style . 加油 !!!
Honestly, as someone who is learning French and is considering living there in the future, seeing these kinds of videos of the French people makes me love the country more in a way. I admire how determined you guys are in what you believe in and the lengths you are willing to go to in order to make that it heard. ❤
Thanks Alice for explaining what is going in France. Here in Ecuador we have a similar but getting worst by the minute situation. As I’ve seen in the comments this is happening everywhere. Is sad because if you go out and protest we would probably die, and if you die is your fault for going out and acting on a right that is given by the constitution. Politicians are only looking out for their best interest and the ones that are close to them. So I really hope we as voters get inform and vote, because those are the people that will represent your interest.
It’s been extra rough where I live here in America, and one big reason is because we are so shut off from hearing the world’s stories and understanding there’s a bigger picture of humanity and solidarity. Thanks for sharing what’s been going on in France we’re curious over here but find very little reliable information on what’s actually happening. 🖤
Honestly, I’ve seen some French people online saying American protesters are weak for quitting so easily with no action taken, but it’s incredibly important to realize the police brutality that Alice was describing in this video is the first immediate action of our cops over here when it comes to protests. It seems like French police forces are taking notes and integrating it into their own practices. Which is terrifying. In the US, protests are met with extreme violence and can become lethal for unarmed civilians. I’ve always respected the fact that the French public is able to protest so productively and it’s a regular aspect of the culture in many ways, so I really hope that the situation doesn’t escalate the way it does over here. Wishing you guys luck for this situation and all future protests!
Oh sweetie, it's been like that for years. They just weren't reported upon. The CPE protests back in 2006 was very similar (just less people). The main difference was that journalists weren't also put in prison. The law passed but the president ended up recognizing that since the protest was really big so it wasn't gonna be enacted. The main difference is social media allowing the people to see past media censorship. The Yellow jacket movement was actually the turning point to Social media pushing back against censorship. It is true though that since 2007 and new President Sarkozy the police did take cues from the US police. But the 2015 terrorism laws linked to the declaration of an emergency state (which is still going nowadays) also played a huge part in giving more power to the police. Don't think this is the naive belief of a new born striker who's never dealt with actual police violence. We've been fighting against it for a while, it's just that more and more people join us every time.
I live in France and every time I argued it was necessary, I would hear the wildest arguments. "They should do nothing about the retirement", "My dad is suffering and working". Like wtf? How is that an argument to justify protesting to that large of a scale? Thank you for being the first french who actually had a point even though I don't believe your proposal to be a permanent solution.
As a Briton, I'm incredibly jealous of your protests. Lots of people are saying this is the worst it's ever been but there are no marches, because our left wing parties suck
In USA there are virtually none. It is so bad now but the workers largely fight each other. It has gotten to the point where a typical job will have employees competing against each other for hours every week. So the manager will say there are limited hours to dish out and you need to inform on low ranking employees and they will decide based on 'performance' who gets the most hours.
I really admire the french spirit. Where I'm from, Estonia, the goverment can raise taxes on the poor while cutting them for corporations, raise the retirement age, cut social services etc and no one would ever dream of coming out onto the street. Even my politics professors at uni said that here it's better to make some kind of art piece in the public space to draw attention to a cause then to organise a protest because you will never gather enough people for anyone to even notice and that goes double for left wing causes.
I think that we estonians aren’t as united as we should be. The proletariat and everyone who actually keeps the country working should hold the power. I’m a bit happier with our current government but Estonia needs a reform, this is our country. We keep it working and it needs to work for us, high property taxes and more stuff like that could make everyday better for the common folk.
@@komojiro7397 Yeah, I mean the new goverment was the best we could have hoped for probably out of a lot of shitty options and I did vote for the soc dems, but I'm still disappointed by the rise in VAT and income tax which mostly affects regular working people in combination with nothing on corporations except some quickly added removal of previous privileges when people's reaction scared them (but that's somethins, shows we CAN scare them xD)! I'd love to see property taxes, wealth taxes, much higher capital gains taxes etc. But lol that ain't happening under the reform party. At least maybe we'll get marriage equality out of this. I had no idea there were so many estonians here watching this channel thou, that's cool! There's more of us than I thought who are sick of it all : D
Merciiiii d'en parler, je vois beaucoup trop d'étrangers prendre ces conflits à la légère et penser qu'on "se plaint pour rien car eux travaillent plus longtemps et ont rien dit"... C'EST P'T'ÊTRE ÇA LE PROBLEME LES COCOS
Exactly! I have such a hard time explaining to friends back home what's actually happening because US news barely covers the actual CONTEXT of the reform and dissenting opinions and so Americans trivialize it.
While I 100% agree that inequality is getting out of hand and the rich needs to pay more, it is important to remember that the issue of a higher age of retirement is not merely a question of money. The declining birth rates all across Europe makes it so that we will soon be finding ourselves in a situation where fewer people in the workforce have to sustain an increasingly large elderly population outside the workforce. In Denmark we have this problem too, especially with regards to an increasing shortage of workers in health- education and elderly care. One way or another, European countries need to find a way to sustain the workforce if we wish to sustain our welfare programs. That said I wholeheartedly agree that the rhetoric of "economic necessity" is far too often used as a guise by governments, including the danish one, to pass neoliberal reforms that serve the wealthy while making ordinary people pay. I am also saddened to hear the accounts of police brutality by the French police
when you were talking about the armed police man's I just burst into cry .. I remember the protests in my own country Iran just few month's ago and how protesters were beaten up in the most brutal way . I wish for a peaceful world for all the people .
@@johannageisel5390 well honestly things like this takes so much time but people are still fighting back (kinda like surviving in some points ) despite the bad economy and no internet access (all the social media's are banned hear and if you can simply just connect it mean's that you either have the money to buy vpn or proxy server's etc. or have the knowledge to connect ) and also with all the executions ( of 21 and 22 years old people just for protesting ) older generation gets more conservative about saying anything against the regime . real fight is what women are doing rn .. going out without hijab when they know they could get arrested( rejecting all the thing's that they never choose man and women) but still this Islamic regime have bullets and we have NOTHING but our general memory and pure rage and sadness inside of our heart's
So true, as a Frenchie it is important to show how our state is corrupting itself for neo-liberalisation. I think a video on the CFA franc could help get more internationals to see our current abuse of power at home and abroad. I'm in Lorient and we have an art school occupying their school for the last month. Power to the people.
As a brit what I've been hearing through mainstream media is the 'common sense' approach that macron is pushing which had left me thinking there was something that was being left out given how angry people are and I'd been wanting to find out. Thank you for this video as it has really shone a light on why people are actually so angry
Hello from Czechia, This was incredibly inspiring. I have long been angry with how the world is evolving and how much injustice is served by the ultra rich. I will act on my views and try to find causes to join to hopefully have a chance at changing something. Thank you.
As someone from England who's lived in France for 25 years I find your take on the current demonstrations here spot on! I'm a veteran lefty who was at many demos in the '80's and '90's in London and the police always behaved In the way you described. When there was violence, labour, as well as conservative politicians praised and defended the police, even though they were the main perpetrators.
as a south american who emigrated to europe 7 years ago, I really don't get the hate that france gets all over, you french are the best for having a spine, europeans in general are too laid back to care about anything and will gladly conform to any crap imposed by the state... like I could never imagine such a wide participation in street protests from the dutch, spanish, portuguese, germans, italians... no matter how bad things get they still look down at people taking the streets and fail to understand their own people.
The reason people hate the French differs depending on one's cultural and social background. In the UK white people hate the French because of the history between our country - is to say that the French government led to many of the violence that killed thousands during the Revolution contrastingly those who are poc within the UK such as myself are critical of France due to the past racism, colonization of our countries and homes and present day reluctancy from their government to apologize. Additionally many have stated that when going to France they were met with cold attitudes especially when they were people of color or women. My all girls (mostly black) school was met with such hate when we went (swearing, shouting, racist slurs, even a case of S.A). MANY people in Europe have similar stories when going to France. Whilst I believe that many French people are lovely, amazing people it's not right to bellite the xenophobia that other Europeans face when going there.
“It’s harder to resolve issues of injustice than it is to resolve issues of order.” Wow! That was beautifully said. Thank you for giving your perspective and experience, I feel so much more informed. I wish continued courage and support for the French people! ❤
I live in the UK and even though many would love to rip in to our ‘historical’ rival, it’s awful here too, real wages are constantly falling, inequality is high and also unjustified and public spending is low. So it’s a relief to see the french do something about it. It’s very minimal here. I wish the UK could follow Frances example
It’s a bad situation in France but it warms my heart to see all the French people organizing and protesting, here in America the idea that unions could orchestrate a big strike like this is something that could have only happened 100 years ago. I wish France the best of luck against these horrible systems and politicians! 🇫🇷
@@marcfischer114 100%. I think a lot of countries have the same problem. Unfortunately the only way this will be solved is if the government does something so outrageous it pisses everyone off
Incredible video! As an American, it's nice to hear about something going on that we may hear about from our news, but it's always felt like there is something more. This was that something that was missing - the nuances and the human side. Watching about events on the news can make them feel two dimensional and inconsequential, but this shows they aren't.
In Sweden when the pension age raised to 67-68 year old, everyone was like, "ohhh welll 🤷🏻♀️" and no diskussion was made about it. It's only when when protest in France startad that we started to react and fully support the protest the people in France does against raised pension age. Sooo keep up 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
@Bill Cipher what pension age has to do with social security? They have good social security. You get unemployment benefits, social housing and medical services, if needed. It's just all is funded by a majority who have to work until 68, do not ask for unemployment benefits, social housing and use medical services as little as possible
Yeah, Sweden, go an protest for the French to keep their low entry age for retirement. As you are also a net contributor to the European Union memberstate, it is (indirectly) also your money that keeps French and other southern European memberstates retirement schemes alive. Greetings from Germany who is also in a similar situation.
Thanks for the update. It's good to gain understanding from the people directly and not rely on terrible international journalism. This, as well as covid and lack of solidarity in the form of mask wearing, is why it's unsafe for me as a disabled person to attend protests. I do miss being able to be involved. Police violence is awful, I have a friend in Bristol who was very badly hurt by it. Solidarity x
This exactly. Billionaires have enough to retire immediately and remain retired for a hundred lifetimes, but the working class have to keep working longer? No.
@@QuesoCookies That is totally true. Billionaires think to retire at 40 years old, while workers have to work 70 y.o, and the worst is the lack of empathy.
Or they may be people like me someone from a lower middle class Irish family that realises sedentary workers who live the longest retiring young and having longer retirements than careers is obscene
Thank you very much for this. I've only seen the protests referred to as "against the pension reform", which did feel out of place. Such tenacity to one reform among many that go through the political system almost unnoticed? This helped me understand. I'd be in the streets singing and dancing too if presented with such undemocratic decision making.
Hi, Alice. Thanks for your video, even though it moved me to tears. I'm Brazilian and all the things that you described are just another Wednesday when we protest anything. But the majority of Brazilians don't really care about this kinda thing. The thinking about and approach to neoliberal policies is so different between our countries, I can't even begin to describe it to you. Well, I don't even know why I'm writing this, but. Well. I don't know.
Thank you sooo much. As a French person living in Canada, I have to have really annoying conversations and I am really glad I can now refer them to your video
C'est génial ce que tu fais d'expliquer ce qu'on vit aux non francophones, ça peut éduquer aussi les autres pays vis à vis de leur propres gouvernements ❤️
One of your best videos, very holistic and educational account of the issues building up for years in France.
ปีที่แล้ว +4
The title was a bit misleading for me but I fully support the protests. I left my home country almost a decade ago and when we tried to make a change... It was too late, a lot of people are now gone or six feet under. France is a good country but people has to continue for keeping the good conditions. People is going to complain elsewhere but they don't live the daily lives of the French. I'm glad that you're doing this content for people abroad. Beaucoup de succès avec ta chaîne, c'est nécessaire l'information. Courage
Je absolument suis d'accord avec votre pointe de vue. Je suis Américain et ici aux États-Unis le média portrait les manifestations en France comme quelque chose n'est pas nécessaire et le français sont paresseux. Notre média est trop mal à un degré où dans mon precinct de mon état (Californie) notre représentant qui s'appelle gauche denounce des grèves pour l'union des professeurs. La gens de France ont besoin de manifester. Pas juste les français mais aussi les américains, les britanniques, les canadiens etc. Macron est devenu un dictateur avec ses réformes. Pardon pour ne pas avoir une bonne argument. C'est juste je suis extrêmement passionné de cette situation mais je veux finir avec Vive la France 🇫🇷!
Thanks for the video. I wanted to have a French person's perspective. You enlightened me on so many aspects. Damn, Macron - I guess a banker will always be a banker. Neoliberalism is the worst. Power to the French people.
Au moins les français ont les couilles d'aller protester. Ici au Québec, dès que quelqu'un secoue le berceau on se plaint, on veut que les ponts et autoroutes soient débloqué de force, une loi spéciale pour un retour à "l'ordre".
Thank you for explaining it like this. In Belgium there is this sentiment of ''what are they protesting? We already have to work until we're 67". But now I want to protest my own gouvernement, because the only party that wants to hold the 1% accountable is put away as ''dangerous leftist extremism''.
I’m an American, I try to keep up with international news - the coverage of this situation here has been abysmal. Thank you so much for covering it in such detail. His comparison to the January 6th Capital attack is shameful since he decided all of this for you. I stand with you from here. We endure police brutality when we protest here as well and we are also always asked to condemn supposed acts of violence from our side when police are hurting people peacefully protesting. I’m sorry you had that happen to you - know that this American is standing with those of you who are standing for the people and for human rights. Thank you.
I’m so glad that I saw an actual French person explain what’s going on because most media in the US is very incorrect about the needs of the French people
Having pension beyond the age of 60 is ridiculous. In where I live, people retire usually at the age of 58/59. You are not mandatory to work but you can if you want...but unfortunately here, we don't have safety net especially if we work in private sector. I work as a teacher in private Scholl but i will retire at 65. 😅 I'm 30 by the way. Glad to see people go to street to protest. Government wants the easy way out, blame the people, as always...same here 💔
In 2018, Brazilians had the worst experience and a decadence in the workers rights and the people did absolutely nothing. Since then, the workers just did lose their dignity and laws that go in favor of them. I'm cheering for your people and country, make questions and never accept anything that go against what you want and what you need.
From the U.S., thank you for sharing your insights. It is alarming how much this struggle against income inequality, police brutality, and conservatism sounds like our own situation.
It is really weird in some ways since we bent to Neo Liberalism back in the Eighties along with what Bush called Voodoo Economics which is shockingly still supported inside both political parties. We are only now trying to push back against it but only after it has done so much damage. Hopefully France does not fall into the same hole if only for their own sake.
i watched this while i was not listening to a work seminar, should have warned me it would make me CRY! wow thank you Alice for reminding me of the power of solidarity and how our struggles are (as Angela Davis & many activists have said) extremely interconnected: our fight against the status quo, the police state, capitalism, etc is truly not just local and we can find SO MANY commonalities across the pond. Go France!!!!!! Yall give me hope that democracy isn't completely dead. 💞love,comrade from the US💞
@@patriciarodriguez3973 Lo sé y tan tranquila no estoy, creeme. Pero si ya ni luchas por las cuestiones pensionarias hay en el mundo, menos vamos a agarrar la onda al respecto. Toda llama de lucha por los derechos de los trabajadores y las pensiones, es buena para apoyar y expandir creo yo.
Public pension is a pyramid scheme anyway, so it doesn't matter what the Government does. We have the same problem here in Spain. They will either tax the rich and lower investment opportunities, making the country poorer, or delaying the inevitable by raising general taxes and raising the retirement age. The only way to solve this is reducing the amount of pension people get by looking at their patrimony. If you are a millionaire you don¡t need 1500€ every month.
As a Russian I'm happy for French people as they are able to protest. At first we were able to do the same, but were portrait as extremist minority. Now we have a man in a prison because his daughter made "stop war" painting in her art class It's like slow boiling a frog, so it doesn't feel.
советую тебе изучит ситуацию а не заголовки статей...его приговорили на 2 года за то что он писал а не за рисунок дочери..( нет такой статьи что родителей садят за детей ) иметь критическое мышление тяжело ...гораздо проще открывать род и нести чушь...
@@LS-Moto it has to do with the opium wars, japanese colonization and them the Chinese civil war where Xian Kai Shek fled to Taiwan with the rest of the Kommitang
@@LS-Moto Taiwan was once part of the Chinese empire but when the Chinese were defeated by the rapidly industrialising Japanese 18xx. Korea and Formosa (today called Taiwan) were captured. After the Chinese empire collapsed Civil War between the nationalists and communists broke out in 1920s. At first the nationalists crushed the communists but Japan invaded China in ww2. This war weakened the nationalist and when ww2 ended the communists won a lot of battles and forced the nationalists to retreat to Taiwan. Continental China is dictated by the CCP and Taiwan was dictated by the nationalist party until it democrazized. CCP views Taiwan as historical part of China and wants to rule the island but this would be the end of the democratic Taiwan- Chinese.
Thank you for this great video! I moved from Germany to France over ten years ago, when the social system in France was so much better than in Germany.. since Macron became president, I've been trying to warn people, but it is too late, he has completely ruined the French social system, which was his goal (destroy and privatize). But I still have hope, because French people do not give up, and we can still take it back!! I am still in ptsd from protests a few years ago and the thought of going to a protest now and if getting arrested by the police getting raped by them (which is what has happened) is so so terrifying, but we will not give up, and fight for our future 💚
thank you so much for making this video - as a canadian teen who tends to (for the most part) avoid the news, this was extremely informative! the way in which you express these concepts is so capitvating and not at all the snooze fest of government! thank you again, please make more like this!
Organizing can be so hard, and people can get tired of being in the streets. Thanks for encouraging people to show up & reminding us that it can be joyful too!!
Thank you for this. I’m in the US and it frustrating trying to counter act the neoliberal propaganda on this protest. Now I can recommend it every time I have to explain what is going on to a confident ignorant American.
It makes sense that the richest should pay their fair share of taxes to support the pension system in France. I suppose my follow up question then is, will it be enough, and also, will it be successful? I think about the failure of the ISF Wealth tax to bring in more than 5B euro per year. France's wealth tax contributed to the exodus of an estimated 42,000 millionaires between 2000 and 2012. Thomas Picketty stated in Le Monde that critiques of ISF should be disregarded: "Repeating over and over again that the wealth tax (ISF) brought in less than 5 billion euros is tantamount to taking citizens for fools: this low yield reflects the choice of successive governments to exempt billionaires and to rely on bogus self-declarations, and it is precisely this choice that must be called into question. It is by tackling the issue of justice that we will get out of the current crisis." In it, he claims billionaires were somehow exempted from this policy, but I can't find a record of it. Second he claims that the shortfall is due to fraudulent deflation of value which has been reported, but I cant find quantities for the lost revenue from this. I think the most important failing of ISF is totally unaddressed was capital flight and the exodus of wealthy individuals from the country. I would appreciate this being covered or anything clarifying the topic.
I mean, it's not just about taxing billionaires' personal fortunes, it's also about taxing corporations and shareholders. Less profits paid out as dividends to a small class of already wealthy people, more taken as taxes and spent for the benefit of everybody.
Thanks for sharing knowledge on what is happening in our country Alice :) I also believe that a lot of people are scared to go and protest because of police brutality at the moment. Recently twi protesters were put in a coma because of the police and many more were badly hurt. Some become invalids. Our government is trying to remove our right to protest, which is fundamental to any democracy.
Thank you so much for this, I'm embarrassed to say I completely misunderstood the protests before your video. I'm sending you love and support from New Zealand
i’m currently taking french right now in school and we have been discussing what’s happening in france. this video was so informative! amazing as always!
Though it might be impolite, your video really made me believe a lot of French people have no idea how the economy works and do not know what they need. If the US has the same tax rate as France, the rich people will leave. A relatively low tax rate is THE key element for getting commercial investment and industrialising innovative technology (If it were not for this, there would be no need for the Republican Party to exist.), and Franch is losing a lot of high-quality jobs. Setting that aside, believe it or not, we (China) used to try very hard to eliminate inequality until we sadly found the potential energy generated by the wealth gap is the very driving force of many things. Now we just try to keep people from poverty in the UN standard and let it go.
It is truly a miracle that French people are protesting. Message to the rest of the world: you can make that miracle happen in your country too. I’ve lived in France for 5 years now, and I come from a country with a history of protesting (Chile). I’m truly astonished by the discipline and power that the bourgeois press has in France. Literally every kiosk on every street corner, on every train station, has pro government propaganda front and center masquerading as “newspaper marketing”. The messaging is unified across publications and journalists. It truly speaks volume of France’s institutions (education, trade unions, NGOs, state-funded social research and journalism) that people can be mobilized to fight for their interests agains both a massive propaganda and state repression machine. It is only necessary to take control of a few institutions for the people to have real leverage over the system. That’s why Macron is resorting to authoritarianism, he wants to take that power away.
Fantastic video! I want people to keep in mind that this is all possible thanks to all of the active unions in France. Even though they have been weakened over time, mobilizing in such a way is a once in a lifetime occasion in places like the US. Any and all attempts to weaken unions in any part of the world are made to specifically avoid this type of stand still. I hope to see private trade unions call for a strike if the law passes the conseil constitutionnel, but that might be too optimistic.
Thank you so much for this video, I was confused why it's such a big deal when it's only about the retirement age normal in other countries, but when it's about the whole system and rich getting richer, I absolutely get that now. We also have protests in our country fighting the government choices (sadly xenophobia against Ukrainians gets mixed in), so I get it and even more, when you have presidential republic system. It's sad that the media outside of France present the issues through the government's view so most cannot understand the reality of the issue and the complexity of the reason for these protests. And the police really don't help, but I already thought that French police is like that - going on peaceful protestors. It's all sad, we all are suffering from inflation while the rich are laughing at us.
In Brazil something like this happened back in 2013. Bolsonaro, a petty criminal, capitalized on the anger through social media and far-right almost destroyed us. You have no idea the horror it was/is. Beware and stay strong. Love your country
The police starting riots then blaming protesters is a classic
Fortunately, the French have experience with this sort of thing.
Reichstag Fire type false flag stuff...
New subscriber, Alice. Great content...WTF was Macron doing in Beijing?... 😯 ...What possible constructive business could he have with a rabid CCP, other than appearing as Xi's bitch?...He changed nothing. He returned to France with nothing. In the meantime, the CCP gets a big publicity boost claiming the "French are our friends!", and other such nonsense. The man has way, way more ego than common sense. As an American expat, I have no high horse to sit on after what we have gone through Trump and his fascist followers. But as you said, the French people aren't stupid. I hope you guys can clean up Macron's dumpster fire soon...
World tactic of the police.
LMAO 😂Stupid comment of the day
I'm German, and while hating France is a national sport here, we had the exact same Situation years ago and did NOTHING. People whined, people complained, but God forbid you start protesting! Thats just a big no!
So, yeah, keep protesting, it won't get better on its own.
Same here. My pension age will be around 70 now, if (as I half jokingly, but crying inside, say) I won't have to work until I'm dead.
@@MidrinaTheSerene Give birth to people, let your children provide for you!
I don't hate the French. I just meet a French guy, and I think the French guy is gay, I meet a French woman, and I think she's bisexual. There's nothing wrong with being the former and the latter.
@The channel With The Spookiest Ghost Sounds a bit prejudice
@@hglundahl As our housing minister said to a young woman who couldn't find a place to live: "Did you think of getting a rich boyfriend?"
- I hope you were joking btw, not kind of serious like he was. Because hell that would be inappropriate.
I genuinely, sincerely hope with all my heart that this wave of awareness and discontent spreads across the world where it is needed. Vive la France, solidarity with the people of France!
Agreed!
This isn't new in France... Yet ppl outside of France never get the message, and our main stream news is getting worst in North America... We essentially live in an illiberal democracy, unlike France.
Agreed! I hope so as well. I’ve seen a lot of discourse on TikTok about capitalism, intersectionality, climate change, etc. which is very refreshing and gives me hope.
As far as I'm concerned, until France gets out Africa, the entire place can burn to the ground for all I care. The frenchies are not the victims. The Africans kept in abject poverty to sustain the living standards of these baguette-demons are the real victims, but nobody cares about them...
Retirement payments have nothing to do with capitalism, but with socialism.
I'm from Russia and the only thing I can say: look at where we are and don't let the rich suck resources from your country, don't let the situation get worse. You'll be having fewer and fewer chances for improvement in future.
Слава 🔱
Україні 🇺🇦
Героям слава 🚩✌🏻
Слава товариш Віктор Ющенко 🌟💫
Glory to common people of Ukraine and Russia, Putin and his millitary males started the war, common folks stay United, money spent by Putin on destruction of Ukraine could be used to better conditions of Russians
Yeah. Seems like every western nation is now dealing with this increasingly large push by oligarchs to move western nations from a socialist-capitalist economy to more crony capitalism based on theft and crushing the poor.
Too late for the Brits
@@toyotaprius79 They love their parasitic Monarchs
What can they say?
As a German I want to say you guys, the ppl protesting on the streets, fighting the cops and their brutality, you guys are heroes! I see the videos on Twitter (of course German media isn't eager to show what's really going on) and I think you guys are absolutely amazing! Macron isn't a democrat. He behaves like an aristocrat and everyone knows what the French ppl like to do to their aristocrats, so he might be scared for a reason. And that's good. He should be. I hope your fight will be victorious and I hope the French left will gain momentum through it!
And some people dare to call french cowards… i don’t think so.
I hope that someday, we Germans will start protesting like the french
@@kekonator8262 Me too!
O Hope so,my dear companion🚩✌🏻.
Macron wants to be part of that reactionary class. He’s not a progressive ♂️.
He must be liking the British aristocrats,i dislike these english reactionaries.
German fellows nowadays act passively beyond that urban tragedy.
Progressive Frenchie are true heroes🌟💫
The western germans,Anti-Heroes👎🏻 in terms of civility.
@@kekonator8262
Maybe🤷🏻♂️...for that,you guys’ll have to deal with these uncivilized from west of Berlin.
That minister is also an aristocrat too, I miss Angela Merkel;(,she was a true Berlinist citizen.
thank you for posting this video. i’m so sick of hearing my friends make stupid comments like “i hope paris isn’t a mess when i’m visiting”, as if their vacation expectations are more important than the livelihoods of those protesting.
i can now point them to this video. they need to know paris isn’t a fairytale setting for tourists. it’s home to 12m people.
Paris is straight up a disappointing city regardless of protests or not lol. It is awesome to see the people of a nation stand up to the capitalist while us Americans just sit here and rot.
oof. get better friends babe 🫣😅
@@-chloe-8728 they’re usually more socially conscious than this😅 it caught me off guard
Wow, I am really tired of hearing stuff like this. I see so many videos on social media of tourist saying stuff like I'm scared and there's so much trash...
@@sydneystudds Sources? Maybe they are just trolls. On social media there a lot of shady people who try to influence others. Why don't you live your life in real life instead of social media?
Same story in Spain, we saved the banks and they didn't pay back. People always have to sacrifice more and more while a few billionaires get richer and richer. At least in my circle in Barcelona, we are impressed by your resilience and willingness to protest. In Spain, we almost never go to the streets and our retirement age is already at 65, soon to be 67. Thank you for protesting, really.
I thought Spain had strong radical unions, and that there were still small anarchist communities unaffected by the shitty misery of the rest of society
@@Jkjoannaki Perhaps there are still some small communities, but, in general, the population hardly protests for anything lately. And when they do, they are demonized like in France.
Well, we're fuck up since 2008. We have a sort of liberal government spiced with socialdemocratic measures, but not enough for solving any of the economic troubles that we are living (rent crissi, colapse of the healthcare system, privatising education...). Same as every part of the globe. If you look the whole picture it's very scary and worsening every minute.
@@Jkjoannaki After 40 years of dictatorship and witch hunting under Franco it's hard to rebuild a decent left wing. Most of the Spanish anarchists and socialists fled to France after the civil war, built new lives and didn't return.
@Biouke yeah that's true, in Greece were I'm from the Cia and the king that we voted to disappear both attempted coups in which they killed and imprisoned as many communists and anarchists as they could. Since the Greek liberation from turks movement started from Russians we had at first support of our communist movement from the soviet union, but cia and Britain didn't allow any support towards our communists and forced their deaths and hunting, to have us under dictatorship. And now, Greeks want to obey wither the Germans through the eu or the us government instead of fight against imperialism and capital which is what destroyed our country in modern history
I'm from Boston. Your protesting story is so similar to what happens here. We carry signs, sing songs, and meet people who care about the issue. The only time people get very angry is when the police are standing in rows not allowing us to leave. It's frustrating because to me it's simple. If you treat it like a war, the citizens fight back to defend themselves.
Reminds me of the Boston Massacre in 1770 where a group of 9 British soldiers killed 5 people from the opposing American mob. The mob was actually the one who started the abuse but the British soldier defending himself afterwards was the only one who got judicial repercussions.
I think that's a bit stupid to say that you hate your country because that also implies you hate the culture, the people living there and pretty much everything else. I know it's for clickbait and the most appropriate term might be to say that you hate your government or system but still...
I that person actually hates their country and not just what I said then they know what to do.
You can't compare our protests to French ones.
🇫🇷: fill the streets of every major city for werks, storm corporate HQs, threaten to guillotine the rich
🇺🇸: stand on the street corner for the afternoon on a weekend, inconveniencing absolutely no one, carry signs with cute little jokes on them you hope will get updooted on reddit
We are a weak and pathetic people and deserve what ever the rich do to us
@@BroJo676 friendly reminder the American "revolution" was a tax-dodging scam by the rich, who convinced poor white people it was all for freedom
@@w花b I mean but their government is the body and organization that takes it upon itself to represent that region. The laws and systems people are told to adhere to shapes that culture and the people directly.
I went for a trip to Paris when the protests started and I was so shocked how many people were engaged in the protests. It's good to see how aware people are and how diverse the crowd was.
As a brit in London I’ve been watching with envy at how you are all standing up for each other, you’re really inspiring so many of us everywhere I hope you can continue to cripple them & force them to listen, you can look to the UK to see what path you are on if you let them get a way with this, don’t give in to them.
Couldn’t agree more instead we’re subjected to silly culture wars waged by the far right, a classic “can a woman have a penis?” as if transgender people are the real threat to our so called democracy.
As a British person I have nothing but the upmost respect for french protestors, they do what so few British seem to be capable of doing, defending their hard fought democracy. A recent bill here means that it is illegal to have more than six people on a picket line among many other disturbing infringes on protesters’ rights, and yet the nation sat by and it was hardly spoken about. A lot of people could learn from the bravery of the french protesters.
To be fair, you had your right to protest slowly whittled away over decades. And did have a massive red scare that greatly reduced people centric politics.
@@sojourner4726 It all started with Thatcher, she started all that neoliberal economic agenda while upholding fascist social agenda (anti gay laws, anti feminism, white supremacy, etc.). When Blair came into power, there's a hope that he could reverse the damage that Thatcher has done, but no, he didn't do anything. he didn't make it worse, but he didn't make it better either.
Are the strikes still going on in UK?
@@Ennugget yes
@@k-sooyaalove206 he did make it worse
I feel the same. In Canada there's a push by some provinces to take away public health care and put in place privatized care. I love where I live, but it's some of the politicians/people that make it (or try to make it) shit for the rest of us.
As an American, I suggest you warn anyone you can about the thousands of us down here that lose everything because of medical bills.
I am Canadian and I agree.
@@vxicepickxv
That's the exact thing. I want you guys to have better care. Not us to have worse.
Seeing the shrill and vile demons trying to make care harder for us to access makes me livid.
As am american.
For the love of GOD. Don't make our mistake.
Privatized Healthcare is a criminal act and should be met with the same violence and anger that murder is met with. Both kill innocent people, why does one get a free pass?
what makes me angry as a person outside of the france is that usually french protests are reduced to some kind of aesthetics. "Oh look at those french people they know how to protest and do a revolution" but then also they are saying that garbage in the street is disresectful to other people and tourists. I think this kind of fights will be more frequent in many countries it already happened in my country a couple years ago, and reducing citizen's right to protest into some aesthetic choice is just laughable as tomorrow we will be on their place.
I've seen quite a lot of people on Instagram say that they hope France gets cleaned up before they come for their spring break/honeymoon/birthday as if our country was just a movie set for their own lives. Some even say that France would collapse without tourism and that's why we should "get our shit together" and go back to pretending everything is okay so that they can eat croissants in front of the Eiffel tower... It makes me sick.
@@Melissa-sx9vh unfortunately yeah.. because of the idealized tourist/foreign centered idea of France. People just care about riots and violence on the news as entertainment with no care for the cause, degoutant.
@@Melissa-sx9vh Turists sometimes say the dumbest shit. A couple weeks ago in Portugal airport workers were on strike and the tv stations started interviewing some turists and this random british chick was saying how the time they had to wait was disrespectufull for the turists and how she would never return and how, somehow, that was our loss...
@@Melissa-sx9vh yeah I can’t wait sue the french to give them a nice welcome ha ha! I love the french people, never killed the french government and hate the french police
@@AllStarsProdigy she’s lucky she had a fight home, Ryan Air cancelled thousands last year
I’m from New York and have been perplexed by what’s been shown of france the past couple weeks. Thank you for informing and power to the people!
As a French expat in Germany I have been struggling to explain the situation in my own country without being in rage and absolutely incoherent. Thank you for producing this content. Now I can send it to all my friends and hope they can understand and maybe support my rage and my anxiety. Keep the good work Alice! Your videos and reflexions are truely helpful. ♡
I wish my country would have protests like this one, instead the people just endure the suffering…
Sadly, it's likely because authorities aren't afraid of merc-ing protestors...
Jordan Peterson would say suffering is the meaning of life 🙏🏼
Well that's dumb. You deserve to live in a country that protests and shut down industries, traffic etc.. good luck
Lol, we have already surpassed pensions age act and now every year pension shifts further in future. And no one (I mean it) even denounced it 😂
Yeah, here where i live pensions are a joke, the minimum wage is miserable, exploitation is widespread and horrible and yet most people just say the usual crap: "that's just life, work harder".
As a French person, I thank you for making this video. The people and the news outside of France seem to think that the French are protesting solely because they don't want to work for two more years, when in reality it's about passing reforms/laws without the citizens' consent and a lot of other issues.
What even would have been the problem if they just didn't want to work for two more years? We have ONE life, we shouldn't be forced to give it all away for the engorgement of some rich asshole in their yacht!!!
Bro you guys are really lucky. I live in Turkey. If I try to protest my goverment, The police will beat me than ı will get 2 years sentenced
@@yksogrenci6376 I'm French and Russian, so I know how that feels. I think Russia and Turkey are kinda similar politically speaking. I'm currently living in France, so I feel especially privileged to be in a country where democracy isn't entirely dead. This is all the more reason to act and protest before it's too late. Freedoms are meant to be enjoyed, and we need to use them while we still can. I feel for my fellow Russians and Turkish people, man.
@@RhythmAddictedState Thank you, mate. I agree with you on Russia either.
Japan has great system if u work 32 u retire 64 if you work 40 u retire 60.
For the past few months, all I've felt is burning rage. The people we voted for to avoid the worst case scenario (the far right in power) now see that vote as endorsement. The pack of dogs we call police is unhinged, brutalizing us for no reason, and getting away with it. Meanwhile, the far right reaps the reward of our struggles, our efforts, without even having to lift a finger. How do you not lose your marbles in such a context?
Oh my god, you expressed what I feel, perfectly! As an American, the ppl in power do the same exact playbook. It's horrific & makes me want to cry just thinking about it. It's like change for the better is impossible - & that's what they want!! I can't even say my true political thoughts, bc of censorship & risk to myself. But it all just needs to be burned down with cleansing fire. 🔥✊
I actually screenshotted your comment bc you worded this so eloquently. Thank you for putting it this way, I can now share with friends & family, to show them what exactly is happening. Thank you & solidarity to you! 🌹✊💪❤
Un bon plan pour Macron qui a joué sur une dernière carte de blocage du FN/RN pour leur tendre les clés de l'Elysée à la prochaine élection... Abject
@@JaseekaRawr I'm glad my online ramblings could be worth something to someone.. I've been following what's happening in the U.S. from a distance, and it looks as grim, if not grimmer, than what's going on here (for one thing, we haven't yet seen in France an attack on LGBT rights as ferocious as what's going on in the U.S., although I have a feeling it's coming for us one day or another).
Solidarity to you, comrade from beyond the ocean. Take care 🌼
@@zershuan Yeah, I'm sorry - in addition to seeing all that police brutality on screen, I've been tear gased several times for no reason (really, just walking peacefully, shouting slogans) so I let my anger cloud my judgment here. Apologies to all dogs for comparing them to cops!
and that's why we need socialism instead of voting for anyone but the far right. they're all the same. we need to stand up in the face of imperialism and demand socialism.
Very informative video. As a working-class Brit living under a grossly incompetent conservative regime, the part about being told to "tighten your belt" by the government while you watch billionaires and oil companies' wealth grow exponentially really resonated with me. Keep on fighting ✊️❤
“incompetent”? Since they are working for the other team, you can consider their incompetence to be a blessing.
@@politique7945 Unfortunately not when they are the ones who are currently in power.
As a half French half American person raised by a French mom in the United States and am now living in Paris for 5 years; I fully agree with you. You did a good job describing the situation. I hope we win this fight and that we inspire the rest of the world to fight for their rights as well
Fingers crossed for you folks! Truth and justice are on your side
Yes but police,capital,and government are against us!😐
Solidarity with all working class French people protesting rn ✊🏼
Thank you for explaining this situation so well. This is not a French problem. In North America the numbers are even worse. We are being told that it's all in the name of freedom. But in reality our freedom is being taken away a little at a time. Slavery is alive and well.
@christapsthe3rd780 I think he's talking about wage slavery
i hope you guys fight as well ! you're the window of the western world, would be good if you did
@Christaps the 3rd you are
@@amandareis4410that is an oxymoron
As an Italian, I can only say that ai really do value the French people. You are showing all the European countries (I do not count US, they are hopless in my opinion) what means to be a great, proud, informed people, what really means being citizens. I wish in Italy we had 1/10 of the awareness of you all. I really hope that how happened in 1789, again you will show the word that the “there is no alternative” bullshit is, actually, just bullshit. Forza e coraggio, cugini francesi!!!with love from Italy ❤️
Only Argentina is a country with strong unions like France. No other more. The rest of American Countries are very cowards.
Ok bro
❤
US is not in Europe so don't worry
Robespierre errou em amar demais. Matou pouco!
I'm from Serbia and have massive respect for French people. You guys are an example to the rest of the world! Don't retreat, don't pay attention to comments such as "what do they want, we go to retirement at 67", this isn't only about pension reform or social security, this is about basic human dignity. We live in an extraordinary times when all the masks are falling and it becomes clear that the system is unsustainable and on the brink of collapse. And now those who are responsible for the imminent collapse want to save their capital and blame the war, the pandemic, lack of workforce and bad demographic situation, etc. And the fact is that all of that is a consequence, rather than a cause of the trouble. The cause is limitless greed. Stay strong!
As an American, I have minimal respect for Serbia
@@Ihavpickle That has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of this video or my comment, though.
@@П.С-й4о Don't care
Working a few more years is not obscene what is obscene are people having a longer retirement than career
@@Ihavpickle As someone who isn't American, I have absolutely no respect for the United States.
Thanks, Alice! I now understand what's going on, and you are absolutely right, all we have heard here in Denmark for example is that the french is protesting in the streets because of 2 years and we've found it ridiculous - our pension age is 67 and is continuing to rise. Maybe we should also demand to tax the rich even more to avoid this...
It's all propaganda to pacify you and make you feel good about the oppression you're facing!!
Here in the Netherlands it's 67 and 2/3 of a year
Also note that while French age for retirement is one of the lowest in Europe, we also have the longest required cotisation length at 43 years of work to get a full pension. Meaning people already work over 62 if they started working in their mid/late 20's. With that reform, even people who started working at 20 will have to work two years more; people that generally work difficult jobs with lower life expectancy.
Ayy Swede here. 6 years ago I would get frustrated by “eat the rich” but here I am, frustrated by the impact the 1% does. Just taxing the rich would lower the retirement age
Demanding "the rich" pay more isn't a solution. For one thing, we ALL want to be rich someday, and if we are too afraid of punitive taxation, we are less likely to work hard to amass wealth and even more likely to practice tax evasion on every level. The reason people pay taxes is, in large part, because everyone pays them and everyone is supposed to benefit from them. If that's not working, I think the answer is LESS taxation, not more. We can put less strain on government, which is abysmal at managing money anyway, and more on charitable organizations and other community organizations which WE actually have control of at local levels. That's probably a wiser solution.
I'm honestly confused by this whole situation. I'm an American and here, for a while, we've had something called "social security" which is an entitlement people begin earning when they work. But it's NOT a pension. Essentially social security is the previous generation investing in the future generation. So, my parents put money in when they worked, but they are actually drawing money their parents put in, and I would be drawing monies my parents put in. People aren't eligible to draw social security, I think, until they're 75 and it's kind of a joke because you certainly still have to pay for healthcare (even with Obamacare, which is an even worse joke). Really, in America if you want money to live when you're old, you have to work, save money, and create a retirement fund for yourself. Most workplace "retirements" are in the stockmarket, so they aren't pensions either. We did away with pensions sometime in the 80s, although lots of employers I'm sure never offered them. Honestly, I think it's wiser to set up YOUR OWN retirement fund, because governments suck at doing almost everything. Why would you rely on "the man" when you can just make money and take care of yourself?
I feel the same disheartenment with my own country. There are STILL people living the lie of “American Exceptionalism,” when in reality we’re only exceptional at being boastful while we’re in NO place to be boastful.
oof what a line
I literally had to flee the US to save my life. I'd be dead or in jail, I kid you not. I'm from Appalachia & the opiate epidemic(lost 8+ friends to OD, stopped counting a couple years ago), gun violence & poverty. I became an addict & addiction is criminalized in Kentucky/US. I had no education, there was no future for me there.
I got lucky & met my husband. I moved to India in 2015. It was pure luck that got me out. There are countless Americans dying daily & suffering through the hell that is poverty currently.
The fact some Americans still believe in American exceptionalism is such a joke. How is it even possible?? But it still happens. Even LIBERALS do the same!! Mention China & watch them lose their minds. They start to defend war crimes & imperialism bc "we're the good guys spreading democracy!" It's absolutely incredible.
Sorry to ramble. I have to tell my story bc apparently ppl don't hear it enough online. I didn't even have stable internet connection, bc I couldn't afford it. I've learned SO MUCH politically since having access to the internet for these past couple years!
That's the explanation for the ignorance: lack of education. They've defunded education, paywalled it, so ppl are truly ignorant & not empowered. The answer is guidance & education. But most ppl are just struggling to survive daily, they have no time to study or learn, let alone even know where to start. 😭
Just a friendly reminder that the average American is infinitely closer to being homeless than they are closer to being a billionaire.
@@JaseekaRawr The answer is decent fucking healthcare. The opiate epidemic doesn't exist in Australia for this exact reason, our pain can quite literally be treated for free instead of being patched with medication.
@@rtmpgt yeah, that would help. Won't solve all our issue tho lmao. We need improved worker conditions & liveable wage. But yeah, ppl are fkn dying, so we need healthcare stat.
Great video !
I absolutely agree with all of your points except maybe the title. I'm French and have always felt a certain level of shame and/or disappointment in my country but in the past couple of weeks, seeing all the people on the streets continuing to protest and strike despite the increasing pressure put on them to not do so, I've actually been feeling more connected to my country than ever.
you're right, i address it at the beginning of the video :) it's a clickbait title i'll admit but i'm trying to get as much attention as possible
I'm not French, but my history teacher told me something about a time in France when normal people were going hungry but the aristocracy was unwilling to give up their privileges. It reminds me of what Alice is describing in the video.
Something happened after this situation worsened... Anyway, it was probably nothing important that any rich person should be concerned about.
@@johannageisel5390 Some heads ‘bout to get cut off, lol
Too many French people (but to be fair, it can apply to any nationalities) mistakes "criticizing their government" with "hating their country". There's a lot of things I want to improve in my country, but I never hated it. If I hated it, I just wouldn't care about improving it.
@@johannageisel5390 LOL, beautifully played
I am a Taiwanese . Thank you for posting this video . In a democratic society , discussing policies and taking actions are important .I support you all who protect your idea and life style . 加油 !!!
What does that mean?. In mandarim..
@@rodrigoferreira9527 加油 means"go fighting .keep going"
Honestly, as someone who is learning French and is considering living there in the future, seeing these kinds of videos of the French people makes me love the country more in a way. I admire how determined you guys are in what you believe in and the lengths you are willing to go to in order to make that it heard. ❤
Thanks Alice for explaining what is going in France. Here in Ecuador we have a similar but getting worst by the minute situation. As I’ve seen in the comments this is happening everywhere. Is sad because if you go out and protest we would probably die, and if you die is your fault for going out and acting on a right that is given by the constitution. Politicians are only looking out for their best interest and the ones that are close to them. So I really hope we as voters get inform and vote, because those are the people that will represent your interest.
It is global ! Some governments are fighting back others are slaves
It’s been extra rough where I live here in America, and one big reason is because we are so shut off from hearing the world’s stories and understanding there’s a bigger picture of humanity and solidarity. Thanks for sharing what’s been going on in France we’re curious over here but find very little reliable information on what’s actually happening. 🖤
We aren't cut off. Americans are stupid and don't read, seek information and learn
Honestly, I’ve seen some French people online saying American protesters are weak for quitting so easily with no action taken, but it’s incredibly important to realize the police brutality that Alice was describing in this video is the first immediate action of our cops over here when it comes to protests. It seems like French police forces are taking notes and integrating it into their own practices. Which is terrifying. In the US, protests are met with extreme violence and can become lethal for unarmed civilians. I’ve always respected the fact that the French public is able to protest so productively and it’s a regular aspect of the culture in many ways, so I really hope that the situation doesn’t escalate the way it does over here. Wishing you guys luck for this situation and all future protests!
Great points.
Oh sweetie, it's been like that for years. They just weren't reported upon.
The CPE protests back in 2006 was very similar (just less people). The main difference was that journalists weren't also put in prison. The law passed but the president ended up recognizing that since the protest was really big so it wasn't gonna be enacted.
The main difference is social media allowing the people to see past media censorship. The Yellow jacket movement was actually the turning point to Social media pushing back against censorship.
It is true though that since 2007 and new President Sarkozy the police did take cues from the US police. But the 2015 terrorism laws linked to the declaration of an emergency state (which is still going nowadays) also played a huge part in giving more power to the police.
Don't think this is the naive belief of a new born striker who's never dealt with actual police violence. We've been fighting against it for a while, it's just that more and more people join us every time.
I guess land of the free isn’t so free anymore
It’s terrible when Russia and Iran beat protestors but it’s fine when the USA do it
@@StoutProper everything in America is free
... for a fee.
I live in France and every time I argued it was necessary, I would hear the wildest arguments. "They should do nothing about the retirement", "My dad is suffering and working". Like wtf? How is that an argument to justify protesting to that large of a scale?
Thank you for being the first french who actually had a point even though I don't believe your proposal to be a permanent solution.
As a Briton, I'm incredibly jealous of your protests. Lots of people are saying this is the worst it's ever been but there are no marches, because our left wing parties suck
In USA there are virtually none. It is so bad now but the workers largely fight each other. It has gotten to the point where a typical job will have employees competing against each other for hours every week. So the manager will say there are limited hours to dish out and you need to inform on low ranking employees and they will decide based on 'performance' who gets the most hours.
This has opened my eyes much more on the protest, your videos are needed and highly appreciated.
I really admire the french spirit. Where I'm from, Estonia, the goverment can raise taxes on the poor while cutting them for corporations, raise the retirement age, cut social services etc and no one would ever dream of coming out onto the street. Even my politics professors at uni said that here it's better to make some kind of art piece in the public space to draw attention to a cause then to organise a protest because you will never gather enough people for anyone to even notice and that goes double for left wing causes.
What happened in the 1990s for you to come from a socialist country to this neoliberal shitholes?
Please, i beg you to protest while you still can. Trust me, i'm from Russia, i know what i'm talking about.
I think that we estonians aren’t as united as we should be. The proletariat and everyone who actually keeps the country working should hold the power. I’m a bit happier with our current government but Estonia needs a reform, this is our country. We keep it working and it needs to work for us, high property taxes and more stuff like that could make everyday better for the common folk.
@@komojiro7397 Yeah, I mean the new goverment was the best we could have hoped for probably out of a lot of shitty options and I did vote for the soc dems, but I'm still disappointed by the rise in VAT and income tax which mostly affects regular working people in combination with nothing on corporations except some quickly added removal of previous privileges when people's reaction scared them (but that's somethins, shows we CAN scare them xD)! I'd love to see property taxes, wealth taxes, much higher capital gains taxes etc. But lol that ain't happening under the reform party. At least maybe we'll get marriage equality out of this. I had no idea there were so many estonians here watching this channel thou, that's cool! There's more of us than I thought who are sick of it all : D
@@AA-cf4es Lol the odd thing is that under soviet occupation, we protested A LOT! So the spirit is in there somewhere, just gotta awaken it xD
Merciiiii d'en parler, je vois beaucoup trop d'étrangers prendre ces conflits à la légère et penser qu'on "se plaint pour rien car eux travaillent plus longtemps et ont rien dit"... C'EST P'T'ÊTRE ÇA LE PROBLEME LES COCOS
😂👌
yep quand tu vois la merde que c'est aux USA ou in the UK ça a bien commencé quelque part et vaut mieux réagir tôt que trop tard :l
Exactly! I have such a hard time explaining to friends back home what's actually happening because US news barely covers the actual CONTEXT of the reform and dissenting opinions and so Americans trivialize it.
From a German perspective- we adore and are amazed by your protests. ❤
While I 100% agree that inequality is getting out of hand and the rich needs to pay more, it is important to remember that the issue of a higher age of retirement is not merely a question of money. The declining birth rates all across Europe makes it so that we will soon be finding ourselves in a situation where fewer people in the workforce have to sustain an increasingly large elderly population outside the workforce. In Denmark we have this problem too, especially with regards to an increasing shortage of workers in health- education and elderly care. One way or another, European countries need to find a way to sustain the workforce if we wish to sustain our welfare programs.
That said I wholeheartedly agree that the rhetoric of "economic necessity" is far too often used as a guise by governments, including the danish one, to pass neoliberal reforms that serve the wealthy while making ordinary people pay.
I am also saddened to hear the accounts of police brutality by the French police
This is happening across the globe, people are tired of the abuse.
when you were talking about the armed police man's I just burst into cry ..
I remember the protests in my own country Iran just few month's ago and how protesters were beaten up in the most brutal way .
I wish for a peaceful world for all the people .
How is it going in Iran? Any chance you are able to chuck your dictators out? I would be so happy if the Iranian people could free themselves.
@@johannageisel5390 well honestly things like this takes so much time but people are still fighting back (kinda like surviving in some points ) despite the bad economy and no internet access (all the social media's are banned hear and if you can simply just connect it mean's that you either have the money to buy vpn or proxy server's etc. or have the knowledge to connect ) and also with all the executions ( of 21 and 22 years old people just for protesting ) older generation gets more conservative about saying anything against the regime . real fight is what women are doing rn .. going out without hijab when they know they could get arrested( rejecting all the thing's that they never choose man and women) but still this Islamic regime have bullets and we have NOTHING but our general memory and pure rage and sadness inside of our heart's
So true, as a Frenchie it is important to show how our state is corrupting itself for neo-liberalisation. I think a video on the CFA franc could help get more internationals to see our current abuse of power at home and abroad. I'm in Lorient and we have an art school occupying their school for the last month. Power to the people.
As a brit what I've been hearing through mainstream media is the 'common sense' approach that macron is pushing which had left me thinking there was something that was being left out given how angry people are and I'd been wanting to find out. Thank you for this video as it has really shone a light on why people are actually so angry
Hello from Czechia,
This was incredibly inspiring. I have long been angry with how the world is evolving and how much injustice is served by the ultra rich.
I will act on my views and try to find causes to join to hopefully have a chance at changing something.
Thank you.
As someone from England who's lived in France for 25 years I find your take on the current demonstrations here spot on!
I'm a veteran lefty who was at many demos in the '80's and '90's in London and the police always behaved In the way you described. When there was violence, labour, as well as conservative politicians praised and defended the police, even though they were the main perpetrators.
Are you a starving artist by any chance
as a south american who emigrated to europe 7 years ago, I really don't get the hate that france gets all over, you french are the best for having a spine, europeans in general are too laid back to care about anything and will gladly conform to any crap imposed by the state... like I could never imagine such a wide participation in street protests from the dutch, spanish, portuguese, germans, italians... no matter how bad things get they still look down at people taking the streets and fail to understand their own people.
The reason people hate the French differs depending on one's cultural and social background. In the UK white people hate the French because of the history between our country - is to say that the French government led to many of the violence that killed thousands during the Revolution contrastingly those who are poc within the UK such as myself are critical of France due to the past racism, colonization of our countries and homes and present day reluctancy from their government to apologize.
Additionally many have stated that when going to France they were met with cold attitudes especially when they were people of color or women.
My all girls (mostly black) school was met with such hate when we went (swearing, shouting, racist slurs, even a case of S.A). MANY people in Europe have similar stories when going to France.
Whilst I believe that many French people are lovely, amazing people it's not right to bellite the xenophobia that other Europeans face when going there.
Thank you for expressing in such a structured, clear, researched way all my thoughts on my country. Take care 🌟
“It’s harder to resolve issues of injustice than it is to resolve issues of order.” Wow! That was beautifully said. Thank you for giving your perspective and experience, I feel so much more informed. I wish continued courage and support for the French people! ❤
I live in the UK and even though many would love to rip in to our ‘historical’ rival, it’s awful here too, real wages are constantly falling, inequality is high and also unjustified and public spending is low. So it’s a relief to see the french do something about it. It’s very minimal here. I wish the UK could follow Frances example
It’s a bad situation in France but it warms my heart to see all the French people organizing and protesting, here in America the idea that unions could orchestrate a big strike like this is something that could have only happened 100 years ago. I wish France the best of luck against these horrible systems and politicians! 🇫🇷
I think this stems from the American culture war that has made any massive social movement impossible.
@@marcfischer114 100%. I think a lot of countries have the same problem. Unfortunately the only way this will be solved is if the government does something so outrageous it pisses everyone off
Incredible video! As an American, it's nice to hear about something going on that we may hear about from our news, but it's always felt like there is something more. This was that something that was missing - the nuances and the human side. Watching about events on the news can make them feel two dimensional and inconsequential, but this shows they aren't.
Mr Cloud Strife, where is your ecoterrorism when the world needs it? XD
In Sweden when the pension age raised to 67-68 year old, everyone was like, "ohhh welll 🤷🏻♀️" and no diskussion was made about it.
It's only when when protest in France startad that we started to react and fully support the protest the people in France does against raised pension age. Sooo keep up 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
What? 68? I thought Sweden social security is good.
@Bill Cipher what pension age has to do with social security?
They have good social security. You get unemployment benefits, social housing and medical services, if needed.
It's just all is funded by a majority who have to work until 68, do not ask for unemployment benefits, social housing and use medical services as little as possible
Yeah, Sweden, go an protest for the French to keep their low entry age for retirement. As you are also a net contributor to the European Union memberstate, it is (indirectly) also your money that keeps French and other southern European memberstates retirement schemes alive. Greetings from Germany who is also in a similar situation.
@Atrid that is true for France. As long as you can convince Westafrika to maintain the CFA.
We are living longer and on average ageing better current pension schemes will collapse if nothing is done
Thanks for the update. It's good to gain understanding from the people directly and not rely on terrible international journalism.
This, as well as covid and lack of solidarity in the form of mask wearing, is why it's unsafe for me as a disabled person to attend protests. I do miss being able to be involved. Police violence is awful, I have a friend in Bristol who was very badly hurt by it.
Solidarity x
Sad how they try to delegitimize the protests in the most vile and hypocrite ways. All my support and sincere applause from Mexique. 🇲🇽🇫🇷🌮🥖
Remember, comrades, that anyone who says 'you should work longer before retiring' probably doesn't have to.
Salut, biloute, to you too, Alice!
This exactly. Billionaires have enough to retire immediately and remain retired for a hundred lifetimes, but the working class have to keep working longer? No.
@@QuesoCookies That is totally true. Billionaires think to retire at 40 years old, while workers have to work 70 y.o, and the worst is the lack of empathy.
Always
Or they may be people like me someone from a lower middle class Irish family that realises sedentary workers who live the longest retiring young and having longer retirements than careers is obscene
Your experience with the police is so relatable as a Latin American. Keep fighting and stand together!
it’s always us who has to tighten the belt, not them. solidarity from the US, i hope your mass protests achieve more than our last one did
Thank you very much for this. I've only seen the protests referred to as "against the pension reform", which did feel out of place. Such tenacity to one reform among many that go through the political system almost unnoticed? This helped me understand. I'd be in the streets singing and dancing too if presented with such undemocratic decision making.
Hi, Alice. Thanks for your video, even though it moved me to tears. I'm Brazilian and all the things that you described are just another Wednesday when we protest anything. But the majority of Brazilians don't really care about this kinda thing. The thinking about and approach to neoliberal policies is so different between our countries, I can't even begin to describe it to you. Well, I don't even know why I'm writing this, but. Well. I don't know.
Thank you sooo much. As a French person living in Canada, I have to have really annoying conversations and I am really glad I can now refer them to your video
It’s so nice to see a new video on the channel. Hope you and everyone at home are doing well.
C'est génial ce que tu fais d'expliquer ce qu'on vit aux non francophones, ça peut éduquer aussi les autres pays vis à vis de leur propres gouvernements ❤️
One of your best videos, very holistic and educational account of the issues building up for years in France.
The title was a bit misleading for me but I fully support the protests. I left my home country almost a decade ago and when we tried to make a change... It was too late, a lot of people are now gone or six feet under. France is a good country but people has to continue for keeping the good conditions. People is going to complain elsewhere but they don't live the daily lives of the French. I'm glad that you're doing this content for people abroad. Beaucoup de succès avec ta chaîne, c'est nécessaire l'information. Courage
Je absolument suis d'accord avec votre pointe de vue. Je suis Américain et ici aux États-Unis le média portrait les manifestations en France comme quelque chose n'est pas nécessaire et le français sont paresseux. Notre média est trop mal à un degré où dans mon precinct de mon état (Californie) notre représentant qui s'appelle gauche denounce des grèves pour l'union des professeurs.
La gens de France ont besoin de manifester. Pas juste les français mais aussi les américains, les britanniques, les canadiens etc.
Macron est devenu un dictateur avec ses réformes. Pardon pour ne pas avoir une bonne argument. C'est juste je suis extrêmement passionné de cette situation mais je veux finir avec Vive la France 🇫🇷!
Thanks for the video. I wanted to have a French person's perspective. You enlightened me on so many aspects. Damn, Macron - I guess a banker will always be a banker. Neoliberalism is the worst. Power to the French people.
Regarder ce qui se passe avec Macron du Canada; c'est absolument dingue. Mes pensées à nos cousins français. (also love the biloute shirt)
Au moins les français ont les couilles d'aller protester. Ici au Québec, dès que quelqu'un secoue le berceau on se plaint, on veut que les ponts et autoroutes soient débloqué de force, une loi spéciale pour un retour à "l'ordre".
Au Québec ils sont 'fckd'
This is so important and brave. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Habs suck.
Tu devrais te soucier de ce qui se passe dans les vraies dictatures. En Russie et en Chine.
Thank you for explaining it like this. In Belgium there is this sentiment of ''what are they protesting? We already have to work until we're 67". But now I want to protest my own gouvernement, because the only party that wants to hold the 1% accountable is put away as ''dangerous leftist extremism''.
Are you in an office job because you should retire later
I’m an American, I try to keep up with international news - the coverage of this situation here has been abysmal. Thank you so much for covering it in such detail. His comparison to the January 6th Capital attack is shameful since he decided all of this for you. I stand with you from here. We endure police brutality when we protest here as well and we are also always asked to condemn supposed acts of violence from our side when police are hurting people peacefully protesting. I’m sorry you had that happen to you - know that this American is standing with those of you who are standing for the people and for human rights. Thank you.
I’m so glad that I saw an actual French person explain what’s going on because most media in the US is very incorrect about the needs of the French people
Having pension beyond the age of 60 is ridiculous. In where I live, people retire usually at the age of 58/59. You are not mandatory to work but you can if you want...but unfortunately here, we don't have safety net especially if we work in private sector. I work as a teacher in private Scholl but i will retire at 65. 😅 I'm 30 by the way. Glad to see people go to street to protest. Government wants the easy way out, blame the people, as always...same here 💔
Where are you from? Anyway, I agree. Nobody should have to work beyond the age of 60 years.
Lol, in Estonia peeps start living their best lives only after 63 when they earn salary AND pensions 😂
Here in Switzerland people have to work untill they are 65
Solidarity forever! From the US. Keep fighting the good fight
In The Netherlands the pension age is 67 and I can not take the French seriously when they protest for having a pension age of 64
We English are inspired by our French neighbours! We put up with too much and we're starting to realise it I hope
In 2018, Brazilians had the worst experience and a decadence in the workers rights and the people did absolutely nothing. Since then, the workers just did lose their dignity and laws that go in favor of them. I'm cheering for your people and country, make questions and never accept anything that go against what you want and what you need.
Yes, and the police here has the same method of starting riots to justify their later violent response.
From the U.S., thank you for sharing your insights. It is alarming how much this struggle against income inequality, police brutality, and conservatism sounds like our own situation.
It is really weird in some ways since we bent to Neo Liberalism back in the Eighties along with what Bush called Voodoo Economics which is shockingly still supported inside both political parties. We are only now trying to push back against it but only after it has done so much damage. Hopefully France does not fall into the same hole if only for their own sake.
Lol what conservatism? The ruling party is anything but
@@phantomvideoproductions913exactly lol they're so free and yet these ppl complain about macron being some evil guy
@@phantomvideoproductions913 Did you just watch the video?
Their is nothing conservative about the west
i watched this while i was not listening to a work seminar, should have warned me it would make me CRY! wow thank you Alice for reminding me of the power of solidarity and how our struggles are (as Angela Davis & many activists have said) extremely interconnected: our fight against the status quo, the police state, capitalism, etc is truly not just local and we can find SO MANY commonalities across the pond. Go France!!!!!! Yall give me hope that democracy isn't completely dead.
💞love,comrade from the US💞
I am sending you all lovely French people manifesting and protesting for their rights lots of solidarity and strength all the way from Mexico
Nosotros ni pensión tenemos si cotizamos en el IMSS después del 97 y estamos tan tranquilos
u.u
@@patriciarodriguez3973 Lo sé y tan tranquila no estoy, creeme. Pero si ya ni luchas por las cuestiones pensionarias hay en el mundo, menos vamos a agarrar la onda al respecto. Toda llama de lucha por los derechos de los trabajadores y las pensiones, es buena para apoyar y expandir creo yo.
Public pension is a pyramid scheme anyway, so it doesn't matter what the Government does. We have the same problem here in Spain. They will either tax the rich and lower investment opportunities, making the country poorer, or delaying the inevitable by raising general taxes and raising the retirement age. The only way to solve this is reducing the amount of pension people get by looking at their patrimony. If you are a millionaire you don¡t need 1500€ every month.
As a Russian I'm happy for French people as they are able to protest. At first we were able to do the same, but were portrait as extremist minority. Now we have a man in a prison because his daughter made "stop war" painting in her art class It's like slow boiling a frog, so it doesn't feel.
советую тебе изучит ситуацию а не заголовки статей...его приговорили на 2 года за то что он писал а не за рисунок дочери..( нет такой статьи что родителей садят за детей ) иметь критическое мышление тяжело ...гораздо проще открывать род и нести чушь...
similar things happens to us Chinese also
@@davidchan3238 If I may ask, why does your president want Taiwan? What is the Chinese narrative on the matter? (not judging. Just asking).
@@LS-Moto it has to do with the opium wars, japanese colonization and them the Chinese civil war where Xian Kai Shek fled to Taiwan with the rest of the Kommitang
@@LS-Moto Taiwan was once part of the Chinese empire but when the Chinese were defeated by the rapidly industrialising Japanese 18xx. Korea and Formosa (today called Taiwan) were captured. After the Chinese empire collapsed Civil War between the nationalists and communists broke out in 1920s. At first the nationalists crushed the communists but Japan invaded China in ww2. This war weakened the nationalist and when ww2 ended the communists won a lot of battles and forced the nationalists to retreat to Taiwan. Continental China is dictated by the CCP and Taiwan was dictated by the nationalist party until it democrazized. CCP views Taiwan as historical part of China and wants to rule the island but this would be the end of the democratic Taiwan- Chinese.
Thank you for this great video! I moved from Germany to France over ten years ago, when the social system in France was so much better than in Germany.. since Macron became president, I've been trying to warn people, but it is too late, he has completely ruined the French social system, which was his goal (destroy and privatize). But I still have hope, because French people do not give up, and we can still take it back!!
I am still in ptsd from protests a few years ago and the thought of going to a protest now and if getting arrested by the police getting raped by them (which is what has happened) is so so terrifying, but we will not give up, and fight for our future 💚
Merci beaucoup Alice pour ce résumé 💗
Asmr protest rollplay when? 🤔😉
thank you so much for making this video - as a canadian teen who tends to (for the most part) avoid the news, this was extremely informative! the way in which you express these concepts is so capitvating and not at all the snooze fest of government! thank you again, please make more like this!
Go Go French people loved you ❤❤❤❤from Davao City Philippines ✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼
Organizing can be so hard, and people can get tired of being in the streets. Thanks for encouraging people to show up & reminding us that it can be joyful too!!
Thank you for this. I’m in the US and it frustrating trying to counter act the neoliberal propaganda on this protest. Now I can recommend it every time I have to explain what is going on to a confident ignorant American.
Gracias por el video Alice, información súper importante para las personas que no entendían la gravedad del asunto (me incluyo). Mil gracias 🥹🙏
It makes sense that the richest should pay their fair share of taxes to support the pension system in France. I suppose my follow up question then is, will it be enough, and also, will it be successful? I think about the failure of the ISF Wealth tax to bring in more than 5B euro per year. France's wealth tax contributed to the exodus of an estimated 42,000 millionaires between 2000 and 2012. Thomas Picketty stated in Le Monde that critiques of ISF should be disregarded:
"Repeating over and over again that the wealth tax (ISF) brought in less than 5 billion euros is tantamount to taking citizens for fools: this low yield reflects the choice of successive governments to exempt billionaires and to rely on bogus self-declarations, and it is precisely this choice that must be called into question. It is by tackling the issue of justice that we will get out of the current crisis."
In it, he claims billionaires were somehow exempted from this policy, but I can't find a record of it. Second he claims that the shortfall is due to fraudulent deflation of value which has been reported, but I cant find quantities for the lost revenue from this. I think the most important failing of ISF is totally unaddressed was capital flight and the exodus of wealthy individuals from the country.
I would appreciate this being covered or anything clarifying the topic.
I mean, it's not just about taxing billionaires' personal fortunes, it's also about taxing corporations and shareholders. Less profits paid out as dividends to a small class of already wealthy people, more taken as taxes and spent for the benefit of everybody.
Very good video. As a French guy being abroad at the moment, that's a good summary for anyone asking me about social movements in France
Thanks for sharing knowledge on what is happening in our country Alice :)
I also believe that a lot of people are scared to go and protest because of police brutality at the moment. Recently twi protesters were put in a coma because of the police and many more were badly hurt. Some become invalids. Our government is trying to remove our right to protest, which is fundamental to any democracy.
Thank you so much for this, I'm embarrassed to say I completely misunderstood the protests before your video. I'm sending you love and support from New Zealand
i’m currently taking french right now in school and we have been discussing what’s happening in france. this video was so informative! amazing as always!
Though it might be impolite, your video really made me believe a lot of French people have no idea how the economy works and do not know what they need.
If the US has the same tax rate as France, the rich people will leave. A relatively low tax rate is THE key element for getting commercial investment and industrialising innovative technology (If it were not for this, there would be no need for the Republican Party to exist.), and Franch is losing a lot of high-quality jobs.
Setting that aside, believe it or not, we (China) used to try very hard to eliminate inequality until we sadly found the potential energy generated by the wealth gap is the very driving force of many things. Now we just try to keep people from poverty in the UN standard and let it go.
people still eat rats in China, don't lie about UN standards, there are concentration camps in China
Visited France 2 months ago and loved it. During the protests, love it even more. French people have backbone!
on a more lighthearted note at 6:57 auto generated captions translate 'macron' as 'macklemore'
It is truly a miracle that French people are protesting. Message to the rest of the world: you can make that miracle happen in your country too.
I’ve lived in France for 5 years now, and I come from a country with a history of protesting (Chile). I’m truly astonished by the discipline and power that the bourgeois press has in France. Literally every kiosk on every street corner, on every train station, has pro government propaganda front and center masquerading as “newspaper marketing”. The messaging is unified across publications and journalists. It truly speaks volume of France’s institutions (education, trade unions, NGOs, state-funded social research and journalism) that people can be mobilized to fight for their interests agains both a massive propaganda and state repression machine. It is only necessary to take control of a few institutions for the people to have real leverage over the system. That’s why Macron is resorting to authoritarianism, he wants to take that power away.
Anything wrong with being lower Bourgeoise
Fantastic video! I want people to keep in mind that this is all possible thanks to all of the active unions in France. Even though they have been weakened over time, mobilizing in such a way is a once in a lifetime occasion in places like the US. Any and all attempts to weaken unions in any part of the world are made to specifically avoid this type of stand still. I hope to see private trade unions call for a strike if the law passes the conseil constitutionnel, but that might be too optimistic.
Thank you so much for this video, I was confused why it's such a big deal when it's only about the retirement age normal in other countries, but when it's about the whole system and rich getting richer, I absolutely get that now. We also have protests in our country fighting the government choices (sadly xenophobia against Ukrainians gets mixed in), so I get it and even more, when you have presidential republic system. It's sad that the media outside of France present the issues through the government's view so most cannot understand the reality of the issue and the complexity of the reason for these protests. And the police really don't help, but I already thought that French police is like that - going on peaceful protestors. It's all sad, we all are suffering from inflation while the rich are laughing at us.
In Brazil something like this happened back in 2013. Bolsonaro, a petty criminal, capitalized on the anger through social media and far-right almost destroyed us. You have no idea the horror it was/is.
Beware and stay strong. Love your country