PARIS BURNS: Riot police fire tear gas as 30,000 protestors furious at Macron

[rogue06]

I'm not too well informed on the details of that, but my understanding was that there has been some growing dissatisfaction with some of the major parties in France and voters were starting to look elsewhere, and then in the lead up to the election the major parties had some further public scandals which really put the voters off, leading them to go for novel options. So it came down to two outsider candidates, Le Penn (social conservative, anti-immigration, economic centrist) and Macron (social liberal, economic right-winger) and they went Macron. Now that they've gotten to know him, they hate him with a passion.

[*Snort*]

He was the Minister of Economy and Finance in the Second Valls government which consisted of 15 ministers from the Socialist Party (PS) and 2 from the Radical Party of the Left (PRG). So while he was slightly more centrist than Montebourg who he replaced that is hardly saying much.

[Starlight]

He was the Minister of Economy and Finance in the Second Valls government which consisted of 15 ministers from the Socialist Party (PS) and 2 from the Radical Party of the Left (PRG). So while he was slightly more centrist than Montebourg who he replaced that is hardly saying much.

He's an investment banker trying to do neo-liberal reforms of the French economy and is hated by the left-wing as a result.

Yes, he left the Socialist party, under which he had pushed through "business-friendly" reforms. That hardly means much: The founder of the tiny libertarian party (ACT) in my own country was from the major socialist party here (Labour), as also was its main leader several years later.

Political Compass describes Macron as a "classic libertarian in the US sense" and plots him the same as where they put Gary Johnson on the political map:



Looking for French articles about his political position, I found this from France24 (state-owned):

One year on, Macron governs as a right-wing French president:


So both French state media and the (mostly-UK I think) political scientists running Political Compass, see him as right-wing.

[Cow Poke]

Seriously? This isn't the great fire of London....

As it happened: More than a thousand arrested in Paris 'Yellow Vest' protests

Paris was again the epicentre of clashes as fresh anti-government Yellow Vest protests swept France for a fourth consecutive weekend.

[rogue06]

As it happened: More than a thousand arrested in Paris 'Yellow Vest' protests

Paris was again the epicentre of clashes as fresh anti-government Yellow Vest protests swept France for a fourth consecutive weekend.

1400 arrests. I wonder if France, like the U.S. tends to merely release all of those not caught red-handed causing physical harm to someone, or do they actually hold them accountable for their actions.

[rogue06]

He's an investment banker trying to do neo-liberal reforms of the French economy and is hated by the left-wing as a result.

Yes, he left the Socialist party, under which he had pushed through "business-friendly" reforms. That hardly means much: The founder of the tiny libertarian party (ACT) in my own country was from the major socialist party here (Labour), as also was its main leader several years later.

Political Compass describes Macron as a "classic libertarian in the US sense" and plots him the same as where they put Gary Johnson on the political map:



Looking for French articles about his political position, I found this from France24 (state-owned):

One year on, Macron governs as a right-wing French president:


So both French state media and the (mostly-UK I think) political scientists running Political Compass, see him as right-wing.

Isn't that the same test that resulted in some comical appraisals of multiple politicians and put me well into the left-wing column when I took it? Yeah, that's a reliable indication.

[rogue06]

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[Starlight]

Isn't that the same test that resulted in some comical appraisals of multiple politicians and put me well into the left-wing column when I took it?

Well I don't know what your ability to take tests is like.

But no, it's on the same website as that test, but the plotting of politicians isn't produced by them doing the test, it's produced by political scientists who have plotted them on a graph after listening to their speeches and reading their policies.

[Cow Poke]

Well I don't know what your ability to take tests is like.

But no, it's on the same website as that test, but the plotting of politicians isn't produced by them doing the test, it's produced by political scientists who have plotted them on a graph after listening to their speeches and reading their policies.

I hate those tests. I'm always thinking, "OK, they're probably looking for X answer, but I'm thinking Y...."

[Starlight]

Seriously? This isn't the great fire of London....

As it happened: More than a thousand arrested in Paris 'Yellow Vest' protests

Oh, I agree it's an interesting topic and totally worth a thread. My objection was simply to the headline "PARIS BURNS".

[Cow Poke]

Oh, I agree it's an interesting topic and totally worth a thread. My objection was simply to the headline "PARIS BURNS".

Fair enough - that was clickbait for sure, but I used the actual title - didn't create my own. I just had a feeling this wasn't a "flash in the pan", so to speak.

[Terraceth]

So, what's your take on why he got elected in the first place?

[Cow Poke]

Thanks

[Sparko]

Isn't that the same test that resulted in some comical appraisals of multiple politicians and put me well into the left-wing column when I took it? Yeah, that's a reliable indication.

Showed me as nearly in the center, much to Carp's chagrin

[rogue06]

Showed me as nearly in the center, much to Carp's chagrin

IIRC he said he nearly blew his drink through his nose when I posted my results.

[Starlight]

In the interviews I'm seeing now with the protesters, the nickname "President of the Rich" is coming up more and more for Macron. He seems to be being viewed as simply one of the rich (his background is wealthy investment banker) and as doing policies for them.

His govt has changed the tax system to tax rich people less and poor people more, and a lot of people seem very upset with that and the rising inequality it is creating. France used to have a Wealth tax, which charged people 0.5% per year on total assets over ~$1m, rising to 1.5% on assets over ~$11m, and he's abolished that. Instead he's taxing poor people on the gas they put in their cars. This has upset both rural conservatives who are now having to pay a gas tax, and city liberals who hate the abolition of the Wealth tax.