WSWS: Mobilize the working class against French police murders and state repression!

[Bbb23sucks]

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/0 ... f-j01.html

[ericbarbour]

Which reminds me: en-WP really hates Macron. A lot. He has been trying to privatize major state-owned industries, raise taxes, and raise the retirement age, all moves guaranteed to enrage workers. The French are generally famed for public protests (especially the trade unions and students) and he's gotten his share--but WP wants to make him look worse than previous French presidents. I'm not sure it was any different for his predecessors--they mostly predated Wikipedia. Even the war hero Charles de Gaulle had plenty of enemies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_ ... uel_Macron

20 bucks says Macron's coverage on fr-WP is even more negative.

[Bbb23sucks]

Which reminds me: en-WP really hates Macron. A lot.

Really? I haven't seen much, but from what I have seen is that their admins generally defend him.

I'm not sure it was any different for his predecessors--they mostly predated Wikipedia.

Well, it depends on how far you go back. If you look at the last 100 years, there have been certainly worse. But if you look at the last 20-40 years, he has certainly been the first.

Despite being a supposed "centerist", his economic plans have been extremely right-wing. He has even been condemned by Le Pen.

He also lied about police reform. In 2019, he said that he would be taking steps to increase training and transparency. In 2020, he not only reneged on that promise, but went as far to pass a law making filming them illegal. He even brought back an infamous pseudo-gang in Paris with the sole goal of harassing protestors.

I can't really find much in English, but a few weeks ago he visited Dunkirk and supposedly had a wall constructed MILES away from him to keep protestors out. Supposedly, everyone inside the wall had been forced to stay inside (or at least restricted in travel).

[sashi]

I dunno. Sarkozy was brash and unpleasant and had all sorts of legal troubles (he was recently sentenced to three years of prison, but of course two were suspended so he could do his time at home with an electronic bracelet).

Hollande caved to the neolibs at every turn and helped them implode the Socialist party (which had become a lot like the US Democrats). Sort of a mirror image of the operation led by Trump on the Republican party.

As a result, with the opposition so divided between fear of the far-right and fear of the far-left, Macron didn't even have to bother campaigning in 2022. It was enough to be the least of three evils in the minds of a slim plurality, and to avoid talking too much in public (given how smug he always sounds).

Hollande appointed him to Bercy (Economy/Finance Ministry) and had him as one of his closest advisors, so when he called him "the president of the very rich" back in 2017, he seemed pretty well-informed. He definitely built a network while he was at Bercy.

Is Macron the worst? The competition is stiff. The most-hated? Hard to imagine he's managed to top Sarkozy on that score, but after ignoring a million protesters a day for weeks on end (pension reform)... he's definitely got a shot at it.

[Bbb23sucks]

but after ignoring a million protesters a day for weeks on end (pension reform)... he's definitely got a shot at it.

Not just ignoring. Actively fighting and repressing. It would be bad enough if he was just ignoring it, but he's actively repressing the protests.

Edit: I can't find any proper coverage of the Dunkirk incident right now, there were lots of Tweets though (with evidence), but unfortunately Muskrat decided he doesn't like paying bills a few days ago so I can't access them. The only thing I can find right now is this reddit post. There was also the Sainte-Soline attack from a few months back. That receive widespread coverage and I already posted about it.

[sashi]

I've been poking around on en.wp & fr.wp lately, and I noticed that in the 374K jumble of letters that is the French page on the pension reform protests there is one (and only one) occurrence of the word "émeutes" and that is Macron being quoted on TF1.

That said, well after Macron ignored the masses and their elected reps with the 49:3, there was a lot of violence in Lyon, for example, including opportunistic looting...

Not sure there was anything in Lyon to match the €25,000 in gold bullion that got hauled off in Rennes, though.

[Boink Boink]

after ignoring a million protesters a day for weeks on end (pension reform)... he's definitely got a shot at it.

I read that initially as he's definitely going to get shot