Posted on 03/24/2023 4:28:29 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Paris (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron faced mounting pressure on Friday after violent demonstrations that left more than 400 security forces injured and the centre of major cities shrouded in tear gas and smoke.
More than 450 people were arrested Thursday during the most violent day of protests since the start of the year against Macron's bid to raise the retirement age to 64.
"There were a lot of demonstrations and some of them turned violent, notably in Paris," Interior Minister Darmanin told the CNews channel.
More than 900 fires were lit around the capital on Thursday, he said, with radical anarchist groups blamed for setting uncollected rubbish ablaze and smashing shop windows, leading to frequent clashes with riot police.
Commentators are questioning how the crisis will end, just four years after the "Yellow Vest" anti-government demonstrations rocked the country.
"No one knows where the way out lies. There's not an easy one," political scientist Bastien Francois from the Sorbonne University in Paris told AFP.
Rubbish is still gathering in the streets of Paris due to a rolling strike by garbage collectors, while blockades of oil refineries by striking workers are beginning to create fuel shortages around the country.
Union leaders expressed satisfaction that the protest movement had gathered a second wind, while condemning the violence, most of it carried out by anarchist groups known as "black blocs".
(Excerpt) Read more at france24.com ...
I hope the French hang every evil technocrat.
I guess I’d be more incensed if the Bible said anything about retirement…
Macron doesn’t care what the French people want. Otherwise he would not have rammed through a massively unpopular reform with no legislative support.
I’m guessing the 30 day national vacation is still intact?
It’s sort of does say what retirement is but it’s not what most people think.
Case in point would be the Levites which after 50 are no longer tied to their levitical duties but have to take on other duties serving.
https://retirementaffairs.com/what-does-the-bible-say-about-retirement/
My takeaway is volunteerism and helping others.
I have no sympathy for the French. Delusional socialism is never going to end well.
They voted for this crap and now surprised they got it?
Enjoy the suck!
Pension systems all over the world will eventually collapse, including the French system. Increasing the retirement age will only delay the inevitable by a few years or decades. In the end, there simply won’t be enough workers to fund the pensions of an ever-growing retired population. Not when birthrates are way below replacement rate.
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