Yellow Vests is a crisis with deep roots ignored by successive French governments especially since 2008 financial crisis-Le Monde Editorial, 12/3/18…”Wall of glass” stands between citizens and elites-Le Monde, 11/30/18

12/3/18, ““Yellow Vests”: the tipping point of the five-year period,“ Le Monde, Editorial, By Jérôme Fenoglio (google translation from French) (original French)

“In the light of the current crisis, all the principles that made the success of the campaign of the candidate Macron turned to reveal the fragility of the president.”... 

“Permanent instability”

“First, a crisis with deep roots, of which it is only partially accountable: a questioning of thirty years of the system and political representation, to which is added a powerlessness of ten years to really respond to the consequences of the 2008 crisis. Among the “yellow vests”, composed of representatives of the middle and popular classes living mainly in rural and medium-sized cities, this bankruptcy of successive governments has allowed anger to flourish on the most powerful ferments, the feeling unfairness, both territorial, fiscal and social….

A major handicap

It’s even more complicated in the face of an executive power that can not get out of the multiple disruptions it has theorized to build its new world. In fact, in the light of the current crisis, all the principles that made the success of Macron candidate’s campaign turned to show the fragility of the president. The commando operation of then is no longer a loneliness accompanied by a handful of faithful placed in key positions. The blank page on which the reforms were to be written has become a deserted scene that the presidential party is unable to occupy….

The regal posture has evolved into an increasingly visible inability to achieve policing results. The reformist courage put forward faces the image of “president of the rich” contiguous because of the first tax decisions, especially on the ISF.”…
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Added: From Le Monde:

11/30/18, “Marc Fesneau: “We must break the wall of glass that has stood between citizens and elites,”” Le Monde, Interviewed by Françoise Fressoz and Philippe Escande (google translation from French) (original French) 

“[Marc Fesneau] The minister in charge of relations with the Parliament, who was the guest of the World Economy Club on Thursday, talks about a potential “break point democratic” about the movement of “yellow vests”. 

The new minister, former MP MoDem Loir-et-Cher, details the terms of the decentralized consultation, announced Tuesday, November 27 by Emmanuel Macron.

• At the roots of the movement of “yellow vests”

“We are witnessing the eruption of anger, desperation, which takes different forms and which was born from the sedimentation of problems that we have allowed each other to settle for years. “Peripheral France” is a reality. Major industrial crises completely destroyed the economic and social fabric and reached the identity of these territories. South of my department, we had Matra, in Romorantin. The factory produced Renault Espace; the workforce was highly skilled. The territory took a real pride. She closed. Due to a negative runoff effect, public services became scarce. This is how territories feel abandoned, abandoned, scratched from the map, almost physically."

• The risk of democratic breakdown

“What strikes me is the difficulty in getting in touch with the” yellow vests “or their representatives, as if we had reached a democratic breaking point. A number of them explain that they put on a yellow vest to make visible what was invisible. The duty of public officials is to find solutions. But for that, it is necessary to be able to engage a dialogue with those who are on the street and those who support the movement. However, representative democracy is questioned and, when we start talking with “yellow vests”, we are vilified on social networks on the theme “you are in intelligence with the enemy”. This break in dialogue is a major topic for democracy."

• Sus to “technocratism”

“The promise of Emmanuel Macron in 2017 was to upset political practices to enable those who work to go further. Today, the French are holding us accountable because, rightly or wrongly, they feel that this message has been forgotten. They do not understand us because, while we hold macroeconomic reasoning, while we are talking about hundreds of billions of euros on television sets, they tell us: “My problem is the 100 euros I miss at the end of the month.””… (Remainder of article is subscription)



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