France Is Just The Beginning
Sources
Lister, Tim. The rioting across France is a symptom of a much larger public and political crisis. CNN. October 19, 2026. https://edition.cnn.com/2026/10/19/europe/france-riots-political-crisis-intl
Dulaney, Michael. May 1968: The French general strike that changed the world. ABC News. May 11, 2018. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-12/may-1968-protests-changed-the-world-explainer/9752206
Zaretsky, Robert. The French Are Very Worried, and That’s Making Things Worse. The Atlantic. October 10, 2026. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/2026/10/french-decline-politics-extremism/688953/
Jean-Luc Melenchon. Wikipedia. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Luc_M%C3%A9lenchon
Lukiv, Jaroslav. Curfew imposed in parts of central Paris and other cities after rioting across France. BBC. October 19, 2026. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx30ez03djyqo
Cappelle, Alice. EMERGENCY VIDEO: The French Protests Explained. October 15, 2026. https://youtu.be/hAWcxLuqfjg?si=ydDE51IZh3lO8y
The politics behind the French riots | BBC Newscast. October 19, 2026. https://youtu.be/GZUcJkt1YYs?si=cMlUX2PnyeR-kwHs
France in turmoil after riots and looting: What we know. Reuters. October 19, 2026. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/france-turmoil-what-might-follow-a-weekend-riots-2026-10-19/
France’s riots expose the impotence of its political class. Editorial Board of the Financial Times. October 19, 2026. https://www.ft.com/content/388569e9-3936-4359-8856-48b006587fb7?syn-25a6b1a6=1
Transcript
On August 31st, on the island of Mayotte, a French colonial holding in the Indian Ocean, a group of teachers, parents, and students went on strike, protesting the deplorable and deteriorating conditions at the local high school, which was built for 900 students yet enrolled over 2200. A week later, in French Guiana in South America, another French colony, students began protesting and shutting down their local secondary schools, supported by teachers and parents, to protest the often dangerous conditions in their schools and the severe teacher shortage, caused not by a lack of teachers but by a lack of funding. In Mayotte, over half of public secondary teachers do not have a permanent teaching job. The protests lasted weeks in the French colonies before spreading to mainland France at the end of September, when a protest at one school spread, resulting in hundreds of thousands of high school students walking out, shutting down their schools, and taking to the streets to peacefully protest the abhorrent conditions in their schools. In some schools, especially in poor areas, which also tend to have the largest numbers of immigrants and non-white students, the water coming out of the school taps is contaminated with bacteria and unsafe to drink, students report rat and cockroach infestations left to fester, toilets are dirty and malfunctioning, one school reportedly has a septic tank that overflows every time it rains, schools lose power, are poorly furnished, and some classrooms are so poorly insulated that in the winter months temperatures inside fall to nearly freezing and in the summer surpass 100 degrees fahrenheit.
As hundreds of thousands of student protesters, high school students, literal children, took to the streets, the French police force, founded in the days of Nazi-collaborator Vichy France, treated them as violent, dangerous rioters. At the end of September, a 14 year old boy named Eden was struck in the face with a tear gas grenade, suffering a double jaw fracture and requiring major surgery, leaving him with his jaw wired shut. A week later, a 15 year old boy named Evan had his hand blown to bits from a police stun grenade. And separately, a 16 year old child named Mael is left blind in one eye from a rubber bullet. 6000 people were arrested during the first few weeks of the student protests, 80% of the arrests were children. Human rights organizations have condemned the police violence in France as an “alarming brutalization of young people” and the UN special rapporteur has demanded that French authorities respect the physical safety of protesters. And Amnesty International has condemned the disproportionate use of force in France on schoolchildren. But if you are the average person who wakes up and briefly checks the news in the morning, you wouldn’t know a single one of the facts I just shared with you. And the increased violence and vandalism in France over the last weekend has only exacerbated the issue and the mainstream media’s COMPLETE bungling of its coverage of these protests. So let’s talk about what’s actually happening in France, since CNN and Reuters and the BBC are more concerned with looted athletic shoes than with the human rights of school children.
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The student protesters made clear demands–invest in education. Provide smaller class sizes, improve existing infrastructure, provide modern equipment, and create better teaching conditions, including filling vacant teaching roles that are sometimes left unstaffed for months. They are also protesting the online platform for school placement. Which, to me, should be pronounced Parcoursup but I’ll let an actual French person explain it. [insert clip] That’s French journalist and commentator Alice Cappelle.
And amid these very clear demands, President Macron was like oh noo please remain calm, let’s talk this out… and then yeeted himself off to the Gulf states looking for more oil. Talk about tone deaf.
As the student movement grew at the beginning of October, other groups joined the students, including labor unions and other workers, activists and their allies. This past weekend, a reported 500,000 to 800,000 people, depending on who you ask, took to the streets to protest against the government. Beyond the student demands, these additional protesters were calling for the ouster of President Emmanuel Macron, protesting the cost of living crisis, and general economic instability in France. Much of the protests were peaceful. A few factions clashed with police, and a number of people began damaging property and looting businesses. No one can say for sure who was setting things on fire, who was looting buildings. By the end of this weekend, 3000 shops had been looted or vandalized, numerous cars and rental bikes set on fire, and the city hall in Limoges (LEE-MOJ), which survived two world wars, was in flames. Reports are saying that the police grossly underestimated the size of the crowds, were caught off guard by the Sunday night looting, and showed a general inability to manage the crowds. Interior Minister Nunez offered his resignation due to the ineptitude but Emmanual Macron refused, telling him to stay on to handle the ongoing situation. To try to reinstate order in the chaos, various French cities have imposed new curfews from 11pm to 6am, which is such a French curfew time. During the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis our curfews were like 8pm but the French are like ooh lala but how will we have our 9pm dinner. One couple even went viral after video was posted of them casually smoking and enjoying their french dinner while Paris is literally on fire behind them.
And despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of people, including children, have been in the streets for a month at this point in mainland France and 2 months in the French colonies, voicing their true despair over the complete mismanagement of their futures, a lack of opportunity, a world literally on fire from global warming–8000 people died in France this year from heat waves alone–as these children are screaming to be given a future, the mainstream media is focused on some broken shop windows, stolen goods, and a few hundred masked men who caused chaos that made for really great visuals for their little sound bites. They call it “shocking violence” and it’s just an e-bike on fire. Pay no attention to the children who have been maimed by state violence for peacefully exercising their right to free expression. The police force is insufficient and ill-equipped, laments the mainstream media. Surely more cops and more weapons is the answer to address this unrest–it seems to go so well in other countries…. But don’t worry, Reuters assures us, authorities have quote “rushed to set up support measures for impacted businesses and bolster security.” Don’t worry, the government is already looking into ways to compensate the victims of this heinous violence. Oh no not the kid who got his hand blown off. The sports store that had some shoes stolen, THEY are the true victims!!!
Seriously like I’m a big advocate for journalists, for freedom of the press, I think distrust in mainstream media can be overblown in a way that foments far right fearmongering and conspiracy theories but the way that the media writ large has absolutely fucking BUNGLED its coverage of these protests on a global scale is actually fucking shocking.
And yet the cynical among you of course would admonish me for being shocked at all. And really, I shouldn’t be. I lived through the George Floyd protests in 2020 in Minneapolis. Buildings were set on fire, businesses were looted, but also the police murdered an innocent man in broad daylight while people filmed it. The George Floyd uprising was mostly tens of thousands of people taking to the streets to protest police violence. It was the people taking over George Floyd Square and turning it into the people’s intersection, which still exists in Minneapolis today. But the media loved the photos of businesses on fire, the government wanted accountability for the victims no no not George Floyd or the numerous other people who’ve died at the hands of police violence, the business victims. I just read a headline saying that the Mississippi state attorney general just ruled that the police killing of a one year old boy was “justified.” Police were justified in shooting and killing a 1 year old baby, because they had reason to believe the people in the vehicle with him had STOLEN DIAPERS. Justified.
But I digress.
Over and over again the media and the government have proven themselves, time and again, across the globe, completely in the pocket of monied interests, of big business, and of capitalism. Yes it sucks that some of the stores being vandalized are small businesses, I wish that didn’t happen, I don’t think it’s the best use of these protests, if you’re trying to send a message about taxing the rich you should be sure to target some heavy hitters, not the mom and pop shops–though of course I would never advise violence against property cuz that would be so crazy and also illegal–I’m just saying from a practicality standpoint if you’re going to send a message then send it to the right people. But people are literally dying, kim. In 2019, a French student in Lyon set himself on fire to protest the cost of living and the hopelessness of university students. And things have only gotten worse since then.
A recent Ipsos poll found that 98% of French respondents were dissatisfied with the present state of the country in France. Near unanimity. And Emanuel Macron’s approval rating hovers between 15 and 17%. For comparison, Trump’s is at around 31%. The French economy is stagnant, farmers were hit with extreme heat and drought over the summer, energy price increases from Trump’s idiotic Iran war are causing inflation across the globe, investment has fallen, interest rates are climbing, and France carries one of THE highest debt burdens in Europe. Political fracturing means that France has been incapable of coming together to pass a budget to address the debt, and even if they did, they’re looking at spending cuts, which would only squeeze the French population further. Debt as a proportion of GDP rose to 119% in France in the second quarter of this year, twice what the EU sets as its target recommendation. Though, by comparison, the US’s debt as a proportion of GDP is 122%, a number that has been rising steadily since, guess what, Reagan! There it is, folks, your daily dose of how reagan ruined everything, you can mark “debt as a proportion of GDP” off on your bingo cards.
If you watched my recent video about the French revolution, you’ll know that in the lead up to the revolution back in the 1700s France also had staggering debt, rampant inflation, severe wealth inequality, and a paralyzed state overseen by corrupt, out of touch elites.
And French politicians currently in charge, much like we’re seeing literally everywhere globally, are willing to wring their hands, tear out their hair, cry and lament, fight and propose spending cuts, they’re willing to do literally ANYTHING other than raise taxes on the top 1%. It’s like there’s this giant unimaginable pot of gold being lorded over by a handful of fat cats, the politicians hold the keys to the pot of gold, and instead they’re running around going omg we have no money and no way of getting money I have no idea how we’re going to solve this there’s absolutely nothing in our power that we could ever do to fix this, sorry we just don’t have money for you, schoolchildren, unless you’re heir to some sort of business franchise that got its window smashed in then what do you know we are rushing to compensate you for that don’t worry the cops will be there to act as your personal bodyguards momentarily.
And what’s wild to me is that if these centrist duds like Emanuel Macron were willing to increase taxes on the wealthiest people–I’m not even saying in a revolutionary way, but just enough to mildly increase the quality of life for most people–a little bit towards education, a little towards infrastructure, a little towards healthcare, a little towards housing–it would actually reinforce their own power. Like history has showed us most people tend to be chill with the status quo, even if its a little uncomfortable, so long as their basic needs are being met. The neoliberal agenda would actually be better served by a little taxation as a treat, throw a bone to the masses to keep the status quo. Mobsters have been doing it for centuries. Pablo Escobar was a bad man who spent a little money on some local communities to keep them happy and complacent. Mark Zuckerberg literally just did this–he bought a $51 million dollar castle in the south of Ireland, and then paid off the locals by donating a boat load of money to their sports associations. Which I guess fair play to the Zuck for knowing enough about Ireland that he knew he could manipulate people with money through the small town sports associations here, but it is still effectively a bribe to keep the people happy and complacent while the billionaire parks his cash there. Anyway, I’m genuinely unsure why the neoliberals haven’t figured this out when it comes to budgets and taxation, but it’s truly maddening watching them feign that they have no idea how they could possibly balance a budget.
My assumption is that the ultra-wealthy know that by not throwing the people a bone, it creates great political divides, and they hope to exploit the worst impulses of humanity so they can keep accumulating wealth while the little people fight each other. And so far it’s mostly worked. France is an example of just that. Centrist politics no longer hold any water in France, and, much like in the US, there is a growing divide between the right and the left, with people moving from the center to opposing ends of the political spectrum. And that divide will be on full display in France’s upcoming presidential elections in the spring.
Some pundits are lamenting that the current protests and the looting and negative media coverage of the rioting is creating a “six lane highway” for far right Le Pen to take the presidency this Spring. And those on the far right, including Le Pen and the president of her far right party, a 31 year old man named Jordan Bardella, whom some consider to be Le Pen’s obvious successor, are trying to use the unrest to push their anti-immigrant, fascist agenda. Bardella blamed the unrest on far left agitators, and called for antifa to be designated a terrorist organization in France. Sounds like they’re taking notes from the United States on that one. And, as in the US, the mainstream politicians are far more willing to come out strongly against leftist candidates than against the hateful rhetoric of the far right. French Prime Minister Lecornu accused the leftist presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon of providing excuses for the violence of the protesters and refusing to condemn the violence in the streets.
In my research, I also found the media’s coverage of Melenchon to be woefully inaccurate, falling in line with the centrist and right wing politicians who claim he is a far-left extremist. I looked up his politics and from what I could tell he’s a politician and therefore an opportunist, but also mostly a democratic socialist. He’s definitely a polarizing figure in France, but I wouldn't call his policies particularly extreme unless you're someone who finds neoliberal capitalism to be the only answer and any criticism of it to be "extreme". He supports wealth redistribution, relaxed immigration, same sex marriage, abortion, wealth tax, inheritance tax. He also opposes sex work, is too cozy with Russia for comfort, has a long track record of hostility towards journalists, and has been accused of antisemitism, and of being a populist opportunist. But this man is not salivating for the proletariat revolution. He is also quite popular among the students who have been mobilizing in France for the last month. But read about him in any mainstream newspaper and he’s mainly just described as the extreme far left candidate who’s taking advantage of unrest the same way that far right Marine Le Pen is. Le Pen has blamed the unrest on the impoverished immigrant communities in France, outside agitators, and is a strong proponent of great replacement theory talking points. Her successor Bardella even moreso, he’s also been accused of posting extreme anti-semetic views online as a teenager. But of course the far right in France has been filled with Nazis since the second world war, so it checks out. But the media would have you believe that the leftist Melenchon and the far right fascist Le Pen are two sides of the same coin attempting to exploit the current protests in France.
And most of you who watch me are Americans so if this is sounding eerily familiar to you, it should. And the latest protests in France are one piece of a larger global uprising that appears to be taking hold in response to continued rampant wealth inequality that has a handful of billionaires hoarding all the money while billions of us fight over the scraps.
In Albania, protests have escalated in recent days but have been going on for months since Trump’s daughter Ivanka revealed she had “discovered” a remote Albanian island and planned on building a luxury resort on it, but the protest is also about ongoing government corruption, oligarchy, and poor economic prospects.
In Argentina, ongoing protests have escalated in opposition to the far right president’s austerity measures, including his veto of pension increases in line with inflation that only add to the economic struggles people are facing in the country.
In Milan, Italy announced plans to deploy 500 troops on the ground in Milan after a weekend of protests and looting in opposition to the cost of living crisis there.
In Lisbon, Portugal, protestors took to the streets over the weekend saying “we are suffocating” under the extreme cost of living crisis there, where the cost of rent has doubled in just a few years. Protesters built an encampment in the central tourist square in Lisbon and dozens were detained over the weekend.
In Brussels, 150 people were arrested during protests over the weekend against cuts to education, police brutality, and the current administration there.
And tens of thousands of people have been protesting across Spain for the last month after the government there failed to pass emergency housing legislation that addressed the housing crisis embodied by a woman named Maricarmen, an 87 year old woman who was dramatically evicted from her home in Madrid where she lived for seven decades. Police evicted her on a stretcher after the investment company that bought the property in 2018 raised her rent from its capped amount of 500 euros to 2650 euros a month, and she died not long after, becoming the symbol of the movement of angry renters in Spain.
Across the world, from French Guiana to Argentina to Albania, Italy and France, people are taking to the streets in utter desperation. And there are common themes throughout their protests. The people, en masse, cannot afford to provide for their basic needs for survival: housing, healthcare; they cannot get jobs, they cannot access an education. And it’s largely due to ineffective governments unwilling to provide for the people they supposedly represent. More willing to work to keep billionaires happy than to ever give an inch to the masses crying out for the most basic things to sustain human life and human thriving. There ARE enough resources to spread around, but the billionaires and their politician keepers refuse to do anything about it. So I implore you not to fall for the knee jerk reaction you might feel to denounce the protests as nothing more than violence and property damage. A smashed store window and a stolen pair of sneakers is nothing compared to the collective violence being experienced everyday, often quietly, by people who are suffering from the effects of extreme wealth inequality, greed, and governments unwilling to stand up in the face of it all.
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If you liked this video, you’ll like my recent video about how originalism is a psyop.
