Latest / Black Box Theory Podcast / Why France's Youth Are Taking to the Streets
Transcript
- Malcolm: There's some crazy protests going on out in France and and spreading all across Europe. it's been crazy. There have been blockades that have started since September. I think it's getting a lot more traction now 'cause getting if you go on Twitter and look up like protests in France, bro, it looks like a dys like a like a dystopia, bruh. I'm telling us everything is on fire. People are are are are throwing bricks at police cars. People stuff going up in smoke, it's dudes going against riot shows. Like it is insane, bro. Like, And so a lot of this is coming down to like cost of living. And it's also started with students. Students are citing classes of thirty two to thirty six deterior I'm sorry, deteriorating buildings and stress over the admissions platform. They're demanding eleven billion dollars in school funding. Yeah, like it's insane. Like a fifteen-year-old lost Thomas: Lemon billion. Malcolm: a hand to a police stun grenade. Seven hundred fifteen officers were reported injured as of October sixth. yeah, the the the the the prime minister promised a government response plan by the end of October. As of October sixteenth, about 160 schools were blocked and roughly a third of seven th th I'm sorry, thirty seven hundred just lycees. I hope I'm not saying that wrong, but they were significantly disrupted. When October seventeenth, 110 marches drew. Five hundred and fifty thousand people by the ministry's count and eight hundred thousand by or by organizers. It's It's looking crazy out there. I'm not gonna lie. like, and yeah, it's it's been violent, bro. and now actually the updated numbers, I'm sorry, around 550,000 people have taken to the streets nationwide, leading to roughly 2400 arrests and almost a thousand police injuries. So, like I said, this originally began once again, this started with high school students organizing walkouts to demand reduced class sizes, increased investments in deteriorating infrastructure, more funding for teachers. Now this started getting this guy backed by major labor unions like the CGT. And so the movement has rapidly expanded into a broader nationwide outcry, which I was talking about earlier. So cost of living. So escalating costs for basic goods and rising energy prices, austerity and public spending. So anxieties around the government's plans to run in record high budget deficits, which are expended expected to impact public services, wages, and pensions, and then declining public infrastructure, bro. So there's just frustration over like like just essential social services across the country that are just becoming worse and worse and worse. No plans to improve them, no, no budget being allocated towards them. And I I can't say I'm I'm not gonna say here and say that like the way that they're going about it is the right or wrong way, I think ethically or or like you know morally. But like I want I will say one thing, it's working, it's it's getting people's attention across the country. Like I say, I know we do all these peaceful protests and and standing outside the Capitol yelling with our megaphones, we don't get nothing done. Like I said, like I think I think young people are, I think I saw someone online say it's like. Young people at this point now versus I don't really care about their history because the people that were making it force like they they they did everything to forsake the younger generation. So it's like, why should I care to like, you know, preserve the history of Europe or France or of the city and y'all cooked me as soon as before I came the womb? Nah, bro. And like the fact that this this got started by high school students should tell you, bro. Enough is enough, man. People had enough. And they did, like I said, I don't know how they're gonna calm that country down. 550,000 people is insane. Like the videos I've been seeing. It literally looks like a dystopia, bruh. Like end of the world type of type of type of vibe, man. So yeah. I'm I'm praying. Hopefully no one no especially no kids lose their life. Hopefully like like I I hope, you know, there's some type of solution, but I really don't know. I said the the the the the prime minister or whoever's leading over there, they're gonna have to bend their knee, bro. They won't have to take that L and then go ahead and get getting people what they want, man, 'cause they're not about to just start chilling. I'll take that right now. Thomas: Yeah.