The French Revolution
Photo by Norbu Gyachung The news lately has been full of reports of the revolt in France, of the “Gilets Jaunes” or “Yellow Vests.” Their demonstration was triggered by a new tax on gas which was announced for the next year, but its true motive is the increasing disparity between the rich and poor in the country. Today is the fourth day of confrontations, and the movement is now nationwide. Having been watching and waiting for years—decades—for a sign that the public was going to revolt against the ongoing squeezing of the middle classes between high taxes and low pay by western governments, it does not surprise me that it is France, the country in which democracy began, that has started it. After all, they were the people who once cut off the heads of their monarchy when a similar situation developed following the building of Versailles in the 1780s, and they still retain enough democracy to demonstrate without being killed. While the publ...