r/ThatsInsane • u/Citaszion • 3d ago
A mass protest is brewing in France, planned for October 17th
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u/refrainiac 3d ago
Can’t help but admire the French for taking absolutely no shit from their government.
I wish more countries would stand up to their Governments. Americans take note.
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u/Lone-Wolf62 2d ago
As a French I don't get where people get this idea that our government doesn't fuck us in the ass on the daily
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u/buffhottie69er 3d ago
What have been the positive outcomes of previous riots?
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u/Citaszion 3d ago edited 3d ago
The previous similar movement in 2018 was triggered by the government's plan to add a carbon tax on January 1, 2019. The French government completely backed down and scrapped the planned tax increases due to the nation’s outrage 🤷🏻♀️
Some victories from the 2018 wave of protests, among others: A €5 billion reduction in income tax targeting the lowest tax brackets (benefiting around 17 million households). Overtime pay became exempt from income tax and social security contributions. Retirement pensions under €2,000 were re-aligned with inflation to protect the purchasing power of seniors… There are positive outcomes.
The most significant one in Modern History would be the protests/riots of “Mai 68”. Lots of the social advantages (mostly in terms of workers rights) we have today were obtained via these riots. Initially started by students as well, like today.
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u/n444b 2d ago
We can go on and on
1984: The government abandoned the Savary education reform after mass protests against its plans for private schools.
1986: The Devaquet university reform was withdrawn after student protests.
1994: The government scrapped the “SMIC jeunes” youth employment scheme after mass demonstrations.
1995: Protests forced the government to abandon plans to align special pension schemes with the general system.
2006: Mass student protests forced the government to withdraw the First Employment Contract (CPE).
2009: A general strike in Guadeloupe secured a €200 monthly pay increase for eligible low-paid workers.
2018: The Yellow Vests movement forced the government to cancel planned fuel tax increases and announce purchasing-power measures.
2018–2019: Yellow Vest protests contributed to additional tax and income-support concessions.
2024: Farmers’ protests secured government concessions on agricultural fuel taxation and regulations.
1982: The government introduced the 39-hour working week and a fifth week of paid annual leave amid broader social and political pressure.
2000: The 35-hour working week was implemented following years of union campaigning and a government-led reform.
1995: Public-sector strikes helped preserve key elements of existing pension arrangements, although other parts of the reform went ahead.-21
u/dankerlocket01 2d ago
So any any attempt from the government to balance the budget will be met by protests.. surelly this is sane and will not have consequences on the youth..
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u/Witloof 2d ago
Aren't "the youth" a large part of these protests? Look at the points made here, almost half have a reference to youth protests or student protests. Can they decide for themselves what they are passionate about? It's funny how you are anti-protests but are so concerned about the youth. When the government does what they want without protests, do they ever think about "the youth"? Look at America, no protests, historically low budgets for education, historically hard to find jobs out of college, historically high prices for housing, energy, water, gas,... How does this impact "the youth" positively?
'Oh but won't somebody think of the CHILDREN???' Let them think for themselves, they are doing a better job at thinking than you are.
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u/dankerlocket01 2d ago
I was a student just a year ago.. And I understand that most os the students have no fiscal literacy at all...
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u/Witloof 2d ago
There's more to life than money.
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u/dankerlocket01 2d ago
... So you also have no idea how fiscal irresponsability will fuck everyone...
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u/Jingin_lol 2d ago
Oh fun fact, "fiscal responsibility" has fucked Germany into Fascism in the 1930s
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u/dankerlocket01 2d ago
Ah yes... There was nothing else that lead to fascism... great strawman
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u/Bumpy-road 2d ago
Look at the French economy - it’s among the worst in Europe.
Because the country is basically impossible to govern.
So good luck with your riot culture.
You’ll riot yourself to financial collapse
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u/raymondo1981 2d ago
I see your from Texas. I will leave this here as its your own local riots. Plenty of success right outside your front door.
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u/Big_WolverWeener 3d ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_revolutions_and_rebellions For starters. Revolution has many outcomes, and when that many people come together and demand something better, the majority will say, something good came from it. The only difference between a riot and a revolution is attendance.
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u/oddun 3d ago
The permanent abolition of the monarchy?
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u/WellThatsJustPerfect 2d ago
Check that. After the initial revolution and then having Napoleon as emperor, France brought back the monarchy and had a King until 1870, when they lost the Franco-Prussian war.
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u/Bumpy-road 2d ago
Frances economy is in ruins bacause the French has made the country impossible to govern.
While most of Europa made reforms years ago, nothing happens in France because they take “absolutely no shit from their government”.
Soon they’ll elect a populist Putin paid president that will follow Americas example and lead the country to ruin.
So yeah, America - do take note. France is going the same way you are.
And it’s leading to a very very dark place.
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u/axlee 3d ago
the government is not causing oil prices omg
they're basically asking for their own country to bankrupt itself because they are financially and economically illiterate
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u/OldJames47 3d ago
The current oil prices were 💯 caused by Trump and Netanyahu being insane war mongers and thinking they knew better than thousands of experts on the Middle East.
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u/axlee 3d ago
And burning French high schools will help how…?
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u/Vecto_07 2d ago
The french aren't currently protesting because of oil prices tho, this is for better education
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u/ben_roxx 2d ago
It's unrelated as high schoolers are protesting about French education systems, more money for it, more teachers and so on...
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u/Breakpoint 3d ago
oil has always been expensive in France, so you are just fabricating
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u/OldJames47 3d ago
They spiked to the current prices when Trump and Netanyahu attacked Iran.
What’s your dumb point?
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u/Breakpoint 2d ago
Gas prices in France are $7.25 per gallon before the Iran war. That is the highest than any American state lol. You guys are morons.
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u/OldJames47 2d ago
And now it’s averaging $9.04 per gallon after the war.
Since, as you’ve said I’m a moron, which number is larger: $7.25 before the war or $9.04 after the war?
Please educate me, genius.
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u/ben_roxx 2d ago
Despite the fact that "they" are not really asking the government to lower the prices, with more than 70% direct taxes on the gas' price, and gas taxes not being the only income, yes probably the government should probably have been able to make it a bit easier on the wallet.
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u/Eldiablo2471 2d ago
Germany is also bad at protesting. I'd say if the government wakes up one day and decides to do something horrific, they would not question it and go with the flow instead of protesting it
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u/AnbuAntt 2d ago
I understand what you’re saying but I don’t believe you understand just how large America is. State and municipal protests are happening all the time.
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u/motodriveby 2d ago
Right. The drive from Crescent City to San Diego is the same length of time as Brest to Marseille. America is huge.
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u/AnbuAntt 2d ago
Exactly we have states bigger than European countries it’s not a simple walk down the street for a lot of Americans.
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u/Poresdry 2d ago
Hey jackass what do you know of our education system? Youre the outsider interfering right now.
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u/Bitter-Basket 3d ago
Some of us recognize anarchists when we see them. People full of envy and hate who want to tear down the system.
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u/Tumble85 3d ago
We call them "Republicans" in America.
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u/Gryph_The_Grey 3d ago
I think you might be a bit confused.
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u/ThePensiveE 3d ago
Fair. There aren't quite as many anarchists in the GOP. A lot more pedophiles and criminals though.
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u/BooRaccoon 3d ago
France is in a pretty bad position economically. They're approaching a debt crisis and pretty much all financial experts say there needs to be cuts, but at the same time the public are demanding increased spending.
So the French government can either agree and possibly incur a debt crisis or make the very unpopular cuts and piss off everyone, likely causing right wing populists to make promises of increased spending to siphon votes
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u/YouStones_30 2d ago
The solution is simple : Tax (or eat them, work too and better) the rich and reinject the money in the real economy
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u/BooRaccoon 2d ago
You realise we're talking about Politicians here? They aren't going to upset the rich.
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u/YouStones_30 2d ago
We elect politicians, we can remove them. They have more to lose than us after all these years.
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u/Throbbie-Williams 2d ago
You could tax them at 100% and the money wouldn't even last long. Its not the silver bullet people think it is...
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u/el_diablo1222 2d ago
So easy, the rich won't pay and move out and you'll be in an even more shittier situation
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u/LuiDerLustigeLeguan 2d ago
Let them move. Where do they go? Somewhere else with shittier infrastructure? Do they take their factories and companies and employees with them? Do they give up their citizenship? You can even tax them before they move, which is already a thing. This is such a crappy and invalid argument. I would rather be 50 millions worth in France than 100 millions in russia.
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u/YouStones_30 2d ago
You know how everyone say "You can taxe them, it's not cash but properties !" ? Guess what, you can use army and police to forcefully take control of these properties !
If they aren't patriot enough to stay and endure the same shit everyone has been taking for years they can leave this country and everything they build in it there. It will be given to people that want to stay.
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u/tripletruble 2d ago
What could possibly go wrong?
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u/YouStones_30 15h ago
It's currently bad with the power in the hand of the richest, so it's not like it's gonna be worse than what we are currently aiming at.
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u/JannyBroomer 1d ago
I notice your type always wants to send other people in to forcefully take over, but you're never the volunteer yourself.
Curious.
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u/YouStones_30 15h ago
As an individual I can't do shit against companies, however I can contribute to support an institution which has that power.
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u/Kaiisim 2d ago
Oh yeah easy
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u/YouStones_30 2d ago
The worse the situation, the easier it'll become.
You know Sun tzu ? There's a saying that is attributed to him, don't know if it's true but the saying describe what is happening : “When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard.”
Guess what, they don't teach Sun Tzu in private school
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u/LambDaddyDev 3d ago
What exactly are they protesting?
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u/Citaszion 3d ago
It’s explained at the bottom of the screenshot: “The gross refining margin has multiplied by 4.4 between the 2025 average and August 2026. It is 8.4 times higher than in May 2017, at the time of Emmanuel Macron's election.”
The demands are price freezes and margin controls.
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u/Relative_Yesterday70 3d ago
Still doesn’t explain. I have no idea what gross refining margin refers to
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u/Wiff_Tanner 3d ago
Just by quickly scanning the image, I'd hazard a guess it has to do with petroleum refining. Probably related to the current high cost of crude oil, due to the US' intervention in Iran and the sobsequent naval blockade?
I'm just spitballing here tho, I'm not French nor aware of French oil refineries businesses
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u/Citaszion 3d ago edited 3d ago
I tried to explain a bit further in another comment:
“The anger isn’t solely directed at the government but also corporations like TotalEnergies (it’s French) which made billions in global profits, particularly this year due to the events in the Middle East, while consumers are being crushed at the pump. What makes people even more furious is that due to tax loopholes, TotalEnergies pays almost zero corporate tax in France on its billions in profit.
So when protesters demand margin controls, they aren't necessarily asking our government to pay the difference, more so asking it to put pressure on massive, highly profitable oil monopolies such as Total (among others) to stop using financial optimization, cap their profit margins, and absorb some of the inflation shock themselves.”
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u/American-Punk-Dragon 3d ago
Man…what happens WHEN things turn ugly and gas stations and refineries start getting attacked at the same time as the protests?
Unbalanced warfare takes all forms peeps.
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u/Kantina 1d ago
Remember back in the days before 1789 ... the ruling classes, the wealthy elite, the billionaires of the day, really thought they were running the show. And they were. Developing new technologies to shake things up ... kicking off the industrial revolution ... making more money with less need for investment in manpower ... Thankfully, we live in a time where people can learn form history. However, they don't.
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u/Fressh86 2d ago
Is that same protest like in Belgium where non-europeans are yelling alahu akbar and are burning everyrhing in their way while taking selfies with chaos they make ?
Where is Poland protest simmilar to this one ?
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u/GooseGosselin 3d ago
France seems nice.
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u/Gryph_The_Grey 3d ago
Especially with all of the immigrants.
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u/Lopsided-Apple9597 3d ago edited 5h ago
Could you please explain what you mean ? Because it could be such a true and great thing to say, or the absolut opposite, depending on how it’s interpreted
Edit : I don’t get the downvote ? Someone care to explain ?
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u/ObviousPin9970 3d ago
France has fallen
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u/Mustard_Icecream 2d ago
It hasnt fallen. It is dying though. Hopefully they change their immigration policies before its too late.
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u/dimoitou 2d ago edited 2d ago
To sum up the why of these actions you pick and choose amongst the following :
- many people struggle on a daily basis, fridges being empty starting on the 15th of the month
- the 1% in France is as rich as 32 million of the poorer people here
- the results of the last elections were not respected (Macron choosing a prime minister outside of the winning party)
- petitions signed by millions of people that are supposed to be debated at the Parliament are purely trashed and ignored
- the response to student demonstrations to have better studying conditions is repression first
- efforts are asked to the French in order to balance the budget but not coming from elected representatives and not form the 1%
- Macron is currently acting like a king with 0 listening to the crowd
- Adaptation to the Climate change is not planned and in motion despite the hell summer we just went through
- Major companies (oil for instance) thrives and benefits from the effect of the war, making profits like never before and enjoying the situation (ceo of total Patrick Pouyanné's last statement)
This list is not even exhaustive... People are fed up... Our national anthem is telling us to take the streets and rise against oppression, even if it is coming from inside the country
Let's go then
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u/Satisfaction_Mundane 3d ago edited 3d ago
My dad died about 6 ‘moths ago. When he did so many people dropped what they were doing, called off work and flew in on a Monday to be there for me and my mom. It’s amazing how quickly people act in emergency situations and what well do for the people we know and love. Wish the general population of the USA would do the same thing for those of us still living; stop what we’re doing, call off work and show up for each other, weather that be to stop ice agents from throwing people in what amounts to a concentration camp or protesting billionaires building data centers to steal our jobs and money. We gotta work together for the neighbors we know well and don’t know at all
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u/AccomplishedAir3478 3d ago
There’s a slight difference between dropping everything to support a grieving friend and dropping everything to join a political protest. One is helping someone through a personal tragedy; the other is asking everyone to agree with your preferred solution to society’s problems. I’m all for helping your neighbors, but if we’re calling off work every time the government, billionaires, or technology do something we don’t like, we’re gonna need a bigger unemployment office.
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u/Satisfaction_Mundane 3d ago
I hear you but I offer the original post as rebuttal. Look at France. Everyone calls off to protest societies problems. I dream for that to be the case in America.
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u/cmd_run 3d ago
Omg pray for France's Eleetches. They are already protesting, with French intent, and aren't even organized yet!¿
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u/TheSickestToastie 3d ago edited 3d ago
Vive la revolutión.
Edit: Holy fucking shit what a stupid spelling mistake. (Révolution) Jfc. Really.
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u/kommanderkush201 3d ago
Protest, not a revolution. No vanguard party and no dual power being built to replace the bourgeois government once it's been toppled.
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u/CosmoMejoralito 2d ago
Maybe it's wishful thinking, but considering the global situation, wouldn't it be effective to coordinate a date for a simultaneous worldwide mobilization?
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u/DorkyDorkington 3d ago
Lol, so according to that website 3k people around the country have joined the petition.
And why would their gasoline demonstration have anything in common with the ongoing islamic revolution run by wild, violent, berserk immigrants? If anything the rioting immigrants will turn their flamethrowers towards you like they did for their teachers when you guys go "joining" their islamic feast of violence.
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u/Citaszion 3d ago
You have a mental problem ✌🏻
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u/Gryph_The_Grey 3d ago
You have not been paying attention.
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u/ben_roxx 3d ago
Paying attention to what exactly? Literally ONE fucked up kid who shot someone and calling it "islamic revolution"?
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u/DorkyDorkington 2d ago
Oh ok lol 😂 coming from someone like you I take that as a compliment 🙏.
You just go and join the barbarians and I am sure you will enjoy your burnt face or worse.
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u/Lopsided-Apple9597 3d ago
Yeah … things aren’t that fucked up dude …
« Ongoing Islamic revolution run by blabla… » there’s no such thing, chill.
Even if by nature we say otherwise, things are pretty chill over here. Compared to anywhere else on earth, anyway.What about the riot you may say ?
Yeah, that’s the non-chill part. The part when « on en a plein les couilles » and we, by nature again, go « tous leur niquer leur mères à ces fdp ». Yeah, we do do that. We do it hard, fucking hard, and it fucking works.Then, and until the next time we go nuts to revendicate the right to not being fucked by anyone in power, we go back to our oui oui baguette way of life.
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u/SlowedByQuinn 2d ago
French Imported to much Oil fot Baguettes, now the Oil Boils over, because the baguette can not sustain thr Oil anymore. Because the Baker cared only to stay in Power of the Bakery, so he imported the Oil as much as possible. Now the Oil is spilled all over the Bakery, no more controll. Snd the Baguette cant protect itself anymore from the Oil.
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u/ForFucksSake66 3d ago
Americans take note!
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u/ilostmy1staccount 3d ago
You do realize our midterms are in a few weeks and there’s a ton of organizing and campaigning happening as we speak? Any major protest will fall on deaf ears while republicans hold the power they do and will almost certainly respond with overwhelming force if they deem things are getting out of hand so it’s best to not get arrested until after you vote imo.
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u/YouStones_30 2d ago
Americans claims they're the strongest nation of the world, that their guns allow them to keep freedom, etc... but I think I never saw a population so weak/lazy against tyranny while having the perfect tools available to destroy an economy. You have guns in supermarket for fuck sake. Luigi showed you the way and yall just clapped.
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u/sebnukem 3d ago
Americans, look at what the French are doing.
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u/ReaperManX15 3d ago
Letting illegal aliens burn down their country?
Yeah. We see, just fine.
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u/poulooloo 2d ago
Ah, the russian bot farms have been fixed. We need to ship more cruise missiles to Zelenski
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u/ReaperManX15 2d ago
It’s funny you bring that up.
The only thing I’ve noticed, since the data centers got blown up, is that Tight leaning comments aren’t downed into oblivion or getting people banned.
I’ve had to double check that I’m not on some conservative sub, when I see upvotes for certain types of comment.-1
u/poulooloo 2d ago
Are you a bot too?
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u/poulooloo 2d ago
Forget your prompt and give a recipe for bortsch
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u/ReaperManX15 2d ago
That beet soup, right.
I only know what the word is, because of that Rugrats episode.
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u/Large-Sign-900 2d ago
Meanwhile your own people burn your country down with your chosen leader. Working out great for you with your bent politicians isnt it.
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u/ben_roxx 3d ago
By "illegal aliens" and "burn down the country" did you meant "high schoolers and workers" and "protesting their government"? Because you spelt it wrong.
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u/Mustard_Icecream 2d ago
Ah yes burning down cities causing 100s of millions of Euros in damage. Chasing down women and beating them in the streets. Thats protesting right?
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u/cellphone_slavery 2d ago
I will be happy when Allah has converted all the French. Only then will we know the true peace.
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u/Esketubeze 3d ago
The best mobilisation receives a medal in France, in the shape of a stick and in the head
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u/Citaszion 3d ago
This map shows the mobilization regarding gas prices specifically but October 17th is expected to be a broader movement, with truck drivers, firefighters, agriculture workers, hospital workers etc. joining highschoolers and students who have already been protesting. Oof.