By Georgia Kirkendall

For a straight eleven weeks now, protests have been held in France against unfair taxes and government money use. The aggravation is mostly directed towards President Emmanuel Macron. Macron had previously made executive decisions that do not bode well for rural people. He has made recent revisions and attempts to calm France, but it is already out of his control. Citizens are tired of having to scrape by, and are feeling rebellious.

Recently, protests and walks have taken place in Paris, at the headquarters of France’slower parliament. People have even resorted to violence at the Bastille Plaza, throwing and breaking random objects and setting cars on fire. One struggling woman states, “ I have a salary of 1,200 euros. I run out of money by the 6th of the month. I can no longer manage to survive.  That’s why I’m here, because nothing is moving, nothing is changing.” Police have had to use tear gas on some of the overwhelming mobs, and guns with rubber balls have been used so as not harm, yet contain protesters.

Because of citizens publicly displaying their anger, on December 10th President Macron apologized on national television for his part which resulted in protests, and he raised minimum wage and tax-free overtime pay. Within the week, protesting dropped dramatically, and it was not until eight weeks later that they started up again. On January 5th, some 50,000 people participated in riots across France, and some even used a forklift truck to break into a government ministry in Paris. In the following week, the numbers increased to 84,000 people. President Macron still continues to deal with the wrath of his citizens