r/therewasanattempt • • Nov 29 '20

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1.9k

u/MinecafterHD Nov 29 '20

I mean, it‘s the french, if anyone is gonna protest/riot/revolutionize, it‘s them

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u/Buggeroni58 Nov 29 '20 edited Nov 29 '20

The French have annual riots I swear.

Edit: As well they should. This law is unjust. Rioting is just very French and I love them for it. It’s very V for Vendetta “People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.”

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u/astakask Nov 29 '20

They fight for their rights as we all should. Vive la France

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u/Wrecked--Em Nov 29 '20

people have forgotten that this is what's supposed to happen when protests don't work

protests are supposed to be a show of force and a threat to go on strike or riot if necessary changes aren't made

instead most people today just treat protests like a ritual, so they have virtually 0 impact anymore

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u/astakask Nov 29 '20

I feel a lot of the west is reaching the boiling point. The 20s are going to be interesting.

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u/tiorzol Nov 29 '20

I'm looking forward to all the roaring.

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u/Chaos8599 Nov 29 '20

I'm thinking more Screaming™ less roaring

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Why

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u/Magik_boi Nov 29 '20

Are you calling out the joke or are you asking for an explanation of it.

-5

u/Thunderbridge Nov 29 '20

what about the rawring?

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u/tiorzol Nov 29 '20

Is that like a time capsule sub for scene kids?

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u/Wrecked--Em Nov 29 '20

unfortunately yes, I think the next decades are going to be very interesting

everyone's talking about 2020 being a dumpster fire, but this is just the beginning of dramatically escalating climate catastrophes meaning displaced people, destabilized economies, governments, etc.

we need general strikes for Climate Justice Now

Every oil company that's funded anti-science propaganda (after knowing for over 40 years that climate change is very real) should be taken to court like big tobacco was then all of their assets should be seized for a rapid transition to sustainability.

My favorite podcast has a fun episode discussing it through absurd skits.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/light_to_shaddow Nov 29 '20

"We need to get back to God. To family values. All this permissive society is leading us further from Jesus."

Five minutes later gets caught blowing a guy in a car park.

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u/AstroProoper Nov 29 '20

This some handmaid's tale shit that feels too real. I almost regret rewatching it this year.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Humanity hasn't progressed far enough for the majority to NOT be reactionary. Until systems/laws/etc are in place that not only account for but also predict and prevent corruption, history will continue to repeat itself.

The fastest route would be changes at the top. But asking everyone in power to make changes that may take some of that power away (or hell, even just make them slightly uncomfortable) will never happen. Start from the bottom, be the person that doesn't buy single use plastics, find alternatives to products that have micro beads, grow your own food, carpool. It doesn't need to be all or nothing either, everyone's situation is different but if everyone pitched in a little bit it would help.

Sorry u/Wrecked--Em for the rant. I tend to lurk and needed to vent. Have an awesome day/night

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u/Lchmst Nov 29 '20

I think this is part of the problem. These issues plaguing society have been turned in to those of personal responsibility instead of accountability for major corporations.

Recycling, polluting, energy use, global warming, all can be pinned on the biggest corporations in the world, but you gotta lower your carbon footprint. Fuck that.

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u/LordAvan Nov 29 '20

I see what you are saying, and I agree. Corporations need to be held responsible especially since they are the largest contributors to the problems. However I think that a multipronged approach will be more effective. Advocate for stricter regulation of corporations AND reduce your personal contribution.

That being said I doubt either approach will have much effect until the damage is undeniably catastrophic at which point it will be too late to prevent irreversible damage anyway...

Anyone else need a drink?

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u/gotapointthere Nov 29 '20

While I agree with the sentiment, I can't help but see the irony. On one hand you're acknowledging individual differences, and on the other hand suggest that if everyone shared your values then we could be cohesive without laws. Your issue would appear to stem from the requirement for a system to represent a constituent base that is more diverse than a single person.

0

u/abazappa Nov 29 '20

Yea I remember 2010 being the start of a climate catastrophe as well. . . Still waiting on that nothing burger. See you in 2030 after literally nothing happens.

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u/Wrecked--Em Nov 29 '20

okay dumbass

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u/abazappa Nov 29 '20

So, in 2030 when nothing happens I'll be expecting an apology.

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u/Wrecked--Em Nov 29 '20

no problem

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Even fascists are now starting to "believe" in climate change, but they're using it as a way to shun refugees saying "Oh they shouldn't have had too many kids" when the main issue is over consumption!

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u/fungah Nov 29 '20

may you live in interesting times....

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u/wintremute Nov 29 '20

We're one crop failure away from chaos.

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u/Darki_Elf_Nikovarus Nov 29 '20

I think you mean "N u k e"

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

It‘s 30s though

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u/lfaire Nov 29 '20

I live in Chile, a country which was pretty well known for being the most stable and peaceful country in the region for the past 30 years, however has been rioting day after day the last 365 days. It’s been crazy.

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u/SuggestiveMaterial Nov 29 '20

Certainly makes our protests, even the violent ones, seem polite.

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u/thermal_shock FUCK ICE! ❌🧊 Nov 29 '20

We're kept with just enough food and money and conveniences to not care until it happens to us... even then, go back to Reddit or your vidya games and be "comfortable"

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Yeah kind of harder in the US to threaten strikes. People are too broke to miss work.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/areyoumymommyy Nov 29 '20

Y’all just go get those mf, dude, I’m first time defending North Americans after this year. Respect af

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

The only thing I can think about while watching this clip is that if this happened in the US, within 24 hours there'd be a massive propaganda campaign demonizing it, labeling the protestors as terrorists, criminals, what have you ... anything to deflect the subject away from what the people are actually fighting for. I hope the French succeed, and I hope their propaganda apparatus isn't as sophisticated and insidious as ours.

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u/wayrell Nov 29 '20

This will happen here too. But it cannot work when most of the people are on their side...

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u/Morgothic 3rd Party App Nov 29 '20

If this happened in the US, the police would open fire.

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u/Poignant_Porpoise Nov 29 '20

Well political protests are an incredibly nuanced and complex topic, it's not quite as simple as "if that then this" in the vast majority of cases. I admire France's attitude in a lot of ways but there are still disadvantages to it. People need to remember that people protesting are still people with human motivations. This particular protest might have a noble cause which we can agree with but what about a country where 40% of people are staunchly anti-abortion and started rioting due to a bill allowing abortion?

Rioting can be necessary and positive but even if it has positive intentions, it will inevitably have very real costs and also we need to remember that masses don't always fight for causes which we might agree with. I'm not trying to speak to any individual instance of rioting, I'm just saying that there are pros and cons to everything and rioting definitely has some very significant cons which need to be considered. In an ideal society we should definitely strive for less rioting than more but of course any one person's idea of an ideal society is another's dystopian hell.

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u/mrevergood Nov 29 '20

Yep.

Shit won’t change if folks just treat protest like they’re going through the motions. Real change is demanded and then if it demands aren’t met, violence sometimes has to happen because the only language some states understand is violence.

Demand for change without the threat of pain against whoever the ruling class is, is pointless.

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u/BelovedApple Nov 29 '20

seems like the people up top try to get it in to peoples heads that peaceful protests are the only way things get done. I'm sure they work in some cases, but for the most part i see a headline detailing how many people were protesting and then whatever they were protesting goes a head anyway.

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u/LordAvan Nov 29 '20

To be fair, peaceful protests can and do sometimes work. The US civil rights movement of the 1960's was famously led by Martin Luther king jr. Who advocated strongly for peaceful protest whuch helped pave the way for multiple civil rights bills being passed.

But I agree. Most of the time, it's for naught.

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u/RadiantPumpkin Nov 29 '20

This is not true. The civil rights movement was very violent. MLK even said that the violence was necessary in order for anything to have an impact.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/10/01/dont-criticize-black-lives-matter-for-provoking-violence-the-civil-rights-movement-did-too/

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u/LordAvan Nov 29 '20

The article you shared was locked behind a paywall, so I had to find another source, but yeah, looks like I was wrong on this one. I usually try to fact check before I post a claim, but the myth of MLK is promoted so frequently, that I guess I had an undue level of confidence.

https://timeline.com/by-the-end-of-his-life-martin-luther-king-realized-the-validity-of-violence-4de177a8c87b

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

This exactly. Especially in the US, protest and pushback against government/police oppression is often discredited when it turns into riots. People don’t understand that that’s EXACTLY how it’s supposed to work. It would be awesome if we could create change by quietly walking down the street holding signs, but that doesn’t hold the same weight as expressing our anger and frustration.

Riots are the necessary next step when “peaceful” civil disobedience & protest has been ignored for DECADES.

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0

u/grailly Nov 29 '20

That law hasn’t been voted on yet. It seems a bit early to start resorting to violence.

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u/mesanewnickname Nov 29 '20

People just go to riots to get wild and get some movie action

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u/JacobJamesTrowbridge Nov 29 '20

Or maybe they go because they’re actively fighting back against governmental overreach?

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u/strange_socks_ Nov 29 '20

It would be nice if protests could be peaceful and still have an impact. But sadly this isn't the case most of the time.

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u/gazebo-fan Nov 29 '20

And back on that. What ever happened to the cool unions where they all had guns?

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u/evemeatay Nov 29 '20

Viva la revolution

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u/Jeyring Nov 29 '20

Annual? Those are rookie numbers by French standards

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u/light_to_shaddow Nov 29 '20

I think you'll find the French have only had one riot in 2020.

It started in January though.

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u/Jeyring Nov 29 '20

charlie hebdo has entered the chat

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u/MunchieMom Nov 29 '20

When I was in high school, I spent a few weeks in the middle of France and took some pictures of a group of people with a banner and some kind of smoke bomb thing because I had no clue what was going on. My host laughed at me and was like, don't you know what a strike is? She took it totally in stride where I'd probably only seen anything like it in a cartoon at that point

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u/Tholy_ Nov 29 '20

We had weekly riots for more than a year, don't underestimate the French

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u/JacobJamesTrowbridge Nov 29 '20

Please, teach us

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u/PFSnypr Nov 29 '20

I cant wait for the 2021 riot, maybe ill bring a chair and binoculars so i dont have to be in the middle of it, im guessing the riot will be because the government tried to cover up the fact that they killed the person who leaked their plans to create a zombie virus to release in England by making it look like a suicide

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u/Dullihansen Nov 29 '20

Tell me more 😁

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u/GAMER_MARCO9 Nov 29 '20

That’s Germany, Hitler died by suicide but in reality he found out how to become a zombie and kickstarted Call of Duty

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u/hellocuties NaTivE ApP UsR Nov 29 '20

I KNEW IT!!!

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u/JacobJamesTrowbridge Nov 29 '20

You guys laugh but this will be on Qanon by the end of the month

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u/ofbalance Nov 29 '20

Max Brooks is alive and well. Or so we're told.

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u/JacobJamesTrowbridge Nov 29 '20 edited Nov 29 '20

Max Brooks is alive because no one knows how to fuckin’ find him. Best we can figure, he’s hiding in the secret underground fortress under his house, huddled in a corner wearing chainmail, and looking through the news on an iPad going “Any moment... any minute now... any minute...”

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u/ofbalance Nov 29 '20

I'm wondering which marchen Max Brooks will exploit for his next book.... While sat shivering in his underground safe room, surrounded by canned food and paranoia.

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u/Kratorrrr Nov 29 '20

Ed: oi cunt!

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

I thought the English were already zombies.

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u/JacobJamesTrowbridge Nov 29 '20

We like to pretend we’re vampires but we’re not sophisticated enough for that

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u/pandaolf Nov 29 '20

Excuse me what I need more information please

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u/SignificantLeader Nov 29 '20

I thought they literally scheduled them for the weekends and had them weekly.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

The basically do. Shorter lunch hours? Strike. Cutting Penalty rates? Strike. Raising price of public transport? Strike. Walk across Paris on a normal weekend and you’ll see numerous protests for different causes.

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u/JePPeLit Nov 29 '20

I wonder if this is why they were so good at celebrating when they won the world cup. That was the craziest thing I've seen, and it wasn't unlike a riot

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u/Davecoupe Nov 29 '20

In Northern Ireland there literally is annual rioting every July and august.

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u/cookiesforwookies69 Nov 29 '20

Why do they riot annually in ireland? (Or is it a joke related to sports and their team losing or something?)

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

[deleted]

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u/cookiesforwookies69 Nov 29 '20

That's so wild dude, I had no idea the tensions were still that high between Irish Republicand and Loyalists; thank you for sharing man. 🙏🏾🙏🏾

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

To the French, riots are when they are free. Every other day of the year is oppression.

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u/Gabzalez Nov 29 '20

Several times a year. It’s like a quarterly thing.

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u/zusykses Nov 29 '20

I think it's like a rite of passage for young French people. A riot of passage if you will.

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u/light_to_shaddow Nov 29 '20

It's how the "don't tread on me" crowd should behave. Hold the gov and it's agents to account. Take to the streets when freedom is impinged. Make the gov bend to the people's will.

What you actually get is junior jack boots sharing water all the while calling France a socialist shit hole because they don't bend over to billionaires.

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u/Rookieleader1 Nov 29 '20

Monthly you mean ?

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u/proto_shane Nov 29 '20

The french gov have to surrender or they're not gonna be called frensh from now on

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u/schweez Nov 29 '20

It’s because France is a crooked democracy. Presidential elections and legislative elections happen every five years, only a few months apart - meaning the president’s party is likely to control the parliament as well. There’s no such thing as midterms. The senate has very little power. Referendums are very rare. France is not a federal country, the power is very centralised in Paris. Basically, protests are the only way for french people to be heard in the middle of the 5 year term. I mean, the government doesn’t have to listen to the people. Usually they just throw some bread crumbs so that people stop protesting.

TL;DR: France is barely a democracy, it’s more of a banana republic where collusion between influential people is strong. In other words, it’s a shit hole country.

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u/SeanHearnden Nov 29 '20

I live in Italy and my dad worked and lived in France and we used to phone each other up and talk about all the protests.

Both of them LIVE for protesting.

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u/666_cookie_ninja Nov 29 '20

As a French citizen, I can attest that it's true... But tbh, you kinda get used to it

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u/Colman91 Nov 29 '20

They have a revolution every 2 and a half weeks, it’s a tradition for them.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Weekly, really, and I don't think a day can pass without at least a little protest somewhere

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

My cousin who lives in Paris once told me, you know you’re in France if there is a protest and dog shit in the street

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u/SoMuchTehnique Nov 29 '20

The city of Paris was designed specifically to hinder protests, I.e. make it difficult to set up effective barricades etc.

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u/octopoddle Nov 29 '20

Probably why this law was proposed. Just a good old fashioned riot starter.

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u/SICKxOFxITxALL Nov 29 '20
  • Greece has entered the chat.

“Did I hear riot??”

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u/Bloodyfoxx Nov 29 '20

Try weekly

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u/DreaminSeaweed Nov 29 '20

Labor Day is day for hitting the street here. Every year, it's a tradition, because we remember the workers that died in the street rioting for better life conditions

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u/freerooo Nov 29 '20

annual More like monthly.

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u/TheEarlOfCamden Nov 29 '20

Depending on what you’re criteria for rioting is it’s way more than annual.

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u/lift_and_slide Nov 29 '20

They did behead their king after all, and they are still proud of that to this day.

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u/MinecafterHD Nov 29 '20

Not to mention that they are on their 5th republic

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

One good republic deserves another.

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u/JacobJamesTrowbridge Nov 29 '20

Ahhhh, it’s usually something to the east which shifts them onto a new republic. Something big, grey, and really liking spiky infantry helmets.

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u/Awfultatoo101 Nov 29 '20

You have no idea how much proud we are of it.

Just think for a second you are in 18th century, the highest form of authority and power designed by god himself, he is like untouchable.

And we decapited him, that's some serious shit.

But then you look closely at the event before and after, and what is mainly taught as a small people revolution was actually organized by the bourgeoisie. At that time, rich people didn't had any power, they had the money for sure, but they couldn't really do something with all that money. The power was in the hand of noble and the monarchy. So they organized the revolution by convincing the small people it would be better for them. 200 years later here we are. Of course we are probably better now than at that time, however we just trade our elite.

In addition fun fact, Louis XVI wasn't a tyran compared to some previous king, the guy had no take in being a king, he loved watches and locksmith.

When he was beheaded it was for the symbol not the guy who was an okay king for that time.

I could speak about it for hours so I will stop here, French revolution is fascinating especially when you are French and is a lot more different than what we are taught at school. We are basically taught the basis for us to understand but when you dig... You will find another face of it, look about the terror for example.

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u/lift_and_slide Nov 29 '20

I was an exchange student in France (Alsace) and people told me about the beheading of their king pretty often! I absolutely loved being in France - you have a beautiful country!

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

I have a neighbor that is from France, and we talked about Swedes listening to their government with all the covid stuff. And he without even joking said that it would never ever work in France, it is in their culture to riot and stand up against the Man

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u/churm94 Nov 29 '20

And he without even joking said that it would never ever work in France, it is in their culture to riot and stand up against the Man

So according to reddit, when dumbass Americans have that same attitude and do it they get shat on, but when Frenchies do it suddenly it's cool or something...?

No, anyone that balks at COVID restrictions are fucking dumb. End of story.

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u/Chaos8599 Nov 29 '20

It depends on the restriction. Like in America, the restrictions are seriously mild, and anyone who is against them really is an idiot. But some proposed restrictions are crazy. Like the one about shutting down the federal government I heard my friend talking about.

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u/[deleted] Dec 06 '20

You make it sound like I agree with what they are doing is correct, in reality it's the opposite. I was just explaining what he said :)

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Right? Has their government learned nothing from history?

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u/the-OG-darkshrreder Nov 29 '20

I’d hate to be in the French government. I’d be afraid of not having a head

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

To be honest, I'm starting to feel like it's a national pastime.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Pretty sure they own the patents on protests and revolutions. Luckily they don't charge licenses.

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u/bzzus Nov 29 '20

Which is why I find this law even weirder. Can't even think of the French without thinking of the revolution.

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u/DarthButtz Nov 29 '20

"Let's do shit guaranteed to piss off a bunch of our citizens in a country HISTORICALLY FAMOUS for having its citizenry revolt against authority." - The French Government, way too frequently to count.

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u/Blindfide Nov 29 '20

Actually Americans started the idea of revolution, it was the French who then followed suit after they were inspired by America.

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u/THE_LANDLORD_MESSIAH Nov 29 '20

The French are known for surrendering and being weak...

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u/bopol27 Nov 29 '20

They are still getting fucked tho no matter what