this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2023
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What do you expect when "protests" involve widespread destruction of private property, looting, fires, and vandalism?
Riots like these are what you get when you prevent any other forms of protests: banning protests (illegal but by the time you get through court to get the ban lifted it is too late), making unions and strikes irrelevant by never ever yielding, preventing votes in the National Assembly using pressures on MP and all that the means that our constitution allows to bypass parliament, even though there is no clear majority for whatever you are doing, forcefully removing peaceful protestors, etc There are reasons why unions was good for everyone, elite class included, they allow peaceful resolution of conflict. If you remove all peaceful avenue, there will be people going into the not peaceful avenue.
I get it, the people of France are in a bad position, and there is a long history of protests and pushback from the government.
But there is no benefit to adding violence, unless the goal is to hurt the communities you are protesting for. This particular protest literally had no peaceful beginning, it started in violence and only got worse.
What's the end game with such a strategy?
To scare the living shit out of the oppressors, and ultimately remove them from power one way or another. If they don't take the hint that is the city burning, chop-chop!
A small business in Paris that's been vandalized, looted, and burned should be scared of whom? The community they serve and live with?
Perhaps, protestors and rioters need to focus their efforts away from the innocent and towards those who are oppressing them. That would make more sense to me, anyway.
AFAIK, small businesses are not harmed much and the targets are government buildings and such.
And even if they were, insurance will clear it. And even if not, honestly, the only ones who suffer are the business owners, and I have little sympathy for them—small mom'n'pop ops can't afford renting premises in downtowns, anyway; shops in these locations are luxury boutiques. Nothing of value is lost if a business selling designer handbags or overpriced cuisine ceases to exist.