PARIS, December 5—Workers battle the police’s tear gas canisters, water cannons, and stun grenades. What began as a 300,000-strong protest against planned hikes in fuel taxes on November 17 have transformed into a mass uprising against president Emmanuel Macron. In France, as is worldwide, capitalism is in crisis.
‘An insurrection’
As CHALLENGE goes to press, France is deploying 65,000 cops in anticipation of more rebellions against the capitalist government this weekend. Macron’s promise to suspend the fuel tax hikes was too little too late.
Workers vandalized a national symbol of France, the Arc de Triomphe. This area has become a battleground. Paris’s 8th district mayor called it an “insurrection.” The protests have been declared the “worst rioting in Paris in decades.”
This “Yellow Vest” (Gilets Jaunes) movement takes its name from the yellow jackets protesters have adopted as a symbol of their class anger.
Protesters are angry over record prices at the pump, with the cost of diesel increasing by about 20 percent in the past year to an average of 1.49 euros ($1.68) per litre. Macron then announced further taxes on fuel, set to take effect on January 1, 2019, in a move he said was necessary combat climate change and protect the environment (Al Jazeera, 12/4).
The protests began with workers in rural France but quickly spread to ambulance workers, high school students shutting down schools, and more. The General Confederation of Labour (CGT) trade union called energy workers to stage a 48-hour walkout on December 13 in solidarity. Truckers and framers are also calling for strikes.
Tale of two Frances
Like other Western countries, the gap between the ruling and working class is deep and wide.
The top 20 percent of the population earns nearly five times as much as the bottom 20 percent. France’s richest 1 percent represent over 20 percent of the economy’s wealth. Yet the median monthly income is about 1,700 euros, or $1,930, meaning that half of French workers are paid less than that (The New York Times, 12/4).
Clearly, no worker—no matter how rich of a country they are in—is safe from the consequences of capitalism.
France—like Italy, United Kingdom, the United States—and other top imperialist countries (that were came out on top after World War II) is digging itself deeper into crisis. In the face of growing great-power rivalry, the imperialist world order that the U.S. created in its own image is crumbling.
Of course, this crisis has been a long time coming. “Living standards and wages rose in France after World War II during a 30-year growth stretch known as “Les Trente Glorieuses.’”(NY Times, 12/4). Those Glorious Thirty years ended in the 1970s. That marked the beginning of the end of the U.S. liberal world order.
Communists warn that in times of crisis, the bosses’ response to that crisis is called fascism. Workers can fight fascism by refusing to trust and take leadership from any faction of the ruling class. When we choose a side in the bosses’ growing fight, we participate in the building of a fascist society.  
Bosses take some losses
The mass protests show that when workers fight back without illusions of nonviolence holding them back, the whole world stops and takes note. French companies were unable to make their usual profits.
French oil company Total has said 75 of its 2,200 petrol stations have run dry because ‘yellow vests’ were blockading fuel depots. Trucking federations said they had suffered operating losses of 400 million euros ($453m) due to protesters blocking highways and toll stations as well as fuel depots (Al Jazeera, 12/4).
Lack of leadership
Unlike union strikes, there is no centralized leadership of the Yellow Vests. The movement is open for all factions of the ruling class to co-opt and control. Internally, there are various levels of class consciousness inside the Yellow Vests as well.
Different factions…have different demands. While they all want a better standard of living, some are furious at…Macron for…unjust tax policies that help the rich but do nothing for the poor, and they want him out of office. Others are more focused on raising the minimum wage and reducing the amount taken out of employee paychecks to cover social security and related services (NY Times, 12/1).
The whole baguette
In an attempt to bribe, president Macron announced it would suspend the gasoline tax increase. One spokesperson of the Yellow Vests said, “We aren’t satisfied…Our demands are much bigger than this moratorium…We want a better distribution of wealth, salary increases. It’s about the whole baguette, not just the crumbs.” (NY Times, 12/4).
Macron was supposed to be the president to “save the liberal order” (one that can rule internationally in the interest of imperialists and rule domestically with a misled and subdued working class). The level of discontent and anger against the France government is yet another example of how democracy and nonviolence has failed workers. This system is proving to be an impossibility for the wellbeing of the working class.
In truth, there is no panacea for France’s decline. Times like these demonstrate the need for a communist party that can provide leadership to class struggles around the world. If workers want the whole baguette, we must own the means to make and bake the bread.
Solidarité!
It’s unclear how exactly the Yellow Vest movement will play out. We can be certain that workers everywhere have everything to gain by supporting the rebellion in France.
Wherever you are, build solidarity with the working class in France!