Viva la Résistance!

An insider account of what is going on in France that you won't hear from the media

The following was written to me by a heroic activist in France who is involved with the anti- government tyranny movement (credited anonymously for obvious reasons). I am reproducing it here, with his permission. It has been very lightly edited for clarity and presentation.

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The situation in France is dire on so many levels

There are basically two mass groups of demonstrators out in the streets every week in France (with the largest contingents of course in Paris): the "Yellow Vests" and the protesters associated with, but not always card-carrying members of, the "Les Patriotes" political party led by Florian Phillippot. The two groups hold rallies every Saturday, with each marching in different parts of town, usually far apart from one another. 

The Yellow Vests, as you may recall, first took to the streets in late 2018 as a reaction to a proposed gas tax hike. Anger had been growing for 18 months (since the start of Macron's 5-year term in office in May 2017) over the president's numerous neo-liberal reforms, which were being pursued with unrelenting force by the government, and had hit the country's railway workers especially hard. At the same time, resentment among the middle and working classes was simmering over tax breaks for the rich, involving, in particular, the rescinding of a wealth tax on France's largest fortunes, which was experienced by the left like a slap in the face. 

When it became clear that the president and his majority in parliament were only getting started and intended to ram through legislation aimed at overhauling the country's pension and retirement scheme, the frustration and rage boiled over, and the Yellow Vests burst onto the scene -- spontaneously and organically, organizing through Facebook primarily, if memory serves.

Marching every Saturday, they quickly came to represent the millions of voiceless residents of rural and small town France who have seen their standard of living decline due to rising prices and stagnating wages, and who generally feel that France's political elite has abandoned them. 

It was only last summer, with the introduction of the so-called "Health Pass," that the Yellow Vests began to shift some of their criticism away from economic realities in order to denounce the endless totalitarian-like coronavirus mitigation measures. They have done this while remaining more or less unassociated with any political party, continuing to organize through social media in a highly decentralized manner. 

They are made up mostly of men aged about 25 to 55, though there are of course women of the same age groups present as well. I mention this gender imbalance because the Yellow Vest protests are the ones with the massive riot police escorts, and on occasion the weekly event deteriorates into clashes between law enforcement and small groups of hooded young men. In the US it is my understanding that most mainstream media outlets feature these end-of-the-march scuffles in their very limited and biased coverage of what they term the "anti-vax" protests in France. 

Indignation in France over the Health Pass has since deepened, as laws were rammed through both houses of Parliament last fall and then in early January this year, the first extending the state of emergency until the end of July of this year, and the second replacing the Health Pass with a Vax Pass with the same (always tentative) expiry date. There is in fact a sneaking suspicion, felt among even the most willfully ignorant in France, that such measures will in fact never go away permanently, and that perhaps they were not designed to.

Because of the highly centralized system of government in France, these two "Passes" have created a two-tiered society all over the country, leaving roughly 6 million French citizens, along with foreign nationals like myself, cut off from access to places of leisure, culture and certain modes of transport because we refuse to take medicines we don't need or want. Fines for using someone else's vax pass start at 1,000 euros, while those caught using a fake pass face fines in the tens of thousands, with potential prison time for those trafficking in them. 

And effective today, following the government's recent announcement that the "vaccines" are only really helpful for 4 months instead of 6 (already down from 9 months a few weeks ago), another 5 million already double-jabbed individuals will see their "Vax Passes" deactivated, thus swelling, at least for at time, the ranks of this newly created demographic of second-class citizens. It is unclear how many of these freshly marginalized people will join the protests and how many will cave and get a third or fourth booster shot (or whatever number they are at) in order to keep their jobs or continue enjoying social life outside of the home. Some will no doubt do both. 

The second main group of protesters, either belonging to or supportive of "Les Patriotes," began their weekly activities in late October 2020 with the express purpose of resisting the worst of the NPIs (lockdowns and curfews and business closures had come back into effect by then, and were to remain in place until early June 2021). 

Being a national sovereigntist party, the overarching goal for Les Patriotes in the long run is to get France to leave the EU like Great Britain did, though such efforts have taken a back seat to the more immediate aims of returning France to something resembling a free and open society with functioning democratic institutions. 

The weekly gathering brings together people from all backgrounds and professions. Ages range a bit older on average compared to the Yellow Vests, and the marches themselves are never confrontational or disorderly, with the organizers hiring private security, thus eliminating the need for any presence of law enforcement. 

The crowd, too, it must be said, is not a rowdy one. Parents often bring their children and it is not uncommon to see a near majority of people over the age of 60 participating in the demonstrations. Attitudes and convictions run strong but the atmosphere is always friendly and upbeat, with lots of satirical and sometimes wickedly funny and creative messages on placards -- a bit of a contrast to the more edgy, serious and openly defiant Yellow Vests. 

Other differences include a weekly line-up of guest speakers who address the assembled and cheering crowd for about an hour and a half at the end of every march. These include a wide variety of people, from politicians and public figures to students and nurses, all united in their opposition to the so-called health measures and in their demand for a return to the rule of constitutional law. 

Whereas the Yellow Vests improvise a lot of their protest events, singing rousing songs and taking turns shouting through bullhorns (mostly slogans), "Les Patriotes" plan out their rallies to unfold in stages, culminating in the lengthy speeches given when the march reaches its destination in an area set up beforehand by organizers. 

Their approach is both entertaining and effective. They take the traditional French protest march and throw in elements from political meetings and outdoor festivals. This includes a temporary stage for their guest speakers, with loudspeakers set up right in front of the Health Ministry, as well as food and drink stands and tents selling books and protest apparel-like pins, scarves and hats. 

The last person to address the crowd is the president of the party himself (and presidential candidate), Florian Phillippot, who usually speaks for about 30 minutes before leading the protesters in a final Marseillaise. He then encourages everyone to stay and flout anti-social distancing rules by dancing to festive music (featuring a lot of 80s new wave tracks), which is blasted out through the speakers for a good hour after the rally officially ends. Remarkably, police never interfere with this post-protest ritual, which, it seems to me, they could technically shut down if they wanted to. (I have often thought this must be a concession made to the protesters for good behavior.)

Many protesters then gather at a nearby bar and restaurant, which also courageously breaks the rules by serving people without vax passes. With both the inside and outside thronged with people, the drinking often goes on late into the night among protesters who have been barred from eating and drinking out since last August. The evenings can be both cathartic and energizing, with ties forged, new friendships made and resolve strengthened. There is also a strong nationalistic feel and look to the gatherings, with French flags sticking out of bags and much criticism of woke cancel culture's corrosive effect on French society.  

At the most general level, one could say that the Yellow Vests  lean a bit more to the left of center, while Les Patriotes are situated farther to the right. On the surface, this distinction is reflected in the colors most visible during the rallies. For the one it's neon yellow; for the other it's the French tricolor of blue, white and red. 

Interestingly, though, while the Yellow Vest marches are made up almost entirely of French citizens, Les Patriotes attract a huge number of foreign nationals to their demonstrations, as evidenced by the many foreign flags on display alongside the French flag every week. People from all over attend: Spain, Australia, Canada, Scandinavia, Poland, Italy and many other places. I have even seen people holding pirate flags and there is one American who waves a black banner bearing a message similar to the "live free or die" motto. 

I myself have been attending Les Patriotes marches almost every Saturday for 8 months, though I have also demonstrated with the Yellow Vests out of solidarity. While I enjoy being with both groups, and delight in hearing the playfully taunting and morale-boosting songs sung by the two (which mercilessly mock the president), my tolerance for tear gas and volatile riot police is a bit low, so I usually stick with Les Patriotes' more festive, family-oriented approach. I also look forward to their speeches.

While the Yellow Vests have been at the protesting game longer than Les Patriotes, the latter have put together a more effective platform for raising awareness about the mind-boggling number of falsehoods the French people have been force fed for almost two years. This is in large part due to the talents of their president, who has prior experience as a political spokesperson for a major party as well as strong debating skills. 

He also has a YouTube channel, to which he posts a new video every day, providing updates on events and showing clips of his regular appearances on both legacy and alternative media. Additional exposure for the movement is gained from collaboration with talented lawyers and high-profile artists, who all regularly attend the protests and appear on TV news programs and in interviews. Many legal challenges have been brought and are currently pending. It's hard to assess what impact the small but slowly growing movement has had on policy decisions -- it sometimes seems very little, given the government's dogged pursuance of its aims -- but no one could say it has had none. It's influence has doubtless taken other forms that are still hard to measure, perhaps among the quiet masses who are awakening from their slumber in bigger and bigger numbers, no doubt thanks to all the noise we've been making. 

The long and short of it, I feel, is that, like in the US, the crushing majority of the institutions of French civil society that are supposed to defend personal liberty and fundamental rights, and which have traditionally done so -- i.e., the French equivalent of the ACLU, the unions, the countless humanitarian organizations, community centers, the church and synagogues, etc. -- have all embraced this deliriously irrational, catastrophically destructive totalitarian approach to infectious respiratory disease management. And as in the US, with institutional capture by big pharma and the medical industry being near total, French regulatory agencies have aided and abetted every step of the way. But unlike in the US, where there is a more diverse media landscape, with Fox news being an actual counterweight to the "liberal" mainstream media, France's media speak in one voice: that of the government and TV doctors. 

And like in the US, the health-related propaganda is deafening and almost unbearable to listen to. Daily, the health minister and prime minister get away with continuing to make claims that have been debunked over and over by actual scientists (and which are preposterous in principle anyway), things like: masks are an effective and necessary tool for stopping the spread of covid; lockdowns and curfews work to save lives; "vaccine" mandates are making people safe, etc. 

Making matters worse, however, is France's weak judicial branch of government, which is less independent and far more corrupt and susceptible to administration pressure than courts in the US. The two highest constitutional courts in France are made up of elite lawyers and career politicians, many former ministers or with close ties to the government; I would be surprised if there were a single actual judge sitting on either of them. 

For example, one of the sons of the President of the Constitutional Council, who was a former prime minister and secretary of state under two different administrations, is an associate director at McKinsey and is literally in charge of France's "vaccination" campaign. Not surprisingly, at each stage of the shammy legislative process throughout this "health crisis," as the lower house of the French parliament has steamrolled through bill-after-liberty-killing bill (in votes held in chambers three quarters empty), the Constitutional Council and its twin judicial review institution, the Council of State, have both dutifully upheld the bulk of this repressive legislation in the face of repeated legal challenges brought by a handful of concerned parliamentarians.  

So, in a sense, Phillippot's Les Patriotes protest movement, and to a lesser extent the Yellow Vests, are filling the representative void left by the betrayal of the institutions of government and civil society. Both movements are grass roots in the truest sense of the word. Marginalized and censured, they face enormous challenges and have to organize over telegram, Facebook, Signal and WhatsApp. 

Without a doubt, though, the most impressive feats in organizing have been achieved by Les Patriotes, who are really making it all up as they go along. A huge network of mutual support groups has sprung up at the initiative of their president: teacher's groups, healthcare worker groups, and many other collectives organized by profession (in particular, the sectors that are being coerced into getting injections they don't want or need). 

Though still small in number, all are working together throughout France in an effort to raise awareness, bring more people into the movement and find practical workarounds to mandates and other dystopian restrictions. Other efforts have included trying to organize blockades of ports and harbors as well as calling on French truckers -- months before brave Canadians set out for Ottawa -- to gridlock the country's highway system. However, none of these large-scale attempts at shutting down the country have been successful. Macron, who is clearly wilier and more Machiavellian than Trudeau, long ago exempted truckers and police from any obligation to "vaccinate."

This is a basic overview of the situation in France currently. Hopefully the success of the trucker protests in Ottawa and elsewhere will spawn success in France too.

Update from Israel Convoy:

Israel Freedom Convoy 2022 -We are the Media!

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I think one point is worth making to conclude: the national (and international) media has embargoed news from their platforms that is one of the most noteworthy, important, and relevant news items to the lives of everyday people. Even the Pravda would usually at least mention major international happenings (however twisted and deceptive their presentation would be). The media in the US and the West are one of the most evil and destructive institutions to arise in the history of civilized nations. Not just wrong, not just manipulative, not just propaganda. Evil.