Random, Random 2.0

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

The French are so extra...

[mmmm8]

Yes, stick it to the man(behind the counter earning minimum wage)

[dryrunguy]

why do you do this.jpeg

[Owendonovan]

Yes, stick it to the man(behind the counter earning minimum wage)

I can't tell you how many times I've told my husband that minimum wage worker does not care about your complaint.
On the other hand, I have on more than one occasion gotten seats pretty close to the court at the US Open by being very friendly with those minimum wage gate keepers!

(aren't McDonald's franchises?)

[dryrunguy]

So, as I have had time today, I have been trying to get to the bottom of what this particular protest is about. It hasn't been easy. This has been yet another excellent example of the amount of misinformation and outright lies exist on the internet. Some sources allege it's about the French government's stance on the war in Gaza. It's not. Some sources allege it's a protest about the state of the economy in France. It's not. There are other allegations, as well. It's insane.

But to answer my own question, the real reason appears to be a protest over the amount of meat imported from countries outside of France.

[ti-amie]

So, as I have had time today, I have been trying to get to the bottom of what this particular protest is about. It hasn't been easy. This has been yet another excellent example of the amount of misinformation and outright lies exist on the internet. Some sources allege it's about the French government's stance on the war in Gaza. It's not. Some sources allege it's a protest about the state of the economy in France. It's not. There are other allegations, as well. It's insane.

But to answer my own question, the real reason appears to be a protest over the amount of meat imported from countries outside of France.

This makes the most sense. We had a discussion here recently about European countries importing meat from Argentina I think it was.

[dryrunguy]

But I don't understand the argument they're making. I guess, first, I must confess I know very little about agriculture in France, especially as it relates to beef production. But my gut tells me that farmers in France could not possibly produce enough meat to supply all McDonald's and Burger Kings in France. Maybe I'm wrong about that. I would also assume that beef produced in France would be too "good" for fast food establishments--and too expensive. The primary sources of cheap beef are cull cows, dairy bull calves, and dairy heifer calves that aren't good enough to keep as replacement breeding stock.

I just can't imagine how France by itself could produce enough cheap beef to meet cheap beef demands in the country.

But clearly something is wrong, because farmers in France are clearly upset about something that is impacting their wallets and financial well-being. I'd love it if someone could fill the disconnect currently happening in my brain.

[ponchi101]

They are the largest beef producers in Europe. They produce a lot of beef, of all qualities. They are also the largest beef consumers.

[mmmm8]

So I didn't spend a lot of time, but from what I'm seeing, this is a thing in France, it happened before, there was one last year (https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/vide ... 023-11-28/) and one in 1999 (https://www.iatp.org/blog/199908/french ... restaurant).

And then I went to the front page ofLe Monde and looks like it's now blossomed into a massive protest about an EU-Mercosur deal. 85 demonstrations and they've blocked the road to Germany from Strasbourg.

https://www-lemonde-fr.translate.goog/e ... r_pto=wapp

[ashkor87]

Do we have nobody from France on this group, who can enlighten us?!

[ponchi101]

I looked up our collection of flags, and ... THERE ARE NOT FRENCH PEOPLE HERE!!!!
Mon dieu!!!
Well. They will not come to a forum where English is the official language. That is for sure.